Chinese hackers are positioning themselves in U.S. critical infrastructure IT networks for a potential clash with the United States, a top American cybersecurity official said Friday.

Morgan Adamski, executive director of U.S. Cyber Command, said Chinese-linked cyber operations are aimed at gaining an advantage in case of a major conflict with the United States.

Officials have warned that China-linked hackers have compromised IT networks and taken steps to carry out disruptive attacks in the event of a conflict. Their activities include gaining access to key networks to enable potential disruptions such as manipulating heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in server rooms, or disrupting critical energy and water controls, U.S. officials said earlier this year.

Beijing routinely denies cyber operations targeting U.S. entities. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Adamski was speaking to researchers at the Cyberwarcon security conference in Arlington, Virginia. On Thursday, U.S. Senator Mark Warner told The Washington Post a suspected China-linked hack on U.S. telecommunications firms was the worst telecom hack in U.S. history.

That cyber espionage operation, dubbed “Salt Typhoon,” has included stolen call records data, compromised communications of top officials of both major U.S. presidential campaigns before the November 5 election, and telecommunications information related to U.S. law enforcement requests, the FBI said recently.

The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are providing technical assistance and information to potential targets, the bureau said.

Adamski said Friday that the U.S. government has “executed globally synchronized activities, both offensively and defensively minded, that are laser-focused on degrading and disrupting PRC cyber operations worldwide.”

Public examples include exposing operations, sanctions, indictments, law enforcement actions and cybersecurity advisories, with input from multiple countries, Adamski said.
…

From digital passports to apps that announce air alerts or enable conscripts to update their information in the draft register, Ukraine is now a world leader in the drive to digitalize government services. From Kyiv, Lesia Bakalets reports on how Russia’s full-scale invasion has pushed Ukraine’s drive to digitalize.
…

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to propose new rules governing undersea internet cables in the face of growing security concerns, as part of a review of regulations on the links that handle nearly all the world’s online traffic.

The FCC voted 5-0 on proposed updates to address the national security concerns over the global network of more than 400 subsea cables that handle more than 98% of international internet traffic.

“With the expansion of data centers, rise of cloud computing, and increasing bandwidth demands of new large language models, these facilities are poised to grow even more critical,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said.

Baltic nations said this week they are investigating whether the cutting of two fiber-optic undersea telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea was sabotage.

Rosenworcel noted that in 2023 Taiwan accused two Chinese vessels of cutting the only two cables that support internet access on the Matsu Islands and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea may have been responsible for the cutting of three cables providing internet service to Europe and Asia.

“While the details of these incidents remain in dispute, what is clear is that these facilities — with locations that are openly published to prevent damage — are becoming a target,” Rosenworcel said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said “turning undersea cables into a political and security issue severely disrupts international market rules, threatens global digital connectivity and cybersecurity, and denies other countries, especially developing countries, the right to develop their undersea cable industry.”

The FCC is conducting its first major review since 2001 and proposing to bar foreign companies that have been denied telecommunications licenses on national security grounds from obtaining submarine cable landing licenses.

It also proposes to bar the use of equipment or services in those undersea cable facilities from companies on an FCC list of companies deemed to pose threats to U.S national security including Huawei, ZTE 000063.SZ 601728.SS, China Telecom 0728.HK and China Mobile 600941.SS.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the commission is considering whether to bar companies from getting undersea cable licenses that are on other lists like the Commerce Department’s Consolidated Screening List. “China has made no secret of its goal to control the market, and therefore the data that flows throughout the world,” Starks said.

Last month, a bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators called on President Joe Biden to undertake “a review of existing vulnerabilities to global undersea cable infrastructure, including the threat of sabotage by Russia and China.”

The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and potential for espionage.

Since 2020, U.S. regulators have been instrumental in the cancellation of four cables whose backers had wanted to link the United States with Hong Kong.

In June, the FCC advanced a proposal to boost the security of information transmitted across the internet after government agencies said a Chinese carrier misrouted traffic.
…

NEW YORK — Nick Pickles, the former head of global affairs at Elon Musk’s social media platform X, is joining forces with one of Musk’s rivals, his fellow OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman.

Pickles, who resigned from X in September, told Reuters on Wednesday that he will serve as chief policy officer for Altman’s Tools for Humanity, the company building the technology to support World Network, formerly known as Worldcoin.

Pickles’ old boss, Musk, and his new boss, Altman, founded ChatGPT creator OpenAI in 2015 but have since fallen out in a messy legal dispute.

World Network, which has faced scrutiny over its data collection, is ramping up efforts to scan people’s irises, using its “orb” devices, to create World ID.

The ID will serve as a digital passport to prove, in the online realm, that its holder is an actual human being as opposed to an AI bot.

Pickles told Reuters that AI is “on the cusp” of overtaking traditional online defenses to determine whether a user is a real person, such as Captcha puzzles. Once AI can blow through those barriers, trust on the Web will further disintegrate.

“It’s imminent,” said Pickles. “Throughout my time at X and at Twitter, one of the consistent issues that kept coming up is, ‘Is this a real account or a bot?'” He added: “I saw every day how this issue is going to be central to the future of online interaction.”

During his 10 years at X, formerly known as Twitter, Pickles served most recently as the company’s top ambassador to heads of state across the globe. In that capacity, he worked closely with policymakers and regulators to shape regulatory proposals, negotiate compliance and represent the company in global forums.

He received a promotion at X in July.

One month later, billionaire Musk sued OpenAI and Altman for allegedly violating contract provisions that would have put the public good ahead of profits.

Pickles declined to comment on the litigation.

Pickles said he was optimistic about the new regulatory framework likely to be ushered in by the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

His priority, he said, is hiring a lobbyist in Washington.
…

Farmers in Kenya are using artificial intelligence to help them get better crop yields. An AI-powered tool – called Virtual Agronomist – engages directly with farmers to help them create tailored plans to optimize the quality and quantity of their crops. Mohammed Yusuf has more from Mwea, Kenya.
…

U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade.

The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice calls for sweeping punishments that would include a sale of Google’s industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine.

A sale of Chrome “will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet,” Justice Department lawyers argued in their filing.

Although regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct.

The broad scope of the recommended penalties underscores how severely regulators operating under President Joe Biden’s administration believe Google should be punished following an August ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that branded the company as a monopolist.

The Justice Department decision-makers who will inherit the case after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year might not be as strident. The Washington, D.C., court hearings on Google’s punishment are scheduled to begin in April and Mehta is aiming to issue his final decision before Labor Day.

If Mehta embraces the government’s recommendations, Google would be forced to sell its 16-year-old Chrome browser within six months of the final ruling. But the company certainly would appeal any punishment, potentially prolonging a legal tussle that has dragged on for more than four years.

Besides seeking a Chrome spinoff and a corralling of the Android software, the Justice Department wants the judge to ban Google from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine as the default option on Apple’s iPhone and other devices. It would also ban Google from favoring its own services, such as YouTube or its recently launched artificial intelligence platform, Gemini.

Regulators also want Google to license the search index data it collects from people’s queries to its rivals, giving them a better chance at competing with the tech giant. On the commercial side of its search engine, Google would be required to provide more transparency into how it sets the prices that advertisers pay to be listed near the top of some targeted search results.

Kent Walker, Google’s chief legal officer, lashed out at the Justice Department for pursuing “a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology.” In a blog post, Walker warned the “overly broad proposal” would threaten personal privacy while undermining Google’s early leadership in artificial intelligence, “perhaps the most important innovation of our time.”

Wary of Google’s increasing use of artificial intelligence in its search results, regulators also advised Mehta to ensure websites will be able to shield their content from Google’s AI training techniques.

The measures, if they are ordered, threaten to upend a business expected to generate more than $300 billion in revenue this year.

“The playing field is not level because of Google’s conduct, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,” the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”

It’s still possible that the Justice Department could ease off attempts to break up Google, especially if Trump takes the widely expected step of replacing Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, who was appointed by Biden to oversee the agency’s antitrust division.

Although the case targeting Google was originally filed during the final months of Trump’s first term in office, Kanter oversaw the high-profile trial that culminated in Mehta’s ruling against Google. Working in tandem with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, Kanter took a get-tough stance against Big Tech that triggered other attempted crackdowns on industry powerhouses such as Apple and discouraged many business deals from getting done during the past four years.

Trump recently expressed concerns that a breakup might destroy Google but didn’t elaborate on alternative penalties he might have in mind. “What you can do without breaking it up is make sure it’s more fair,” Trump said last month. Matt Gaetz, the former Republican congressman that Trump nominated to be the next U.S. Attorney General, has previously called for the breakup of Big Tech companies.

Gaetz faces a tough confirmation hearing.

This latest filing gave Kanter and his team a final chance to spell out measures that they believe are needed to restore competition in search. It comes six weeks after Justice first floated the idea of a breakup in a preliminary outline of potential penalties.

But Kanter’s proposal is already raising questions about whether regulators seek to impose controls that extend beyond the issues covered in last year’s trial, and — by extension — Mehta’s ruling.

Banning the default search deals that Google now pays more than $26 billion annually to maintain was one of the main practices that troubled Mehta in his ruling.

It’s less clear whether the judge will embrace the Justice Department’s contention that Chrome needs to be spun out of Google and or Android should be completely walled off from its search engine.

“It is probably going a little beyond,” Syracuse University law professor Shubha Ghosh said of the Chrome breakup. “The remedies should match the harm, it should match the transgression. This does seem a little beyond that pale.”

Google rival DuckDuckGo, whose executives testified during last year’s trial, asserted the Justice Department is simply doing what needs to be done to rein in a brazen monopolist.

“Undoing Google’s overlapping and widespread illegal conduct over more than a decade requires more than contract restrictions: it requires a range of remedies to create enduring competition,” Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo’s senior vice president of public affairs, said in a statement.

Trying to break up Google harks back to a similar punishment initially imposed on Microsoft a quarter century ago following another major antitrust trial that culminated in a federal judge deciding the software maker had illegally used his Windows operating system for PCs to stifle competition.

However, an appeals court overturned an order that would have broken up Microsoft, a precedent many experts believe will make Mehta reluctant to go down a similar road with the Google case. 
…

WASHINGTON — Pakistan’s top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful, igniting a debate on privacy rights and access to information amid a government crackdown on the internet.

Allama Raghib Naeemi, head of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), issued a decree saying it makes no difference whether a VPN is registered or unregistered.

“If attempts are made to access indecent or immoral sites, character assassination is done, statements are being made against national security, or if various incidents of religious blasphemy are being spread through it, then [using] it would completely be un-Islamic,” he said.

A VPN protects online privacy by creating a secure connection and is used to access blocked content, protect data from hackers and support remote work or secure transactions.

Several internet service providers in Pakistan expressed concerns Tuesday over the possible imposition of blanket restrictions on VPNs, warning that the move would anger users and impact online businesses.

Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement, “It is essential to recognize that blanket restrictions or sweeping narratives around tools like VPNs risk alienating segments of society, particularly those who rely on these tools for entirely legitimate purposes, such as IT exports, financial transactions, and academic research.”

Arshad, in reference to CII’s declaration, said technology is neutral and that how it is used determines whether it is aligned with ethics.

Amnesty Tech, part of Amnesty International, said last week on X that imposing restrictions on VPNs would amount to “violating the right to privacy under international law, restricting people’s access to information, and suppressing free expression.”

Qibla Ayaz, former chairman of CII, told VOA Deewa it seems as if a government agency has reached out to the religious body seeking its stance on the VPN issue.

“Similar requests were sent by the government in 2023,” he said. 

The CII is a constitutional body in Pakistan that advises the legislature on whether a certain law is repugnant to Islam, namely to the Quran and Sunna.

According to activists and experts, CII’s declarations on technology use are unwarranted and will only strengthen the government’s digital suppression of social media users.

Haroon Baloch, a Pakistani digital rights activist, believes the proposed restrictions on VPNs are aimed at suppressing political dissent.

“First, the government had compliance challenges with X. And when the platform did not agree with the government’s requests, then it banned X. And when X was available with the help of VPN, the government is planning to ban the VPN now,” Haroon told VOA.

Pakistan banned X in February and installed firewalls to restrict access to certain online content. But consumers are using VPNs to access restricted networks and content and to hide their identities and locations. 

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir told a gathering at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute on November 16 that technology has played a pivotal role in the dissemination of information, but “the spread of misleading and incorrect information has become a significant challenge.”

In a speech to religious leaders in Islamabad earlier in August, Munir said, “Anarchy is spread through social media.”

A directive in October from the Interior Ministry asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block “illegal” VPNs that had not registered by the end of November.

The Interior Ministry charged in a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, which oversees the internet and mobile industry and has broad powers over online content and the licensing of service providers, that terrorists are increasingly using VPNs to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan.

“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” the letter said, adding that pornography sites are frequently accessed using VPNs.

“These trends … warrant the prohibition of unauthorized virtual private networks in order to address critical threats,” the letter said.

The 2024 “Freedom on the Net” report published by Freedom House says the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has historically implemented policies that undermine internet freedom, removed content without a transparent process and instituted wholesale bans on platforms.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa Service.
…

WASHINGTON — Pakistan’s top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful, igniting a debate on privacy rights and access to information amid a government crackdown on the internet.

Allama Raghib Naeemi, head of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), issued a decree saying it makes no difference whether a VPN is registered or unregistered.

“If attempts are made to access indecent or immoral sites, character assassination is done, statements are being made against national security, or if various incidents of religious blasphemy are being spread through it, then [using] it would completely be un-Islamic,” he said.

A VPN protects online privacy by creating a secure connection and is used to access blocked content, protect data from hackers and support remote work or secure transactions.

Several internet service providers in Pakistan expressed concerns Tuesday over the possible imposition of blanket restrictions on VPNs, warning that the move would anger users and impact online businesses.

Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement, “It is essential to recognize that blanket restrictions or sweeping narratives around tools like VPNs risk alienating segments of society, particularly those who rely on these tools for entirely legitimate purposes, such as IT exports, financial transactions, and academic research.”

Arshad, in reference to CII’s declaration, said technology is neutral and that how it is used determines whether it is aligned with ethics.

Amnesty Tech, part of Amnesty International, said last week on X that imposing restrictions on VPNs would amount to “violating the right to privacy under international law, restricting people’s access to information, and suppressing free expression.”

Qibla Ayaz, former chairman of CII, told VOA Deewa it seems as if a government agency has reached out to the religious body seeking its stance on the VPN issue.

“Similar requests were sent by the government in 2023,” he said. 

The CII is a constitutional body in Pakistan that advises the legislature on whether a certain law is repugnant to Islam, namely to the Quran and Sunna.

According to activists and experts, CII’s declarations on technology use are unwarranted and will only strengthen the government’s digital suppression of social media users.

Haroon Baloch, a Pakistani digital rights activist, believes the proposed restrictions on VPNs are aimed at suppressing political dissent.

“First, the government had compliance challenges with X. And when the platform did not agree with the government’s requests, then it banned X. And when X was available with the help of VPN, the government is planning to ban the VPN now,” Haroon told VOA.

Pakistan banned X in February and installed firewalls to restrict access to certain online content. But consumers are using VPNs to access restricted networks and content and to hide their identities and locations. 

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir told a gathering at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute on November 16 that technology has played a pivotal role in the dissemination of information, but “the spread of misleading and incorrect information has become a significant challenge.”

In a speech to religious leaders in Islamabad earlier in August, Munir said, “Anarchy is spread through social media.”

A directive in October from the Interior Ministry asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block “illegal” VPNs that had not registered by the end of November.

The Interior Ministry charged in a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, which oversees the internet and mobile industry and has broad powers over online content and the licensing of service providers, that terrorists are increasingly using VPNs to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan.

“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” the letter said, adding that pornography sites are frequently accessed using VPNs.

“These trends … warrant the prohibition of unauthorized virtual private networks in order to address critical threats,” the letter said.

The 2024 “Freedom on the Net” report published by Freedom House says the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has historically implemented policies that undermine internet freedom, removed content without a transparent process and instituted wholesale bans on platforms.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa Service.
…

Artificial intelligence was much discussed and demonstrated at the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, South Africa earlier this month. The conference highlighted how technology is changing industries on the continent. Vicky Stark filed this report.
…

The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has sparked debate in higher education, raising questions about ethics and integrity in teaching, learning and knowledge creation. In South Africa, some academic institutions are taking a proactive approach, integrating AI into their curricula. Experts say this step is not only innovative but also helps level the playing field among students. Zaheer Cassim reports from Johannesburg.
…

DAEJEON, South Korea — Imagine a wheelchair equipped with wheels flexible enough to navigate all manner of obstacles from curbs to humps and even staircases.  

Or perhaps an unmanned delivery vehicle using the same wheels that takes the stairs to deliver food and groceries right to your door. 

This is what researchers from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) envision for their “morphing” wheel, which can roll over obstacles up to 1.3 times the height of its radius.  

Inspired by the surface tension of water droplets, it goes from solid to fluid when it encounters impediments. 

Other possible applications include robots that spy on the enemy in the battlefield. 

The KIMM team also hopes that morphing wheels will eventually be used with two- and four-legged robots – currently limited in movement efficiency and susceptible to vibration – that can carry payloads that need stable movement in industrial settings. 

“The goal is to make this viable for speed up to 100 kph, or the speed of an average car,” said Song Sung-hyuk, principal researcher at KIMM. 

Wheels developed for a similar purpose such as nonpneumatic or airless tires have flexibility but are limited in their ability to overcome obstacles, said Song, who is a member of KIMM’s AI robotics research team.  

The morphing wheel consists of an outer hoop of a chain and a series of spoke wires running through the hub. The stiffness of the spokes – and hence the wheel – is automatically regulated by a sensor as it reacts to the terrain. 

Song’s team demonstrated to Reuters a prototype wheelchair mounted on morphing wheels as it climbed stairs with 18-cm steps with a life-size dummy sitting in it. The team has also tested a device mounted with the wheel at speeds of up to 30 kph. 

The morphing wheel was featured on the cover of the journal Science Robotics in August.
…

BEIJING/HONG KONG — A 22-year-old Chinese woman’s account of how she was lured into the country’s illegal surrogacy industry before suffering a miscarriage went viral on Chinese social media this week and raised heated debates over women’s rights and social inequality. 

Surrogacy is banned in China, and authorities have vowed to severely crack down on illegal practices, including the buying and selling of sperm, egg and surrogacy services. 

The incident comes as Chinese authorities grapple with how to increase the country’s birth rate as more young couples put off having children or opt to have none. 

China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023 and Beijing in October rallied local governments to direct resources towards fixing China’s population crisis to create a “birth-friendly” society.  

Zhang Jing, 22, told state-backed Phoenix TV magazine that she donated her eggs out of financial desperation and then agreed to “rent out her uterus” to be impregnated for a total of 30,000 yuan ($4,152).  

If she “successfully” delivered the baby, she would be paid a total of 240,000 yuan. At five months pregnant, she experienced severe complications and had to have an abortion.  

Zhang’s story amassed more than 86 million views and 10,000 comments on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with the hashtag “#2000s-born Surrogate Miscarriage Girl Speaks Out#.” 

The majority of comments strongly opposed surrogacy. Some warned that legalizing surrogacy in China could lead to increased competition that would lower compensation and further devalue women. 

“No woman could escape this if surrogacy were legalized,” one user wrote, while another said, “Legalizing surrogacy would drive down prices and commodify women.” 

Zhang’s story ignited calls for a more thorough crackdown on illegal surrogacy by authorities, with some commenters warning that allowing the black market to continue to operate could even normalize human organ trafficking.  

“Life should not be traded as a commodity,” one user wrote. “If this extends to the sale of organs, it will only get darker and darker, and women will have no future.” 

The incident comes a few weeks after a 28-year-old pregnant woman who acted as a surrogate in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu was allegedly abandoned by her surrogacy agency. 
…

MELBOURNE, Australia — How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult.

The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.

The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories have unanimously backed the plan, although Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold was set at 14.

But a vocal assortment of experts in the fields of technology and child welfare have responded with alarm. More than 140 such experts signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the 16-year age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

Details of what is proposed and how it will be implemented are scant. More will be known when legislation is introduced into the Parliament next week.

The concerned teen

Leo Puglisi, a 17-year-old Melbourne student who founded online streaming service 6 News Australia at the age of 11, laments that lawmakers imposing the ban lack the perspective on social media that young people have gained by growing up in the digital age.

“With respect to the government and prime minister, they didn’t grow up in the social media age, they’re not growing up in the social media age, and what a lot of people are failing to understand here is that, like it or not, social media is a part of people’s daily lives,” Leo said.

“It’s part of their communities, it’s part of work, it’s part of entertainment, it’s where they watch content – young people aren’t listening to the radio or reading newspapers or watching free-to-air TV – and so it can’t be ignored. The reality is this ban, if implemented, is just kicking the can down the road for when a young person goes on social media,” Leo added.

Leo has been applauded for his work online. He was a finalist in his home state Victoria’s nomination for the Young Australian of the Year award, which will be announced in January. His nomination bid credits his platform with “fostering a new generation of informed, critical thinkers.”

The grieving mom-turned-activist

One of the proposal’s supporters, cyber safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children.

Her 15-year-old daughter Carly Ryan was murdered in 2007 in South Australia state by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online. In a grim milestone of the digital age, Carly was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator.

“Kids are being exposed to harmful pornography, they’re being fed misinformation, there are body image issues, there’s sextortion, online predators, bullying. There are so many different harms for them to try and manage and kids just don’t have the skills or the life experience to be able to manage those well,” Sonya Ryan said.

“The result of that is we’re losing our kids. Not only what happened to Carly, predatory behavior, but also we’re seeing an alarming rise in suicide of young people,” she added.

Sonya Ryan is part of a group advising the government on a national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in Australia.

She wholeheartedly supports Australia setting the social media age limit at 16.

“We’re not going to get this perfect,” she said. “We have to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to deal with what we already have which is an anxious generation and an addicted generation of children to social media.”

A major concern for social media users of all ages is the legislation’s potential privacy implications.

Age estimation technology has proved inaccurate, so digital identification appears to be the most likely option for assuring a user is at least 16.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an office that describes itself as the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online, has suggested in planning documents adopting the role of authenticator. The government would hold the identity data and the platforms would discover through the commissioner whether a potential account holder was 16.

The skeptical internet expert

Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, fears that the government will make the platforms hold the users’ identification data instead.

The government has already said the onus will be on the platforms, rather than on children or their parents, to ensure everyone meets the age limit.

“The worst possible outcome seems to be the one that the government may be inadvertently pushing towards, which would be that the social media platforms themselves would end up being the identity arbiter,” Leaver said.

“They would be the holder of identity documents which would be absolutely terrible because they have a fairly poor track record so far of holding on to personal data well,” he added.

The platforms will have a year once the legislation has become law to work out how the ban can be implemented.

Ryan, who divides her time between Adelaide in South Australia and Fort Worth, Texas, said privacy concerns should not stand in the way of removing children from social media.

“What is the cost if we don’t? If we don’t put the safety of our children ahead of profit and privacy?” she asked. 
…

Brussels — The European Commission on Thursday fined Meta Platforms $840.24 million over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace, it said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Reuters.

“The European Commission has fined Meta … for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook and by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers,” the European Commission said.

Meta said it will appeal the decision, but in the meantime, it will comply and will work quickly and constructively to launch a solution which addresses the points raised.

The move by the European Commission comes two years after it accused the U.S. tech giant of giving its classified ads service Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage by bundling the two services together.

The European Union opened formal proceedings into possible anticompetitive conduct of Facebook in June, 2021, and in December, 2022, raised concerns that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services.

Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016 and expanded into several European countries a year later.

The EU decision argues that Meta imposes Facebook Marketplace on people who use Facebook in an illegal “tie” but Meta said that argument ignores the fact that Facebook users can choose whether to engage with Marketplace, and many do not.

Meta said the Commission claimed that Marketplace had the potential to hinder the growth of large incumbent online marketplaces in the EU but could not find any evidence of harm to competitors.

Companies risk fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover for EU antitrust violations.
…

Zhuhai, China — Stealth fighter jets and attack drones took center stage as China’s largest air show officially opened on Tuesday, an opportunity for Beijing to showcase its growing military might to potential customers and rivals alike.

China has poured resources into modernizing and expanding its aviation capabilities as it faces off against the United States and others around regional flashpoints like Taiwan.

Record numbers of Chinese warplanes have been sent around the self-ruled democratic island, which Beijing claims as its territory, over the past few years.

The star of Airshow China, which showcases Beijing’s civil and military aerospace sector every two years in the southern city of Zhuhai, is the new J-35A stealth fighter jet.

Its inclusion in the airshow suggests it is nearly ready to enter operation, which would make China the only country other than the United States to have two stealth fighters in action, experts said.

The J-35A is lighter than China’s existing model, the J20, and looks more similar in design to a US F-35.

A group of J20s performed a display flight on Tuesday morning, flying in a diamond formation across a grey sky.

State news agency Xinhua quoted military expert Wang Mingzhi as saying the combination of the two models greatly enhances the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)’s “ability to conduct offensive operations in high-threat and contested environments.”

Attack drones

The airshow will feature a dedicated drone zone for the first time, reflecting their increased prominence in warzones, including Ukraine.

The SS-UAV — a massive mothership that can rapidly release swarms of smaller drones for intelligence gathering, as well as strikes — will be on display in Zhuhai, according to the South China Morning Post.

In October the United States unveiled sanctions targeting China-based companies linked to the production of drones that Russia has deployed in Ukraine.

Moscow and Beijing have deepened military and defense ties since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor three years ago, and the secretary of its Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, is due to visit Zhuhai.

This year the show’s focus is squarely on the military sector, as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the PLAAF, but China’s burgeoning space industry will also be showcasing developments.

A model of a homegrown reusable space cargo shuttle will debut at the show, Xinhua reported on Monday.

Named Haoloong, the shuttle is designed to be launched on a commercial rocket, and then dock with China’s space station Tiangong.

“It can re-enter the atmosphere, fly and land horizontally at a designated airport, allowing for recovery and reuse,” Xinhua said.

Beijing has poured huge resources into its space program over the past decade in an effort to catch up to traditional space powers the United States and Russia.
…

LISBON, PORTUGAL — Lisbon will this week play host to Europe’s biggest annual tech conference, Web Summit, where industry leaders and lawmakers will weigh the pros and cons of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Senior executives from firms such as Apple, Microsoft, and Meta will join high-ranking officials from Europe for debates about the future of artificial intelligence, social media regulation, and the impact a second Trump presidency may have on the continent.

Trump has previously promised he could end the war between Ukraine and Russia within 24 hours of taking office. Days after Trump’s re-election, two senior Ukrainian government officials, Alex Bornyakov and Mykhailo Fedorov, will take to the stage to discuss how the country has continued innovating in the face of conflict.

John Adam, chief revenue officer at software development firm Aimsoftpro, is among those attending. About 70% of the company’s workforce is still based in Ukraine, with the rest having relocated around Europe after the war’s outbreak in 2022.

“There’s mixed feelings because the Trump approach looks like it’s more geared towards the present lines of conflict, which is not an ideal scenario for Ukraine, and there’s a reluctance to accept that. At the same time, we would like this to have an endpoint,” he said.

The X factor

While not expected to attend, tech billionaire and vocal Trump supporter Elon Musk will be a recurring theme, from his role in Ukraine via satellite service Starlink to his success with space exploration firm SpaceX and controversial stewardship of social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

One panel will debate how Europe might develop a homegrown rival to SpaceX; another whether Musk “destroyed Twitter.” Joe Benarroch, who quit his role as X’s de facto spokesperson and head of business operations in June, will join a panel titled “What to do about social media.”

While the EU has tried forcing online platforms to clamp down on harmful content, Trump’s election may lead to them reducing moderation efforts, according to Mark Weinstein, founder of privacy-focused social media platform MeWe, who will share the stage with Benarroch on Wednesday.

“Historically, Trump has been highly critical of online moderation,” he said. “To avoid political retribution, major social networks are likely to continue the trend of becoming significantly more permissive with content they allow on their platforms.”
…

The state of California has passed several laws attempting to regulate artificial intelligence, including AI used to create realistic looking but manipulated audio or video — known as a deepfake. In this U.S. election season, the aim is to counter misinformation. But it has raised concerns about free speech. From California, Genia Dulot has our story.
…

The navigation systems of thousands of passenger aircraft are being disrupted every day as they fly close to conflict zones, according to researchers. They are warning that the blocking or “spoofing” technology behind it could put lives at risk. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.
…

ADAMA, ETHIOPIA — Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region say access to phone communication and internet service has been disrupted for months as government forces fight against two rebel groups.

The disruption of mobile phone calls and internet data has been concentrated in conflict-hit Oromia zones, where government forces have engaged in fighting against the Oromo Liberation Army, or the OLA.

A resident from South Oromia of Guji Zone Wadera Wereda, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said phone and internet data connections have been cut in his area due to the fighting.

He said there was fighting on Monday and the week before in Wadera Wereda, where regional security personnel including local police were killed. Other residents confirmed the same clashes without giving specific casualty figures. Local authorities could not be reached for comment.

The data outage and network disruptions were also reported in the North Shewa Zone administration of Oromia region.

“The zone has been under network blockade for the last two months due to the insurgency,” said a second resident from Dera Wereda in North Shewa, who also sought anonymity due to safety reasons.

Residents also said people who lost their SIM cards or want replacements could not do so at local telecom offices because the conflict has affected supplies. Network disruptions also impacted schools in the area that access materials online.

He says his school had to transfer all its grade-12 students this year to neighboring Wereda due to a lack of service.

“We cannot manage to send their details and credentials to relevant bodies,” with the downed service, he told VOA in a phone interview.

Journalists have waited for hours to speak to residents in Kelem Welega Zone, whose network is down during morning hours. One resident traveled to Dembi Dolo, about 620 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa, to speak with the media about the network outages.

The disruptions have been present since the yearslong fighting between federal forces and the OLA began in 2019. In one of the latest deadliest attacks, suspected OLA fighters killed as many as 17 pro-government militiamen in the West Showa zone of Oromia on October 17, according to residents and local officials.

A second rebel group, Fano, is also fighting in the neighboring Amhara region, which spills over on either side.

Residents say as the intensity of the clashes increases, the network situation becomes worse, as the government resorts to shutting down communication.

“It’s a very unfortunate tactic that is usually used by governments that are struggling with legitimacy issues,” said Horn of Africa security analyst Samira Gaid.

“It only serves to convince the masses that the government has something to hide. Rather than controlling the narrative or news reporting, it elevates mistrust in government, adds to misinformation and disinformation, and contributes to groups becoming more covert with their communications,” she told VOA.

Ethiopia’s state-run communication outlets have not responded to repeated VOA requests for comment.

Speaking at a press conference in Addis Ababa last month, Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio Telecom, admitted that such problems exist in conflict areas. She declined to give specific answers, referring reporters to other government entities.

In June, the company said it has repaired and restored service to dozens of mobile stations that had previously been damaged in the western region of the country.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
…

LONDON — The European Union is investigating Chinese online retailer Temu over suspicions it’s failing to prevent the sale of illegal products, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm said on Thursday.

The European Commission opened its investigation five months after adding Temu to the list of “very large online platforms” needing the strictest level of scrutiny under the bloc’s Digital Services Act. It’s a wide-ranging rulebook designed to clean up online platforms and keep internet users safe, with the threat of hefty fines.

Temu started entering Western markets only in the past two years and has grown in popularity by offering cheap goods — from clothing to home products — that are shipped from sellers in China. The company, owned by Pinduoduo Incorporated, a popular e-commerce site in China, now has 92 million users in the EU.

Temu said it “takes its obligations under the DSA seriously, continuously investing to strengthen our compliance system and safeguard consumer interests on our platform.”

“We will cooperate fully with regulators to support our shared goal of a safe, trusted marketplace for consumers,” the company said in a statement.

European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said in a press release that Brussels wants to make sure products sold on Temu’s platform “meet EU standards and do not harm consumers.”

EU enforcement will “guarantee a level playing field and that every platform, including Temu, fully respects the laws that keep our European market safe and fair for all,” she said.

The commission’s investigation will look into whether Temu’s systems are doing enough to crack down on “rogue traders” selling “noncompliant goods” amid concerns that they are able to swiftly reappear after being suspended. The commission didn’t single out specific illegal products that were being sold on the platform.

Regulators are also examining the risks from Temu’s “addictive design,” including “game-like” reward programs, and what the company is doing to mitigate those risks.

Also under investigation is Temu’s compliance with two other DSA requirements: giving researchers access to data and transparency on recommender systems. Companies must detail how they recommend content and products and give users at least one option to see recommendations that are not based on their personal profile and preferences.

Temu now has the chance to respond to the commission, which can decide to impose a fine or drop the case if the company makes changes or can prove that the suspicions aren’t valid.

Brussels has been cracking down on tech companies since the DSA took effect last year. It has also opened an investigation into another e-commerce platform, AliExpress, as well as social media sites such as X and Tiktok, which bowed to pressure after the commission demanded answers about a new rewards feature.

Temu has also faced scrutiny in the United States, where a congressional report last year accused the company of failing to prevent goods made by forced labor from being sold on its platform.
…