I just read an article on how cybercriminals use ChatGPT that is perfect for this thread (-:

Yes, it’s bad if people are that naive, and it’s even worse when others appear to exploit the despair of people. The app has 32 permissions and contains 4 trackers that openly say that they would collect behavioral data and advertise their trackers using slogans like “we help marketers make better decisions”.

dont think its controversial to think that governement officials shouldnt have any form of social media on their government issued phones. Its insane that governements have worse digital practices than a lot of mid size businesses

Yes. And what makes this thread even more weird is the fact that Tiktok is not even available in China. ByteDance offers a similar service, Douyin, that looks and works just like it, but the Western version is unavailable, and not just for government officials but the entire population.

Furthermore, a lot of other social media is blocked in China not just for officials but for the entire population, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and many others. Not that I think these apps are needed, I just don’t understand the critics for blocking Tiktok here.

… an attempt to take over the territorial waters of other countries

Sometimes this appears to happen in somewhat irritating ways as reports say: Micronesia’s President David Panuelo has accused China of making ‘direct threats against my personal safety’

National cybersecurity agency deems TikTok a threat to Czechia

The Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB) has today warned Czechs against downloading the Chinese video application TikTok. It has labeled the app a “security threat” and said the public should “think twice” before using it.

Danish public broadcaster advises staff against using TikTok

LOL

Yeah, especially from Facebook and other big tech. They never sell user data. Never. Pinky swear.

According to the survey cited in the article, the participating experts say that AI will also have useful implications, although the majority agrees that they will be outweighed by negative effects.

I am personally convinced of the latter and agree with Alejandro Pisanty saying that “the future is to be determined by the agendas of commercial interests and governments, to our chagrin”. The biggest problem imho is that this topic is almost exclusively discussed within professional circles. The wider public is completely unaware what lies ahead.

What we urgently needed is a broad discussion across the entire society, and this requires to communicate the relevant topics in a language the wider “non-tech” public can understand.

We need to ignite real public conversations to help people fully understand the stakes of these developments

I fully agree with this quote by Kathryn Bouskill.

This is likely only for US people living in the Boston area: Journalists in the Boston area

This is strongly related: ‘It makes me want to cry’: inside crumbling courts as judges wrestle with rise in rent eviction cases

Edit for an addition:

In a lobbying campaign targeting politicians, press, the Bank of England and the government, Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), had in recent months warned “landlords are selling because of punitive taxation” and of “decimated” supply hitting tenants. […]

But Beadle this month told an industry webinar: “Actually the truth is that while some landlords are leaving the sector, this sector is actually still increasing. That’s not terribly helpful to our argument to be honest with you. But in the context of cost of living and rising costs we have to tell that story and link the two.”

Source: Landlords accused of ‘making up stories’ in drive to change UK tax rules

A new study published just yesterday:

For the first time researchers have proven a clear correlation between deforestation and regional precipitation. […] The paper, published in the journal Nature, adds to fears that the degradation of the Amazon is approaching a tipping point after which the rainforest will no longer be able to generate its own rainfall and the vegetation will dry up.

People living in deforested areas have long provided anecdotal evidence that their microclimates became drier with lower tree cover.

Here is the link to the article, here the link to the study.

Edit for additional article: Overconsumption by the rich must be tackled, says acting UN biodiversity chief

I don’t know the person who wrote this post, but accusing someone of extremism (no matter if it’s left or right) because of linking to a news article like this is unnecessary to say the least.

The linked article describes more than “a few incidents”. I think we all read about the death of Mahsa Amini because she refused to wear a hijab or about the 16-year-old Asra Panahi who was beaten to death for refusing to sing pro-regime anthem.

It’s rather a systemic opression as women and girls as well as other minorities are treated like second-class citizens in Iran, and the situation in 2022 has worsened.

A few isolated incidents? How women and girls are treated in Iran has been covered by multiple media “in the west” and everywhere else. You can also ask Iranian women who were able to emigrate and learn more about these “few isolated incidents”.

And, no, this is not a cultural issue nor a ideological one.

A related story is Amazon Develops Algorithm to Improve Collaboration Between Robots and Humans for those interested.

The cited study provides a lot of evidence. Just in case you don’t have time to read it or don’t trust the source for whatever reason, have a look here, here, here or here, for example.

I wouldn’t say medieval, but there appears to be a strong tendency to autocratic and backward-looking, conservative rules - and not only in the “anglo-saxon” world. We see this in countries like China (see here and here, for example) and many other. For example, see here.

Edit for an addition: Just read that Anthony Albanese becomes first Australian PM to march in Sydney Mardi Gras LOL

Compare Alex Morgan’s statements now to her male colleagues’ behaviour during the football world cup in Qatar last year …

This is not new. It happens offline and online (fake product reviews to promote your item, or faked bad reviews on your competitors’). We encountered that for the first time in the early 2000’s. What’s new about it is maybe that they advertise it so openly.

I don’t know which study you are refering to. Is it available somewhere?

Yes, only customers seem to be affected. I corrected the headline to make that clear. Sorry.

This appears to be one of the hottest market trends with China having the most extensive public surveillance system, but we may assume other regions to gain ground.

Two weeks ago, the EU offered China free vaccines, but China said its supply were “adequate”.

That’s weird. I don’t encounter problems watching the video. Maybe try refresh the page or try this alternative.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/global-spyware-scandal-exposing-pegasus/

This is sadly true. In my nearer environment literally everyone agrees, too, but politics is lagging behind.

I don’t know where you live, but I agree we should never be whining about a country and its people. To critisize the government if there’s a reason, but never the people. A country’s government and its people are not the same.

to substitute for that same page to be about the USA.>

Maybe, but does that make any country better?

https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2022

This is all the Empires’s fault

I see. As we know whose fault it is, the problem is solved, right?

When China’s colonialization projects will have produced the same environmental and social desasters as all the others in human history, will they also have to “pay reparations”? And if so, with an earth then being widely unhabitable, what do we do with the money?

A lot of topics here appear to trigger a debate of ideoligies or between “first world” and “third world” (I decry such terminology, but let’s put that aside now), as if that would solve any problem. It’s sort of of double standard: environmental pollution is bad and good, surveillance is bad and good … it just depends who commits the crime …

If you’ve got a couple of minutes, scroll through the images from around the globe to see where we’re all heading as a global human race. (Ah, yes, the current climate crisis has been and is still being caused mostly by the US and many countries in Europe, and, yes, these countries must change their lifestyles and they are financially liable for the crises. These are two of many issues I agree with my friends from China, South America and Africa.)

We can all see media and NGO websites riddled with trackers, and so are possibly many journalists’ devices. So yes, I’d agree that’s worrying how easy it obviously was.

This is one of the most insightful, straight-to-the-point short articles about Web3 and decentralization I’ve ever read if I may say so.

Thanks. Usually I don’t use VPNs much, but I love Tor :-)

Aha, that’s good question. I don’t know, unfortunately, but I am sure there is someone around more capable than me …

I am not sure whether I understand the question, but I understand Blokada is a VPN. So they’re certainly able to track you across the web. If you don’t trust them, don’t use them.