[ad_1] TikTok allegedly asked its moderators to pull mentions of topics like the Tiananmen Square massacre, Tibet’s calls for independence and other content that challenges the Chinese government’s version of events. The service said it had retired the guidelines in May and that it had been using a “blunt approach” to minimizing drama on TikTok […]
Category: Politics
G20 leaders will discuss raising taxes for big tech firms next week
[ad_1] The finance ministers are scheduled to meet in Washington, where they’ll review proposals by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — the group tasked with overhauling tax rules that date back to the 1920s. The new rules may create a corporate income tax of a few percentage points, which could make […]
UNICEF now takes bitcoin and ether donations
[ad_1] When UNICEF receives a cryptocurrency donation, it won’t cash it out for a national currency. Rather, it will hold onto the bitcoin or ether and send the funds to a charitable cause in that same tender. This method will maintain a transparent chain of custody across the donation process and will ensure that the […]
Apple removes Taiwan flag emoji from iOS in Hong Kong
[ad_1] Apple’s region lock of ROC Taiwan flag 🇹🇼 extended beyond CN devices to HK and Macau’s in the iOS/iPadOS 13.1.1 rollout. Interestingly, the new lock only affects the keyboard, and has no problem displaying and is easy to bypass by switching region. https://t.co/RVRKNQyc1l pic.twitter.com/8eQXambiAQ — 王博源 Wang Boyuan (@thisboyuan) October 3, 2019 This isn’t […]
California’s new police body cam law blocks the use of facial recognition
[ad_1] In August, backers of California’s Body Camera Accountability Act pointed out a test of facial recognition software that identified 26 state lawmakers as criminals. They argued it showed the flaws of such technology, and now Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB1215 into law, preventing law enforcement in the state from “installing, activating, or using […]
FBI use of NSA’s electronic surveillance data was illegal
[ad_1] The NSA database included both “upstream” and “downstream” (better known as PRISM) surveillance of electronic communications collected without a warrant under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). In some cases, the database swept up info about American citizens. The FISA court, under U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, found tens of thousands […]
US government adds Chinese facial recognition firms to entity list
[ad_1] The blacklisted tech companies include Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., which are two of the largest video surveillance firms in the world. Both companies have cameras that feature facial recognition capabilities. AI giants SenseTime Group Ltd. — the most valuable AI startup in the world, according to Bloomberg — […]
A House bill could cap the concentration of nicotine in e-cigs
[ad_1] The European Union enforces a similar cap, but the US does not currently have a national standard. According to CNN, Juul’s five-percent pods have 59 mg/ml. Juul has said that’s equivalent to the nicotine-per-puff ratio in a pack of cigarettes. Some say the high-nicotine content in vape products is one reason the rate of […]
California cracks down on political and pornographic deepfakes
[ad_1] Deepfake videos have become more convincing as of late, especially recent ones from Ctrl Shift Face that show comedian/actor Bill Hader’s face replaced by Tom Cruise. Those are amusing, but other deepfake software — like those that places the faces of actors like Scarlett Johansson onto the bodies of porn stars — are a […]
EU grills Facebook over Libra’s financial and privacy risks
[ad_1] The questioning is part of a larger EU effort to determine if and how Libra should be regulated, provided it’s even allowed to operate in the region. There are significant hurdles to that happening. The European Central Bank’s Benoît Coeuré has warned that the standards for approval “will be very high,” and the French […]