MPs: Online harm bill a “missed opportunity” to rein in tech giants January 24, 2022 Martyn Landi / Press Association The Government’s draft Online Safety Bill would fail to prevent the sharing of the most “insidious” images of child abuse and violence against women and girls, a new report from MPs has warned. The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee said the draft legislation is currently [...]
The metaverse: real world laws give rise to virtual world problems March 25, 2021 Gregor Pryor discusses how real world laws give rise to virtual world problems as we advance towards making an existence in the metaverse.
British spies urged to use artificial intelligence to fight security threats April 27, 2020 British spooks will need to use artificial intelligence (AI) to fight a range of threats to national security, according to a report published today. Intelligence agencies have been urged to use the technology to detect and block cyber attacks, analyse video and audio evidence, and automate administrative tasks. However, AI is unlikely to predict upcoming [...]
General Election 2019: Watch Boris Johnson urge voters to back Jeremy Corbyn in deep fake video November 12, 2019 Videos of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn apparently endorsing each other have been circulated online, in a bid to highlight the growing risk of misinformation. Voters are being warned not to trust what they read online, as increasingly sophisticated technology allows producers to create convincing deep fake videos. The videos, which were published online today, [...]
Brexit inspires Collins’ first-ever ‘Brexicon’ November 7, 2019 The Collins Dictionary put a spin on its annual word of the year announcement today by releasing its ‘Brexicon’, a list of ten words brought to prominence by Brexit – “for better or for worse.” ‘Cakeism’ – a wish to enjoy two desirable and incompatible alternatives – rubs shoulders with ‘Brexiety’ – a state of [...]
Facebook vs. democracy: Let’s get serious about disinformation October 23, 2019 On Monday, Facebook announced new measures to help combat the spread of disinformation in the looming UK General Election. Plans include working with fact checkers, tracking the origin of political ads, and doing more to take down content that breaks Facebook’s rules. Read more: The number of deepfake videos online has almost doubled While positive, [...]
DCMS chair Damian Collins calls for crackdown on fake news spread by ‘wealthy people’ October 10, 2019 A top MP has called for a crackdown on campaign groups funded by “wealthy people” that spread disinformation on social media. Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, warned that much of the discourse on social media was not spread organically but rather promoted by shady backers. Read more: [...]
Number of deepfake videos online almost doubles October 7, 2019 The number of “deepfake” videos – which use artificial intelligence technology to superimpose images onto existing footage – on the internet has surged over the last nine months. Researchers at cyber security firm Deeptrace found 14,698 deepfake videos online last month, compared to 7,964 in December last year. Read more: The threat of deepfake videos [...]
UK energy boss conned out of £200,000 in ‘deep fake’ fraud October 6, 2019 A top energy executive has been conned out of £200,000 by cyber scammers who used artificial intelligence to mimic his boss’s voice. The UK boss of an unnamed energy firm was tricked into transferring the money following a phone call from that appeared to come from his boss at the German parent company, the Mail [...]
Seeing, but not believing: The threat from Deepfake videos September 12, 2019 Both traditional and social media lit up earlier this year following the launch of a ground-breaking campaign for charity Malaria No More which was fronted by David Beckham. In this 55-second video ad, the football star makes a passionate appeal for support. He makes it, however, in nine different languages. No, David Beckham has not [...]