HONG KONG: TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week.
The short-form video app’s planned departure from Hong Kong comes as various social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter balk at the possibility of providing user data to Hong Kong authorities.
The social media companies say they are assessing implications of the security law, which prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in the city’s internal affairs. In the communist-ruled mainland, the foreign social media platforms are blocked by China’s “Great Firewall.”
Critics see the law as Beijing’s boldest step yet to erase the legal divide between the former British colony and the mainland’s authoritarian Communist Party system.
TikTok said in a statement that it had decided to halt operations “in light of recent events.”
Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they would freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, “pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts.”
Hong Kong was convulsed with massive, sometimes violent anti-government protests for much of last year as the former British colony’s residents reacted to proposed extradition legislation, since withdrawn, that might have led to some suspects facing trial in mainland Chinese courts.
The new law criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans like the widely used “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time,” which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.
The fear is that it erodes the special freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a “one country, two systems” framework since China took control in 1997. That arrangement has allowed Hong Kong’s people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as public dissent and unrestricted Internet access.
Telegram’s platform has been used widely to spread pro-democracy messages and information about the protests. It understands “the importance of protecting the right to privacy of our Hong Kong users,” said Mike Ravdonikas, a spokesperson for the company.
“Telegram has never shared any data with the Hong Kong authorities in the past and does not intend to process any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city,” he said.
Twitter also paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities after the security law went into effect last week, the company said, emphasizing that it was “committed to protecting the people using our service and their freedom of expression.”
“Like many public interest organizations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law,” the company said in a statement.
Google likewise said it had “paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities.”
Though social platforms have yet to be blocked in Hong Kong, users have begun scrubbing their accounts and deleting pro-democracy posts out of fear of retribution. That retreat has extended to the streets: Many shops and stores that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have removed the pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that had adorned their walls.
Under implementation rules of Article 43 of the national security law, which give the city’s police force sweeping powers in enforcing the legislation, platforms, publishers and Internet service providers may be ordered to take down any electronic message published that is “likely to constitute an offense endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offense endangering national security.”
Service providers who do not comply with such requests could face fines of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,903) and receive jail terms of up to six months.
Individuals who post such messages may also be asked to remove the message, or face similar fines and a jail term of one year.
Hong Kong authorities moved quickly to implement the law after it took effect on June 30, with police arresting about 370 people.
The rules allow Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to authorize police to intercept communications and conduct surveillance to “prevent and detect offenses endangering national security.”
Police can conduct searches for evidence without a warrant in “exceptional circumstances” and seek warrants requiring people suspected of violating the national security law to surrender their travel documents, preventing them from leaving Hong Kong.
Written notices or restraining orders also may be issued to freeze or confiscate property if there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the property is related to an offense endangering national security.
TikTok, operated by Chinese Internet giant Bytedance, has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots while striving for global appeal. It recently hired former Walt Disney executive Kevin Mayer to be its CEO.
The company has said all its data is stored in servers in the US and insisted it would not remove content even if asked to do so by the Chinese government. Even so, TikTok has still been regarded as a national security risk, with US secretary of state Michael Pompeo saying Monday that it was looking at banning certain social media apps, including TikTok.
TikTok to leave Hong Kong as security law raises worries
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TikTok to leave Hong Kong as security law raises worries
- The social media companies say they are assessing implications of the security law, which prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist
‘Tool for grifters’: AI deepfakes push bogus sexual cures
- The trend underscores how rapid advances in artificial intelligence have fueled what researchers call an AI dystopia, a deception-filled online universe designed to manipulate unsuspecting users into buying dubious products
WASHINGTON: Holding an oversized carrot, a brawny, shirtless man promotes a supplement he claims can enlarge male genitalia — one of countless AI-generated videos on TikTok peddling unproven sexual treatments.
The rise of generative AI has made it easy — and financially lucrative — to mass-produce such videos with minimal human oversight, often featuring fake celebrity endorsements of bogus and potentially harmful products.
In some TikTok videos, carrots are used as a euphemism for male genitalia, apparently to evade content moderation policing sexually explicit language.
“You would notice that your carrot has grown up,” the muscled man says in a robotic voice in one video, directing users to an online purchase link.
“This product will change your life,” the man adds, claiming without evidence that the herbs used as ingredients boost testosterone and send energy levels “through the roof.”
The video appears to be AI-generated, according to a deepfake detection service recently launched by the Bay Area-headquartered firm Resemble AI, which shared its results with AFP.
“As seen in this example, misleading AI-generated content is being used to market supplements with exaggerated or unverified claims, potentially putting consumers’ health at risk,” Zohaib Ahmed, Resemble AI’s chief executive and co-founder, told AFP.
“We’re seeing AI-generated content weaponized to spread false information.”
The trend underscores how rapid advances in artificial intelligence have fueled what researchers call an AI dystopia, a deception-filled online universe designed to manipulate unsuspecting users into buying dubious products.
They include everything from unverified — and in some cases, potentially harmful — dietary supplements to weight loss products and sexual remedies.
“AI is a useful tool for grifters looking to create large volumes of content slop for a low cost,” misinformation researcher Abbie Richards told AFP.
“It’s a cheap way to produce advertisements,” she added.
Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech, has observed a surge of “AI doctor” avatars and audio tracks on TikTok that promote questionable sexual remedies.
Some of these videos, many with millions of views, peddle testosterone-boosting concoctions made from ingredients such as lemon, ginger and garlic.
More troublingly, rapidly evolving AI tools have enabled the creation of deepfakes impersonating celebrities such as actress Amanda Seyfried and actor Robert De Niro.
“Your husband can’t get it up?” Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appears to ask in a TikTok video promoting a prostate supplement.
But the clip is a deepfake, using Fauci’s likeness.
Many manipulated videos are created from existing ones, modified with AI-generated voices and lip-synced to match what the altered voice says.
“The impersonation videos are particularly pernicious as they further degrade our ability to discern authentic accounts online,” Mantzarlis said.
Last year, Mantzarlis discovered hundreds of ads on YouTube featuring deepfakes of celebrities — including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Mike Tyson — promoting supplements branded as erectile dysfunction cures.
The rapid pace of generating short-form AI videos means that even when tech platforms remove questionable content, near-identical versions quickly reappear — turning moderation into a game of whack-a-mole.
Researchers say this creates unique challenges for policing AI-generated content, requiring novel solutions and more sophisticated detection tools.
AFP’s fact checkers have repeatedly debunked scam ads on Facebook promoting treatments — including erectile dysfunction cures — that use fake endorsements by Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and former US cabinet member.
Yet many users still consider the endorsements legitimate, illustrating the appeal of deepfakes.
“Scammy affiliate marketing schemes and questionable sex supplements have existed for as long as the Internet and before,” Mantzarlis said.
“As with every other bad thing online, generative AI has made this abuse vector cheaper and quicker to deploy at scale.”
Film claims to name killer of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
- Produced by independent news site Zeteo, the documentary “Who killed Shireen?” names for the first time the suspect as Alon Scaggio, an elite soldier
NEW YORK: A new documentary purports to name the Israeli soldier who killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was gunned down in the West Bank while reporting in 2022.
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist known for her coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, was shot dead in Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank while she worked, wearing a bulletproof vest marked “press.”
Al Jazeera and witnesses immediately blamed the Israeli army. Then Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said it was probable the shots had come from Palestinian militants.
In the weeks that followed, several journalistic investigations pointed the blame at Israeli gunfire.
Months later, Israel released an internal investigation that found a “high probability” that Abu Akleh was accidentally shot by the Israeli army, which claimed it was targeting armed Palestinians.
Produced by independent news site Zeteo, the documentary “Who killed Shireen?” names for the first time the suspect as Alon Scaggio, an elite soldier.
“Israel did everything it could to conceal the soldier’s identity, they wouldn’t provide the US with any information. They wouldn’t let the US interview him. They wouldn’t give the US his statement. And they wouldn’t give his name,” said Dion Nissenbaum, a journalist who worked on the film.
Assisted by producer Conor Powell and reporter Fatima AbdulKarim — who worked for The New York Times in the West Bank — Nissenbaum, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent, consulted testimony from two Israeli soldiers present in Jenin on May 11, 2022 as well as top US officials.
The documentary alleges that Scaggio, then 20, had completed training for the elite Duvdevan unit just three months prior.
“He shot her intentionally. There’s no question about that. The question is did he know she was a journalist and did he know she was Shireen Abu Akleh? Was it an order from above?” Nissenbaum told AFP.
“Personally, I don’t think it was an order. I don’t think he knew it was Shireen. Nobody ever has indicated that he could tell that it was Shireen. But she was wearing the blue flak-jacket with the word ‘press’ on it.”
“The evidence (suggests)... it was an intentional killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. Whether or not they knew it was her or not can very well be debated, but they would have absolutely known that it was a media person or a non-combatant at a minimum,” said a senior official from the administration of then US president Joe Biden, speaking in the film anonymously.
Washington did not exert significant pressure on the issue, the documentary claims, for fear of antagonizing its ally.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said he called on Biden to declassify documents about the killing — but went unanswered.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said “it is the first time that a potential suspect has been named in connection with an Israeli killing of a journalist” according to its records dating back to 1992.
Impunity in the case “has effectively given Israel permission to silence hundreds more” journalists, the CPJ said.
Reporters Without Borders estimates around 200 journalists were killed in the past 18 months of Israeli strikes on Gaza.
An Israeli army spokesman condemned the unauthorized disclosure of the suspect’s name despite no “definitive determination” of who shot Abu Akleh.
The soldier in question “fell during an operational activity,” the army added.
Nissenbaum had initially thought Scaggio died in Gaza, but ultimately concluded he was killed in Jenin on June 27, 2024 almost two years after Abu Akleh.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses to launch in the UAE
- Release ‘marks beginning of an effortless, more connected future,’ senior Meta official says
- Collection features different styles and lens variations, including prescription lenses
DUBAI: Meta and optical multinational EssilorLuxottica have announced that the Ray-Ban Meta collection will be available in the UAE from May 12.
The glasses, when paired with a smartphone, allow users to take hands-free pictures and videos, listen to audio with open-ear speakers, and use the inbuilt Meta AI assistant.
The launch “marks the beginning of an effortless, more connected future — one that empowers people to stay in the moment while staying connected to the things and people that matter most,” Fares Akkad, regional director for Middle East and Africa at Meta, told Arab News.
The glasses feature an ultrawide 12-megapixel camera, which can take photos and 1080-pixel videos of up to three minutes. Users can also stream live via the glasses to Instagram or Facebook for up to 30 minutes.
Meta AI, the company’s AI assistant, is built into the glasses and can be used through voice prompts to help with tasks such as recommending music or clicking a picture.
In the coming months, users in the UAE will also be able to use Meta AI to ask questions about their surroundings, such as identifying landmarks or translating street signs, as well as live translation of conversations in English, French, Italian and Spanish. However, live translation for Arabic is not supported yet.
Akkad said: “Just a few years ago, the idea of wearing glasses that could take pictures and videos with voice command, translate to different languages, and become a seamless, helpful assistant everywhere you go felt like something out of science fiction.
“Today, it is a tangible reality.”
Users will be able to regularly update the software on the glasses to enable more features as they are rolled out. These include timers, alarms, calendar and email access.
The Ray-Ban Meta collection features different styles and lens variations, including prescription lenses.
It will be available at all Ray-Ban and partner stores in the UAE from May 12 with prices starting at AED1,330 ($360).
India tells X to block over 8,000 accounts, mainly Pakistani
- Move appears to be part of India’s sweeping crackdown targeting social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities and media organizations
- X said it disagreed with the demands but it had begun the process to withhold the specified accounts in India
WASHINGTON: India has ordered X to block more than 8,000 accounts, the platform said Thursday, adding that it was reluctantly complying with what it described as government-imposed “censorship.”
The move appears to be part of India’s sweeping crackdown targeting social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities and media organizations amid heightened tensions and deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
The order, which X said includes demands to block international news organizations and other prominent users, comes a day after Meta banned a prominent Muslim news page on Instagram in India at New Delhi’s request.
“X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees,” the site’s global government affairs team said in a statement.
It added that in most cases, the government had not specified which posts from the accounts violated Indian laws, and in many others, it provided no evidence or justification for the blocks.
The Elon Musk-owned platform said it disagreed with the demands but it had begun the process to withhold the specified accounts in India.
“Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech,” the statement said.
“This is not an easy decision, however keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians’ ability to access information.”
The move comes amid fierce fighting between India and Pakistan, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing a deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-run side of the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Pakistan rejects the charge.
At least 48 people have been killed on both sides of the border in escalating violence since India launched air strikes on Wednesday that it said targeted “terrorist camps.”
Both countries accused each other on Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks.
X said it could not make the Indian executive orders public due to legal restrictions, but it encouraged the impacted users to seek “appropriate relief from the courts.”
It did not name the affected users, but in recent days the Indian media has reported that the country has blocked the X accounts of Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan’s former prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan.
India has also banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content, including Pakistani news outlets.
Pakistani Bollywood movie regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam were also off limits in India, as well as a wide range of cricketers — including star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and retired players Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram.
Rising hostilities between the South Asian neighbors have unleashed an avalanche of online misinformation, with social media users circulating everything from deepfake videos to outdated images from unrelated conflicts, falsely linking them to the ongoing fighting.
Ireland’s RTE urges talks on Israel’s Eurovision participation amid growing pressure
- European Broadcasting Union ‘whitewashing’ Israeli war crimes
- EBU must ban Israel like it did with Russia in 2022, say activists
DUBAI: Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE has invited the European Broadcasting Union for talks on Israel’s participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, as pressure mounts from dozens of former contestants demanding the country’s exclusion.
RTE’s Director-General Kevin Bakhurst has expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the situation of Israeli hostages, emphasizing the need for RTE to remain objective in its coverage of the war.
He also pointed to political pressure on Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, from the Israeli government.
Israel, a Eurovision participant since 1973, is set to compete in this year’s contest, running from May 13 to 17, in Basel, Switzerland, with singer Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack at the Nova music festival.
Earlier this week, in an open letter, 72 former Eurovision contestants called on the EBU to ban Israel and its national broadcaster, KAN, from this year’s contest.
They cited the country’s war in Gaza and accused the union of “normalizing and whitewashing” alleged Israeli war crimes.
They argued that Israel’s participation would be inconsistent with the EBU’s decision to ban Russia in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine.
The EBU previously said it acknowledges the concerns but aims to keep Eurovision a positive, inclusive event that transcends politics and unites people through music.
