International

International


UN chief calls for coordinated global action on disinformation, hate and artificial intelligence

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The proliferation of hate and lies on digital platforms and the threat that artificial intelligence can become an uncontrolled “monster” demand coordinated global action — starting with a code of conduct for governments, tech companies and advertisers that promotes truth and protects human rights, the U.N. chief said Monday. Secretary-General Antonio […]

Read More


Judge in FTX bankruptcy rejects media challenge, says customer names can remain secret

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The names of individual customers of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading can be permanently shielded from public disclosure, a Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled Friday. Following a two-day hearing, Judge John Dorsey rejected arguments from lawyers for several media outlets and for the U.S. bankruptcy trustee, which serves as a government watchdog […]

Read More


Lawyer wraps up Prince Harry’s phone hacking case by grilling ex tabloid reporter

LONDON (AP) — A lawyer for Prince Harry finished setting out the royal’s case against a newspaper publisher on Thursday, quizzing a former tabloid reporter about information inserted into stories by then-editor Piers Morgan. On the final day of evidence, attorney David Sherborne grilled former Daily Mirror royal correspondent Jane Kerr, whose byline appears on […]

Read More


Former ByteDance executive says Chinese Communist Party tracked Hong Kong protesters via data

HONG KONG (AP) — A former executive at ByteDance, the Chinese company which owns the popular short-video app TikTok, says in a legal filing that some members of the ruling Communist Party used data held by the company to identify and locate protesters in Hong Kong. Yintao Yu, formerly head of engineering for ByteDance in […]

Read More


Senators call on TikTok CEO to explain ‘inaccurate’ statements about how company manages US data

NEW YORK (AP) — Two U.S. senators are asking TikTok to explain what they called “misleading or inaccurate” responses about how it stores and provides access to U.S. user data after recent news reports raised questions about how the Chinese-owned social media platform handles some sensitive information. In a letter sent Tuesday to TikTok CEO […]

Read More


Microsoft will pay $20M to settle U.S. charges of illegally collecting children’s data

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft will pay a fine of $20 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it illegally collected and retained the data of children who signed up to use its Xbox video game console. The agency charged that Microsoft gathered the data without notifying parents or obtaining their consent, and that […]

Read More


Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?

LONDON (AP) — Critics accuse the British administration of running “government by WhatsApp” because of the popularity of the messaging app with politicians and officials. So it feels inevitable that a tussle over WhatsApp messages is at the heart of Britain’s official inquiry into how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of messages exchanged […]

Read More


In gun law push, Tennessee governor’s office memo says NRA prefers to ’round up mentally ill people’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s administration accused the National Rifle Association of wanting to use involuntary commitment laws “to round up mentally ill people and deprive them of other liberties,” according to documents drafted by the Republican’s staffers as part of their initial attempt to pass a gun control proposal earlier this […]

Read More


Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools ‘due to vulgarity or violence’

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah after a parent frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children. And the Book of Mormon could be next. The 72,000-student Davis […]

Read More


Amazon to pay $31 million in privacy violation penalties for Alexa voice assistant and Ring camera

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant. Separately, the company agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds […]

Read More


EU data authority launches probe into Frontex migrant interview breaches

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s border and coast guard agency is collecting information from migrants that could end up identifying vulnerable people seeking sanctuary from persecution in their homelands, according to a report by the EU’s data protection watchdog. The European Data Protection Supervisor, or EDPS, also announced that it is launching an investigation […]

Read More


China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for beefed up national security measures

A meeting headed by party leader and President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence,” the official Xinhua News Agency said. Xi, who is China’s head of state, commander of the military and chair of the party’s National Security Commission, […]

Read More