Lawsuits against social platforms for failing to adequately protect underage users are becoming more and more common. TikTok has been constantly involved in these situations, although platforms like Instagram have also been in the spotlight of the authorities. Now, a consumer rights group in Brazil has sued Meta, TikTok, and Kwai on similar grounds.
Group sues Meta and TikTok in Brazil for lack of adequate protection for young users
Moderating young people’s use of social media has become a growing challenge for companies. Minors face multiple potentially dangerous and harmful situations. Studies have reflected things like addiction, mental problems, and even exposure to online predators. The lawsuit against both companies is based on the lack of clear warnings about these dangers.
The Collective Defense Institute is pushing the lawsuit against Meta and TikTok in Brazil. The group is seeking to have social platforms introduce clear and concise warnings about the dangers related to the use of their services. Currently, most social platforms do not offer such warnings upon registration, so this seems like a reasonable demand. The lawsuit also seeks damages totaling 3 billion reais (about $525.8 million).
“It is urgent that measures be adopted in order to change the way the algorithm works, the processing of data from users under 18, and the way in which teenagers aged 13 and over are supervised and their accounts created, in order to ensure a safer, healthier experience…as is already the case in developed countries,” said Lillian Salgado, a lawyer involved in the suit.
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Meta and TikTok have implemented measures to protect young users
Both Meta and TikTok have been implementing measures to try to protect minors. For example, Instagram included mandatory privacy restrictions on accounts of users under 16. However, such privacy restrictions are not yet available in Brazil. TikTok, for its part, has integrated new features designed to protect minors. These features include screentime limits, family pairing, and others. TikTok also includes restrictions similar to those on Instagram’s accounts for those under 16.
“Young people to have safe and age-appropriate experiences on our apps, and we have been working on these issues for over a decade, developing more than 50 tools, resources, and features to support teens and their guardians,” Meta said in response to the accusations.
Google is building a bunch of AI products, and it’s using AI quite a bit as part of building those products, too. “More than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers,” CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company’s third quarter 2024 earnings call. It’s a big milestone that marks just how important AI is to the company.
AI is helping Google make money as well. Alphabet reported $88.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, with Google Services (which includes Search) revenue of $76.5 billion, up 13 percent year-over-year, and Google Cloud (which includes its AI infrastructure products for other companies) revenue of $11.4 billion, up 35 percent year-over-year.
Operating incomes were also strong. Google Services hit $30.9 billion, up from $23.9 billion last year, and Google Cloud hit $1.95 billion, significantly up from last year’s $270 million.
“In Search, our new AI features are expanding what people can search for and how they search for it,” CEO Sundar Pichai says in a statement. “In Cloud, our AI solutions are helping drive deeper product adoption with existing customers, attract new customers and win larger deals. And YouTube’s total ads and subscription revenues surpassed $50 billion over the past four quarters for the first time.”
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Google is facing a potentially tough road ahead, however, following the August ruling that the company is a monopolist in the search and advertising markets. That case, brought by the US Department of Justice, is now in its remedies phase, and while there’s still a ways to go for the dust to settle, a Google breakup is on the table.
Canon has announced four new lenses for its mirrorless cameras, three of which are touted ‘hybrid’, meaning that they are designed for video and still creators. They are the RF 24mm F1.4L VCM, RF 50mm F1.4L VCM and the RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z.
The two pro-grade primes and zoom are made for Canon’s full-frame cameras and join two recently announced lenses of the same kind, the RF 35mm F1.4L VCM and RF 24-105mm F2.8L USM Z – the latter being quietly launched alongside the RF 200-800mm monster wildlife lens – bringing Canon’s range of hybrid lenses to five in all.
In addition to the hybrid lenses, two of which are the long-awaited 24mm and 50mm F1.4 primes that finally get the treatment for mirrorless, Canon also unveiled a new stereoscopic lens for spatial video – the RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM DUAL for APS-C – which is currently only compatible with the EOS R7. Those four new lenses increase the number of Canon’s RF system lenses to 52 in all – that’s a super-impressive achievement in six short years of the RF-mount.
The RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z lens costs £3,449.99 (we’ll update this article with US and Australia pricing shortly) and is available in white or black from November 14. Meanwhile, the sales start date for the RF 24mm F1.4L VCM and RF 50mm F1.4L VCM lenses is December with a specific date TBC – they’re priced at £1,679.99 and £1,539.99 respectively. The RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM DUAL comes in at £519.99 and will go on sale some point in November.
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A new dawn for Canon’s professional lenses?
Canon seems set on video and still creators if its latest lenses are anything to go by. It says its RF mount “reflects the changing needs of the professional as the demand for a lens without compromise drives them to step into both worlds”, although we don’t know if this is the type of lens design we can expect going forward for its professional mirrorless cameras.
The RF 70-200mm F2.8 IS USM Z will sit alongside the existing RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM as a pricier alternative for hybrid users, adding a smooth aperture ring, 11-blade aperture, internal zoom, and minimal focus breathing. It’s compatible with 1.4x and 2x teleconverters and comes in white (with a thermal barrier) or black – the latter could prove popular with filmmakers who need to be discreet on set.
And like the RF 24-105mm F2.8L USM Z, which is virtually the same size and weight being a little over 1kg, it is compatible with the same Power Zoom adapter for smooth and precise video zooming. Together, the two lenses cover off focal lengths from 24mm to 200mm.
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Just like the new 70-200mm, the new RF 24mm F1.4 L VCM and RF 50mm F1.4 L VCM lenses are practically the same size and weight, and sit as a trio with the existing RF 35mm F1.4 L VCM. They also offer a video-friendly design with aperture ring and minimal focus breathing. However, these are entirely new for the RF mount, finally realizing the extremely popular 24mm and 50mm F1.4 primes for Canon’s DSLRs in Canon’s RF-mount for mirrorless cameras.
Given Canon’s research, which says that 65% of professional photographers are now shooting video as some part of their work, and the changing needs of professional photographers, hybrid seems like a fair bet going forward. This trio of lenses could represent a new dawn for Canon’s lens design, and we’re all for it, even if the price of these lenses is expensive even by Canon standards.
Some users on X who spend their days sharing content that includes election misinformation, AI-generated images and unfounded conspiracy theories say they are being paid “thousands of dollars” by the social media site.
The BBC identified networks of dozens of accounts that re-share each other’s content multiple times a day – including a mix of true, unfounded, false and faked material – to boost their reach, and therefore, revenue on the site.
Several say earnings from their own and other accounts range from a couple of hundred to thousands of dollars.
They also say they coordinate sharing each other’s posts on forums and group chats. “It’s a way of trying to help each other out,” one user said.
Some of these networks support Donald Trump, others Kamala Harris, and some are independent. Several of these profiles – which say they are not connected to official campaigns – have been contacted by US politicians, including congressional candidates, looking for supportive posts.
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On 9 October, X changed its rules so the payments made to eligible accounts with a significant reach are calculated according to the amount of engagement from premium users – likes, shares and comments – rather than the number of ads under their posts.
Many social media sites allow users to make money from their posts or to share sponsored content. But they often have rules which allow them to de-monetise or suspend profiles that post misinformation. X does not have guidelines on misinformation in the same way.
While X has a smaller user base than some sites, it has a significant impact on political discourse. It raises questions about whether X is incentivising users to post provocative claims, whether they’re true or not, at a highly sensitive moment for US politics.
The BBC compared the approximate earnings reported by some of these X users with the amount they would be expected to earn, based on their number of views, followers and interactions with other profiles, and found them to be credible.
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Among the misleading posts shared by some of these networks of profiles were claims about election fraud which had been rebutted by authorities, and extreme, unfounded allegations of paedophilia and sexual abuse against the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Some misleading and false posts that originated on X have also spilled on to other social media sites with a bigger audience, such as Facebook and TikTok.
In one example, an X user with a small following says he created a doctored image purporting to show Kamala Harris working at McDonald’s as a young woman. Other users then pushed evidence-free claims that the Democratic Party was manipulating images of its candidate.
Unfounded conspiracy theories from X about the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump were also picked up on other social media sites.
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X did not respond to questions about whether the site is incentivising users to post like this, nor to requests to interview owner Elon Musk.
‘It’s become a lot easier to make money’
Freedom Uncut’s content creation lair – where he streams and makes videos – is decorated with fairy lights in the shape of an American flag. He says he is an independent, but would rather Donald Trump becomes president than Kamala Harris.
Free – as his friends call him – says he can spend up to 16 hours a day in his lair posting on X, interacting with the network of dozens of content creators he’s a part of, and sharing AI-generated pictures. He does not share his full name or real identity because he says his family’s personal information has been exposed online, leading to threats.
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He is by no means one of the most extreme posters, and has agreed to meet me and explain how these networks on X operate.
He says he has had 11 million views over the past few months since he began posting regularly about the US election. He brings several up on the screen as we chat at his home in Tampa, Florida.
Some are obviously satire – Donald Trump looking like a character in The Matrix as he brushes aside bullets, or President Joe Biden as a dictator. Other AI images are less fantastical – including an image of someone on the roof of their flooded home as fighter jets pass by, with the comment: “Remember that politicians don’t care about you on November 5th.”
The image echoes Mr Trump’s claim that there were “no helicopters, no rescue” for people in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. The claim has been rebutted by the North Carolina National Guard, which says it rescued hundreds of people in 146 flight missions.
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Freedom Uncut says he sees his images as “art” that sparks a conversation. He says he is “not trying to fool anybody” but that he can “do so much more by using AI”.
Since his profile was monetised, he says he can make in the “low thousands” monthly from X: “I think it’s become a lot easier for people to make money.”
He adds that some users he knows have been making more than five figures and claims he could corroborate this by seeing the reach of their posts: “It’s at that point it really does become a job.”
He says it is the “controversial” stuff that tends to get the most views – and compares this to “sensationalist” traditional media.
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While he posts “provocative stuff”, he says it is “usually based in some version of reality”. But he suggests that other profiles he sees are happy to share posts they know not to be true. This, he says, is an easy “money-maker”.
Freedom Uncut dismisses concerns about false claims influencing the election, claiming the government “spreads more misinformation than the rest of the internet combined”.
He also says it is “very common” for local politicians to reach out to accounts like his on X for support. He says some of them have chatted to him about appearing on his live streams and spoken to him about creating and sharing memes, AI images and artwork for them.
Could any of these posts – misleading or not – have a tangible impact this election?
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“I think that you’re seeing that currently. I think that a lot of the Trump support comes from that,” he says.
In Freedom Uncut’s view, there is “more trust in independent media” – including accounts sharing AI-generated images and misinformation – than in “some traditional media companies”.
‘No way to get to the truth’
Going head-to-head with the pro-Trump accounts Freedom Uncut describes are profiles such as Brown Eyed Susan, who has more than 200,000 followers on X.
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She is part of a network of “die-hard” accounts posting content multiple times every hour in support of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. While she uses her first name, she does not share her surname because of threats and abuse she has received online.
Speaking to me from Los Angeles, Susan says she never intended to start making money from her posts – or for her account’s reach to “explode”. Sometimes she posts and re-shares more than 100 messages a day – and her individual posts sometimes reach more than two million users each.
Aside from posting about policy, some of her most viral posts – racking up more than three million views – have promoted unfounded and false conspiracy theories suggesting the July assassination attempt was staged by Donald Trump.
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She acknowledges that a member of the crowd and the shooter were killed, but says she has genuine questions about Donald Trump’s injury, the security failings, and whether the incident has been properly investigated.
“There’s no way to get to the truth in this. And if they want to call it conspiratorial, they can,” she says.
Susan also shares memes, some of which use AI, taking aim at the Republican contender. Several more convincing examples make him look older or unwell. She says these “illustrate his current condition”.
Others show him looking like a dictator. She maintains that all her images are “obvious” fakes.
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Like Freedom Uncut, she says politicians, including congressional candidates, have contacted her for support, and she says she tries to “spread as much awareness” as she can for them.
‘They want it to be real’
Following a row over whether Kamala Harris once worked at McDonald’s, a doctored image of her in the fast food chain’s uniform was shared on Facebook by her supporters and went viral.
When some pro-Trump accounts realised it was an edited photo of a different woman in the uniform, it triggered unfounded accusations that the image came from the Democratic Party itself.
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An account called “The Infinite Dude” on X appeared to be the first to share the image with the caption: “This is fake”. The person behind the image tells me his name is Blake and that he shared it as part of an experiment. His profile does not have nearly as many followers as the other accounts I have been talking to.
When I ask for evidence that he doctored the image, he told me he has “the original files and creation timestamps”, but he did not share those with me as he says proof does not really matter.
“People share content not because it’s real, but because they want it to be real. Both sides do it equally – they just choose different stories to believe,” he says.
His political allegiance remains unclear and he says this “isn’t about politics”.
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X says online that its priority is to protect and defend the user’s voice. The site adds manipulated media labels to some AI-generated and doctored video, audio and images. It also has a feature called Community Notes, which crowdsources fact-checking from users.
During the UK election, X did take action over a network of accounts sharing faked clips that I investigated. In the US election campaign, however, I have received no response to my questions or requests to interview Elon Musk.
That matters – because social media companies like his could affect what unfolds as voters head to the polls.
Marianna Spring investigated this story using her Undercover Voters – five fictional characters based on data from the Pew Research Centre – that allow her to interrogate what some different users are recommended on social media. Their social media accounts are private and do not message real people.
Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.
Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.
You start every Strands puzzle with the goal of finding the “theme words” hidden in the grid of letters. Manipulate letters by dragging or tapping to craft words; double-tap the final letter to confirm. If you find the correct word, the letters will be highlighted blue and will no longer be selectable.
If you find a word that isn’t a theme word, it still helps! For every three non-theme words you find that are at least four letters long, you’ll get a hint — the letters of one of the theme words will be revealed and you’ll just have to unscramble it.
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Every single letter on the grid is used to spell out the theme words and there is no overlap. Every letter will be used once, and only once.
Each puzzle contains one “spangram,” a special theme word (or words) that describe the puzzle’s theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted yellow.
The goal should be to complete the puzzle quickly without using too many hints.
Apple could take a big step in the process of reducing its dependence on Chinese factories to manufacture iPhones. The company wants to avoid potential supply constraints in the context of the trade war between the United States and the Asian country. A recent report claims that Apple has started the iPhone 17 early manufacturing stage at an Indian factory.
Apple carrying out iPhone 17 early manufacturing stage in Indian factory
Until now, Apple has carried out the entire manufacturing process of iPhone devices in factories in China. However, The Information suggests that this has changed in the early stage of the development of the iPhone 17. This phase is key to determining the viability of mass production of the device.
During the early manufacturing stage, Apple engineers experiment with the potential design, materials, and other key parameters involved in the production of the device. The goal is to ensure that mass manufacturing (millions of devices per day) is possible around the world with as few defective units as possible. Basically, this stage determines the manufacturing bases that will be used for all iPhone 17 units worldwide.
The report specifies that Apple is doing this for the vanilla iPhone 17. This implies that China or other countries will continue to handle the early manufacturing stage for other models in the series. The source claims that it obtained the information from two reliable sources directly related to the situation.
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US political context may have driven the decision
The current political context in the United States could have prompted Apple to accelerate the diversification of the production process of its devices. If Trump wins, he aims to apply protectionist economic policies. This includes continuing or escalating the trade war against China with new, severe tariffs. Potential retaliation from Beijing could be a strong blow to companies that depend on factories in the Asian country.
So, Apple seems to want to start the diversification process as soon as possible. The Cupertino giant could be applying early damage control to get ahead of events. If all goes well, Apple could move more stages of the iPhone manufacturing process to Indian factories. In related news, Indonesia banned sales of iPhone 16 devices due to Apple’s failure to comply with local investment.
X is trying to speed up its crowdsourced fact-checking system, Community Notes. In an update, the company says it has “re-architected” the scoring system that powers the feature so that the user-generated notes can now appear less than 20 minutes after a post is published on its platform.
Community Notes, introduced in 2022, relies on other X users to fact-check or add missing context to posts on the platform. Contributors are required their sources, and other users then rate the “helpfulness” of the note. Creators are also for posts that get “community noted” in an effort to discourage them from trying to monetize misinformation. Now, that whole process should be able to move a lot quicker.
According to X, these new “lightning notes” can “go live in as little as 14m33s after being written, and 18m20s after the post itself was written.” The change could help address a long running criticism of the crowdsourced fact checking system: that it moves far too slowly compared with the speed of viral misinformation on the platform. For example, last year by Bloomberg found that it could take several hours for a Community Note to appear on a viral tweet and that, often, only a fraction of users see the fact check compared with the original post.
The new speedier system could change that, though it’s unclear how often the faster “lightning” version of the process will actually play out. Not all posts with incorrect information, misstated facts or AI-generated imagery are immediately flagged for review, if they are at all. X says it has more than 800,000 contributors to the program globally, but some posts will likely still take much longer to wind their way through the Community Notes process.
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