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"The development of autonomous military systems - dubbed "killer robots" by campaigners opposed to them - is deeply contentious. Earlier this year, Google withdrew from the Pentagon's Project Maven, which uses machine learning to analyse video feeds from drones, after ethical objections from the tech giant's staff. The government insists it "does not possess fully autonomous weapons and has no intention of developing them". But, since 2015, the UK has declined to support proposals put forward at the UN to ban them. Now, using government data, Freedom of Information requests and open-source information, a year-long investigation reveals that the MoD and defence contractors are funding dozens of artificial intelligence programmes for use in conflict."

"Vietnam has introduced a new cybersecurity law, which criminalises criticising the government online and forces internet providers to give authorities' user data when requested, sparking claims of a "totalitarian" crackdown on dissent. The law, which mirrors China's draconian internet rules, came into effect on 1 January and forces internet providers to censor content deemed "toxic" by the ruling communist government. Vietnam's ministry of public security said it will tackle "hostile and reactionary forces", but human rights groups said it was authorities' latest method of silencing free speech."

"The "battle for Telegram" pits one of Russia's most popular messaging apps - with more than 13 million users - against the internet censor Roskomnadzor, in a public cat-and-mouse game to block traffic that has put the agency's reputation on the line. Telegram is widely used by the Russian political establishment, and prominent politicians and officials have openly flouted or criticised the ban. Data from the app showed several Kremlin officials had continued to sign in on Tuesday evening, four days after a court ordered the service to be blocked over alleged terrorism concerns."

"This is the difference, tech executives and experts say, between consensual identity verification and non-consensual surveillance."

"In the last year, Facebook adjusted some of the most fundamental rules about what gets posted on its platform, halting algorithmic recommendations of political groups, banning lies about vaccines and removing a number of high-profile figures for spreading misinformation and hate - including Donald Trump. But researchers say the social media platform is not enforcing those policies as effectively when it comes to misinformation in Spanish - a blind spot that may prove deadly as health lies spread through the most vulnerable populations during the global vaccine effort."

" The children's charity NSPCC has called on Facebook to resume a programme that scanned private messages for indications of child abuse, with new data suggesting that almost half of referrals for child sexual abuse material are now falling below the radar. Recent changes to the European commission's e-privacy directive, which are being finalised, require messaging services to follow strict new restrictions on the privacy of message data. Facebook blamed that directive for shutting down the child protection operation, but the children's charity says Facebook has gone too far in reading the law as banning it entirely."

"Amnesty argues facial recognition is incompatible with basic privacy rights"

"A study last year of 3.1 million workers in North America, Europe and the Middle East found "significant and durable increases" in both the average number of emails sent internally, and the number of recipients. By measuring the time between the first and last emails sent (or meetings attended) in a 24-hour period, the researchers concluded that, since the pandemic, the average workday had extended by 48.5 minutes."

"Prolific digital rights activism organization Fight for the Future has partnered with the group Students for Sensible Drug Policy to stop facial recognition technology from coming to college campuses. "

"But the policy explicitly covers only misinformation produced using AI, meaning "shallow fakes" - videos made using conventional editing tools - though frequently just as misleading, are still allowed on the platform."

"Private citizens are entitled to a minimum of $1,000 in fines if they are subjected to a facial recognition scan by police"

"From a practical standpoint, that means government agencies, like the Portland Bureau of Police, cannot use facial recognition software for videos from body cameras, dash cams, or any other form of surveillance equipment."

""In the event that [Facebook] were subject to a complete suspension of the transfer of users' data to the US," Yvonne Cunnane argued, "it is not clear … how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU." Facebook denied the filing was a threat, arguing in a statement that it was a simple reflection of reality. "Facebook is not threatening to withdraw from Europe," a spokesperson said."

"The long-running issues of traceability, transparency and enforcement were colourfully illustrated in September 2017 when a group of investigators from the Basel Action Network (BAN) - a non-for-profit group that monitors compliance with the 1989 United Nations Basel Convention on the trade of hazardous wastes - attempted to learn where exactly Australia's e-waste was going. The group fitted 35 old CRT televisions, LED monitors and printers with GPS devices of a special make. Out of this sample the team quickly focused on the fate of three LCD screens dropped at Officeworks storefronts around the Brisbane metro area. Hayley Palmer, BAN's chief operating officer, was on the team that followed where they went afterwards. As the signals left the country, Palmer, her nine-month-old and a colleague tracked the monitors to a warehouse in Hong Kong and then on to an illegal dump-yard in a rural part of Thailand where they talked their way inside."

"People have been censored or blocked from the platform because their names sounded too fake. Ads for clothing disabled people we removed buy algorithms that believed they were breaking the rules and promoting medical devices. The Vienna Tourist Board had to move to adult content friendly site OnlyFans to share works of art from their museum after Facebook removed photos of paintings. Words that have rude popular meanings but other more specific definitions in certain circles - like "hoe" amongst gardeners, or "cock" amongst chicken farmers or gun enthusiasts - can land people in the so-called "Facebook jail" for days or even weeks."

"They join attempts by lawmakers to regulate the internet for kids. States have proposed and even passed laws that restrict what children can access online, up to banning certain services entirely. On the federal level, several recently introduced bipartisan bills run the gamut from giving children more privacy protections to forbidding them from using social media at all. Some efforts also try to control the content that children can be exposed to. Critics of such legislation point to privacy issues with age verification mechanisms and fears that forced content moderation will inevitably lead to censorship, preventing kids from seeing material that's helpful along with what's considered harmful."

""As with all technology, there are caveats around making sure that it is used responsibly and not as a licence to cheat, but none of that is insurmountable," he said. In contrast, New York City schools have already banned the use of ChatGPT on all devices and networks because of concerns it will encourage plagiarism. Dr Thomas Lancaster, a computer scientist working at Imperial College London, best known for his research into academic integrity, contract cheating and plagiarism, said it was in many ways a game changer. He said: "It's certainly a major turning point in education where universities have to make big changes."

"The Dune subreddit has forbidden the posting of AI artwork. You might even say that thou shalt not make machines in likeness of the human mind."