Category Archives: Internet safety

Ireland orders X, TikTok and Instagram to curb terrorist content

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Regulator issues online safety ruling after finding weak processes leave networks ‘exposed to terrorist content’

Elon Musk’s X, TikTok and Meta’s Instagram have been ordered by Irish media regulators to take “necessary measures” to prevent terrorist content being platformed in order to comply with sweeping new online safety legislation.

The Irish media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, said it issued the ruling after its investigations determined that the social media networks were “exposed to terrorist content” due to weak processes.

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How west Africa’s online fraudsters moved into sextortion

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With ‘hustle kingdoms’ teaching young people the tricks of the trade, there has been a surge in blackmailing crimes

In the late 90s and early 2000s, as internet connectivity began penetrating west Africa, young people soon realised that individuals in North America and Europe with access to more money than them and potentially susceptible to blackmail were now reachable by the click of a button.

Along came the “Nigerian prince” letters, a famous scamming technique employed by online fraudsters – known as Yahoo boys in Nigeria, Sakwa boys of Ghana and the brouteurs of Ivory Coast – preying on unsuspecting targets across the web. The emails typically involved someone pretending to be Nigerian royalty and asking for money, a claim so outlandish that victims presumed it couldn’t be a lie.

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National Crime Agency threatens extraditions over rise in sextortion cases

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Exclusive: Agency says foreign gangs not safe from prosecution in UK and plans new recording label to track extent of the crime

The National Crime Agency has warned international cybercriminals that it could seek to extradite them as part of a crackdown to tackle an alarming rise in the numbers of young people being targeted for sextortion.

The agency said the gangs, often based in west Africa, were “not safe from prosecution in our country” and that it would seek justice for all victims of the crime.

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First companies sign up to AI safety standards on eve of Seoul summit

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Rishi Sunak says 16 international firms have committed, but standards have been criticised for lacking teeth

The first 16 companies have signed up to voluntary artificial intelligence safety standards introduced at the Bletchley Park summit, Rishi Sunak has said on the eve of the follow-up event in Seoul.

The standards, however, have been criticised for lacking teeth, with signatories committing only to work toward information sharing, invest in cybersecurity and prioritise research into societal risks.

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Anthropic

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Meta

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Ofcom accused of ‘excluding’ bereaved parents from online safety consultation

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The UK regulator has been criticised by grieving families and internet abuse survivors for failing to engage with them

Bereaved parents and abuse survivors who have endured years of “preventable, life-changing harm” linked to social media say they have been denied a voice in official discussions about holding tech firms to account.

Mariano Janin, whose ­daughter Mia, 14, killed herself after online bullying, and the parents of Oliver Stephens, 13, who was murdered after a dispute on social media, are among those who have accused Ofcom of excluding them from a ­consultation process for tackling online harms.

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Fears of Putin swinging elections behind EU’s Meta crackdown

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Action against Facebook owner comes amid concerns about how it is dealing with fake news

Fears that Vladimir Putin is trying to fill the European parliament with more pro-Russia MEPs were behind the EU’s blunt message to the Silicon Valley owner of Facebook on Tuesday.

It gave Meta just five days to explain how it will root out fake news, fake websites and stop adverts funded by the Kremlin or face severe measures.

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Paedophiles create nude AI images of children to extort them, says charity

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Internet Watch Foundation has found a manual on dark web encouraging criminals to use software tools that remove clothing

Paedophiles are being urged to use artificial intelligence to create nude images of children to extort more extreme material from them, according to a child abuse charity.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said a manual found on the dark web contained a section encouraging criminals to use “nudifying” tools to remove clothing from underwear shots sent by a child. The manipulated image could then be used against the child to blackmail them into sending more graphic content, the IWF said.

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EU threatens TikTok Lite with ban over reward-to-watch feature

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App feature could be suspended unless child safety concerns addressed, in first use of sweeping new digital powers

The EU has said it will ban a new service launched by TikTok in Europe that it believes could be “as addictive as cigarettes” unless the company offers “compelling” fresh evidence that children are safeguarded.

If the ban goes ahead, it would be the first time the EU has used sweeping new powers to impose sanctions on social media companies since its landmark Digital Service Act (DSA) came into force last August.

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Elon Musk and X to fight Australian eSafety order to remove content relating to Sydney stabbing

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Company says it complied with directive over posts about stabbing of Sydney bishop but will challenge ‘unlawful and dangerous approach’ in court

Elon Musk and his social media company X have accused Australia’s eSafety commissioner of censorship and say they will challenge in court an order to remove content on the site relating to Monday’s Sydney church stabbing.

On Tuesday the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said that X and Meta were issued with a notice to remove material within 24 hours that depicted “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail”, with the companies facing potential fines if they failed to comply.

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The Sun’s Hillsborough stories used to teach MPs how to recognise fake news

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Exclusive: Russian bot attempt to stir up Islamophobia also part of course on misinformation and disinformation

Fabricated stories in the Sun blaming Liverpool fans for the Hillsborough stadium disaster are among examples that will be used in a parliamentary initiative to teach MPs to recognise misinformation and disinformation.

Other examples include a Russian bot campaign on Twitter, now X, that tried to use a photograph taken in the aftermath of the Westminster Bridge attack to stir up Islamophobic hatred.

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Rishi Sunak considers curbing social media use for under-16s

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Reports suggest a ban is among potential options to protect young people from online harm

Rishi Sunak is considering limiting social media access for teenagers under the age of 16 to try to protect them from online harm, with reports suggesting a potential ban is on the cards.

The government is considering further action despite bringing in the Online Safety Act, which requires social media platforms to shield children from harmful content or face fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue.

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Peter Dutton backs age verification for viewing online pornography

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Opposition leader says graphic videos are ‘playing into the minds’ of young Australians, particularly boys

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has backed calls to implement age verification for viewing pornographic material online.

Dutton says graphic pornographic videos are playing into the minds of young Australians.

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Australia news live: NSW premier warns of ‘tough summer’ ahead; Ukraine war and weak dollar causing fuel price spike

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Chris Minns urges residents to have evacuation plans in place amid concerns of extreme heat during bushfire season. Follow the day’s news live

Labor looking to develop cybersecurity standards placing onus on companies after major data breaches

The federal government is looking at developing cybersecurity standards – a year on from the Optus data breach – to flip the onus towards companies and developers to keep Australians safe online, AAP reports.

If you’re buying a car seat for a new baby, you go into the store and buy a product off a shelf knowing that it will be safe for use - we don’t see the same thing with digital products.

What we want to do is move towards a world where citizens are not the ones who are having to think about and protect themselves from the cyber threat.

No, we won’t be doing that and nobody has suggested that we should.

I agree with Penny Sharp [the NSW minister for climate change] … she said publicly she doesn’t want to see Eraring stay open a day longer than it needs to or close a day earlier than it has to.

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Customer data used for unwanted romantic contact, UK poll shows

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Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have been messaged by staff after giving personal details to a business

Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have received unwanted romantic contact after giving their personal information to a business, a UK poll has shown.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has called for recipients of such texts to come forward to help the regulator gather evidence of the impact of this phenomenon.

The ICO has an online form for people who want to report an experience of unwanted contact.

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Online safety bill: changes urged to allow access to social media data

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Campaigners say bill in ‘serious peril’ of passing without powers to make platforms more transparent

Online safety experts will struggle to sound the alarm about harmful content if landmark legislation does not allow independent researchers to access data from social media platforms, campaigners have warned.

The government is being urged to adopt amendments to the online safety bill enabling researchers to access platform data in order to monitor harmful material. Access would be overseen by Ofcom, the communications watchdog, and would protect user privacy.

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Crime agencies condemn Facebook and Instagram encryption plans

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Global alliance including NCA and FBI says Meta’s decision to encrypt direct messages could harm children

An alliance of the world’s most powerful law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Interpol and Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) have condemned Meta’s plans to encrypt direct messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram, saying that doing so will weaken the ability to keep child users safe.

The Virtual Global Taskforce, made up of 15 agencies, is chaired by the NCA and also includes Europol and the Australian federal police among its membership. The VGT has spoken out, it says, owing to the “impending design choices” by Meta, which it says could cause serious harm.

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Child abuse image offences in UK have soared, NSPCC report shows

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Charity says police recording has improved but online grooming has risen and tech firms are failing to act

Police have recorded a surge in child abuse image offences in the UK, with more than 30,000 reported in the most recent year, according to a report from the NSPCC.

That is an increase of more than 66% on figures from five years ago, when police forces across the country recorded 18,574 such offences.

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Covid lockdowns created ‘online backdoor’ for child abusers, says charity

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Internet Watch Foundation reports rise in UK children aged seven to 10 manipulated into abusing themselves on camera

Internet predators have exploited a rise in online activity during lockdown to manipulate primary school age children into abusing themselves on camera, with reports of such imagery rising by more than 1,000% in the UK since 2019.

The Internet Watch Foundation received reports of 63,050 webpages containing images and videos of children aged seven to 10 sexually abusing themselves on camera last year, an increase of just over 1,000% on the year before the coronavirus pandemic.

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Dating app background and ID checks being considered in bid to fight abuse

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National roundtable mulls safety strategies as communications minister says ‘no one law is going to fix this issue’

Background checks and ID verification systems in dating apps are among the measures being considered as governments around the country grapple with how to keep people safe while they are looking for love online.

The strategies were discussed by ministers, victim-survivors, authorities and technology companies as part of national dating app roundtable talks in Sydney on Wednesday.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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Child cyberbullying at ‘concerning levels’, Australia’s eSafety commissioner says

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Exclusive: eSafety commission investigating nearly 1,700 complaints and has asked social media companies to remove offensive content 500 times in a year

Online bullying among children is reaching “concerning levels”, according to Australia’s eSafety commissioner. The agency is investigating nearly 1,700 cyberbullying complaints and has asked social media companies to remove offensive content more than 500 times in a year.

The eSafety commission also revealed that it has, for the first time, used its strengthened powers to issue end user notices that can compel bullies to stop their actions or apologise to victims.

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