Category Archives: Media

US gambling sector’s ‘relentless’ social media posts breached own rules, study claims

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Exclusive: University of Bristol academics say gambling industry code ‘not being followed’ after analysis of social media posts by leading firms

As gambling companies target social media users, the four leading online brands appear to be routinely breaching the industry’s self-imposed marketing regulations, according to a new study.

Over one week this summer, academics at the University of Bristol found that BetMGM, DraftKings, ESPN Bet and FanDuel published more than a thousand posts – 75% of their non-sponsored content on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok – that did not include problem gambling support messages or a helpline number.

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X goes offline in Brazil after Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with local laws

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Millions of users shut out and 500,000 switch to rival platform Bluesky as providers enact supreme court ban

One of the world’s most popular social networks, X, has gone offline in Brazil – the country with the fifth largest digital population – after Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with local laws meant it was blocked by the supreme court.

Millions of Brazilian X users found themselves unable to access the network on Saturday morning as internet providers and mobile phone companies began to enforce the ban.

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Brazilian court orders suspension of Elon Musk’s X after it missed deadline

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Social media platform to be blocked by ISPs because it did not appoint legal representative in allotted time

The Brazilian supreme court has ordered that X be suspended in the country after the social media platform failed to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.

Late on Friday afternoon, Justice Alexandre de Moraes – who has been engaged in a dispute with X’s owner, Elon Musk, since April – ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension of X’s operations” in the country, “until all court orders … are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country”.

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Two Stand News journalists in Hong Kong found guilty of sedition

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Chris Patten condemns ‘dark day for press freedom’ as Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam convicted over 11 articles

Two journalists from the closed Hong Kong media outlet Stand News have been found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious materials – the first such convictions since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control – after a trial that was closely observed as a bellwether for the city’s diminishing press freedom.

The former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested on 29 December 2021 after police raided the outlet’s newsroom.

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Australian PM caught on camera joking with senior US official over funding of Pacific policing plan

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Anthony Albanese tells journalists to ‘chill out’ over comments filmed in the wings of Pacific Islands Forum

The Australian prime minister has been caught on camera in Tonga joking with a senior US official about going “halvies” on the cost of a newly announced Pacific policing plan.

The deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, appeared to suggest in the video that the US had been planning to pursue an unspecified security-related proposal but had been encouraged by Australia not to proceed.

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Telegram founder arrest part of cybercrime inquiry, say prosecutors

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Investigation into Pavel Durov relates to app’s alleged failure to stop spread of child sexual abuse material

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire co-founder of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested in France in connection with an investigation into criminal activity on the platform and a lack of cooperation with law enforcement, prosecutors announced on Monday.

Durov, who has French citizenship, was detained at Le Bourget airport, just outside Paris, on Saturday evening after arriving from Azerbaijan on his private jet. His surprise arrest has sparked debate over free speech worldwide and led to an outcry in Moscow.

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Donald Trump threatens to pull out of 10 September presidential debate

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Republican nominee calls ABC ‘fake news’ and sows further doubt over appearance at debate with Kamala Harris

Donald Trump has expressed doubt that he will participate in a scheduled televised debate with Kamala Harris next month, hurling a trademark “fake news” slur at the network that had agreed to host it.

The former president and Republican nominee threatened to pull out of the 10 September meeting with Harris, the vice-president and Democratic nominee for November’s election, in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday night.

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British man on Reuters staff killed in strike on hotel in east Ukraine

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Ryan Evans, a safety adviser and former soldier, was staying at the Hotel Sapphire in Kramatorsk when it was hit by Russian missile

A British man working for the Reuters news agency has been killed in a strike on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency has said.

Ryan Evans, who was working as a safety adviser for the agency, was killed after a missile struck the Hotel Sapphire on Saturday where he was staying as part of a six-person team.

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Telegram app founder Pavel Durov reportedly arrested at French airport

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Billionaire CEO, who was travelling aboard his private jet, was subject of arrest warrant, according to TV reports

Pavel Durov, billionaire co-founder and chief executive of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV said, citing an unnamed source.

Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France.

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Tactical ad breaks and lies: rightwing coverage of DNC is exactly as expected

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Hard-right hosts resurrect racist Obama birther conspiracy theory and lament Democrats’ treatment of Joe Biden

As the Democratic party enjoys the afterglow of an exuberant national convention, the rightwing media has settled on consistent counter-programming: complaining about “joy”, hyping up pro-Palestinian protests and expressing a newfound concern for the treatment of Joe Biden.

The coverage, which has at times avoided the more pointed Democratic criticisms of Trump by cutting to ad breaks, has also including the criticism of women both for smiling too much and not smiling enough, and the coining of a new name for Barack Obama: “Barack-Stabber”.

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Big polluters targeting esports industry with advertising deals, report reveals

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Oil firms, petrostates, airlines and carmakers ‘doubling down’ on sector that is popular with young people

Oil companies, petrostates, airlines and carmakers are among the big polluters bombarding the esports industry with adverts, a study has found.

Esports, short for electronic sports, are competitive video games watched by spectators, with multiplayer games such as League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2 attracting peak viewer figures in the millions.

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Spanish judge calls for end to social media anonymity in hate crime cases

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Comments come after wave of false claims online about suspect in killing of 11-year-old boy

A Spanish judge has called for an end to social media anonymity in the wake of a wave of online disinformation after the killing of an 11-year-old boy.

Miguel Ángel Aguilar, a judge from the court that handles hate crimes and discrimination, wants to oblige platforms to reveal users’ true identity in cases of suspected hate crime so the law can impose digital restraining orders.

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Senior Thai politician who slapped reporter to be investigated

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Thai parliament to investigate Prawit Wongsuwon after he repeatedly hit a journalist as she tried to ask him questions

Thailand’s parliament has said it will investigate a senior politician and former army chief after he was filmed slapping a reporter as she tried to ask him questions.

Prawit Wongsuwon lashed out at a journalist from the public broadcaster ThaiPBS on Friday as she asked him about the appointment of Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the kingdom’s new prime minister.

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Man charged in Pakistan for alleged role in spreading false claims before UK riots

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Web developer in Lahore charged with cyberterrorism, after riots thought to have been fuelled by false reports online

Police in Pakistan have charged a man with cyberterrorism for his alleged role in spreading misinformation thought to have led to widespread rioting in the UK, a senior investigator has said.

The suspect was identified as Farhan Asif, 32, a freelance web developer, said Imran Kishwar, the deputy inspector general of investigations in Lahore.

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Japan broadcaster apologises after disputed Senkaku Islands called ‘Chinese territory’ on air

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Unscripted remarks about the Japanese-administered islands were made during during a Chinese-language programme on the public broadcaster NHK

Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, has apologised after a member of staff referred to the disputed Senkaku Islands as “Chinese territory” during an internationally broadcast radio programme this week.

The presenter, a Chinese national in his 40s, made the unscripted remarks for about 20 seconds during a Chinese-language broadcast on Monday on the NHK World-Japan and Radio 2 channels, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

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Zionist Federation leader says Australia-based NYT journalist should be sacked over doxed list

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It was an ‘egregious breach of trust’ that Natasha Frost shared logs of Jewish WhatsApp chat with 600 members, Jeremy Leibler says

The Zionist Federation of Australia president, Jeremy Leibler, says the New York Times should sack a Melbourne-based reporter who downloaded and shared from a private WhatsApp group of Jewish creatives.

The subsequent leaking of the WhatsApp group chat, including members’ contact details, photographs and social media accounts, led to death threats, forced one family into hiding and had a profound effect on the 600-odd members, the partner in law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler alleged.

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Logie awards 2024: ‘television’s most axed man’ Larry Emdur takes gold

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Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe wins big at Australian television’s biggest night, as ceremony broadcaster Seven takes a battering from host Sam Pang

The Morning Show presenter Larry Emdur has reflected on once being “television’s most axed man” after winning the Gold Logie at the Logie awards on Sunday night.

“I’ve never done anything else, and I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” said Emdur, after winning his first Logie in a 40-year career in which he has fronted everything from The Price Is Right to Celebrity Dog School.

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Blow to ESPN and Fox as US judge halts sports streaming venture

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Fubo TV accuses Venu Sports – which also involves Hulu and Warner Bros Discovery – of anti-competitive practices

The launch of Venu Sports will be delayed after a federal judge granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros Discovery.

US district judge Margaret M Garnett in New York said in her 69-page ruling that Fubo was likely to be successful in proving during a trial that the joint venture would violate antitrust laws, and Fubo and consumers would “face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction”.

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Prince Harry hits out at spread of disinformation via AI and social media

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Duke speaks at summit on digital responsibility while on visit with Duchess of Sussex to Colombia

The Duke of Sussex has hit out at online disinformation during a four-day visit to Colombia, warning: “What happens online within a matter of minutes transfers to the streets.”

Speaking in Bogotá at a summit on digital responsibility, Harry said of the spread of false information via artificial intelligence and social media: “People are acting on information that isn’t true.”

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