Child protection experts have fiercely criticised social media giant Meta over its plans for end-to-end encryption, accusing the tech firm of prioritising profit over children’s safety. Simon Bailey, a former police chief constable who was national lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, accused Meta of a “complete loss of social and moral responsibility” over the plans. John Carr, who is secretary of a coalition of UK children’s charities to deal with internet safety, called the move “utterly unconscionable”. Their comments came after head of the National Crime Agency Graeme Biggar said introducing end-to-end encryption on Facebook would be like “consciously turning a blind eye to child abuse”. Speaking at a lecture in Westminster earlier this month, the law enforcement chief said it should be up to the government rather than technology companies to draw the line between privacy and child safety. Meta responded by saying it has robust measures in place to combat abuse and that it expects to make more reports to law enforcement after end-to-end encryption is brought in. Mr Bailey said as he had seen the scale of online sexual abuse grow, he also saw “big tech companies, like Meta, absolve themselves of any responsibility when it comes to tackling online child sexual abuse”. The former chief constable said: “Big tech facilitates and, through their algorithms, encourages this abuse to take place. It is time their complete loss of social and moral responsibility is highlighted and challenged Simon Bailey “In response to what they know and can see as a global pandemic of online child sexual abuse, they have consciously decided to take the easy way out of dealing with the problem. “Meta, one of the largest carriers of this abuse, has decided to implement end-to-end encryption by default, and effectively stop law enforcement’s ability to identify and arrest offenders and, ultimately, to protect children. “They are using the guise of privacy to justify their position and in doing so, are continuing to put profit before child protection. It is time their complete loss of social and moral responsibility is highlighted and challenged.” Mr Carr, who is secretary of the UK Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety said: “If introduced without the appropriate safeguards that will allow law enforcement to detect and prevent online child sexual abuse, end-to-end encryption threatens to deny justice to huge numbers of children. “Children are major user of social media. A great many use Meta’s platforms, including Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct. “The design and nature of these platforms make them a perfect space for dangerous people to discover, befriend, groom and sexually abuse children – and if end-to-end encryption is introduced without appropriate safeguards, Meta will be willingly blinding itself to the abuse taking place online. “Their plans are utterly unconscionable – particularly when there are tech solutions out there that enable end-to-end encryption to exist and child sexual abuse to be detected, reported, and justice to be served. “Big tech companies, like Meta, must think again before introducing a blanket roll-out of end-to-end encryption across their platforms. “If they don’t, thousands of children will be at risk, and we will fail to solve the growing problem of online child sexual abuse. Do better Meta – it’s time to prioritise child safety over profit.” I cannot emphasise enough the impact this has on me and other victims of this abuse Rhiannon-Faye McDonald Rhiannon-Faye McDonald, head of advocacy at the Marie Collins Foundation, was herself sexually assaulted at the age of 13 after a predator contacted her online. She said: “To say I am disappointed that Meta is continuing with their plans to roll out end-to-end encryption is an understatement. The measures they say will be in place – using metadata to identify patterns of behaviour rather than content – are not good enough. “This move gives child sex abusers the ability to act undetected on its platforms as Meta will also lose the ability to use technology to detect and remove child sexual abuse images and videos. “As a victim of child sexual abuse myself, where my abuse was documented and shared online by the perpetrator, I cannot emphasise enough the impact this has on me and other victims of this abuse. “I am horrified that the images of my abuse could be infinitely reshared across the globe with no hope of them being blocked or taken down. How is this protecting my privacy?” She said it is “incredibly worrying” that big tech companies “can unilaterally make decisions that limit our ability to protect children”. A Meta spokesperson said: “The overwhelming majority of Brits already rely on apps that use encryption to keep them safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals. “We don’t think people want us reading their private messages so have spent the last five years developing robust safety measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse while maintaining online security. “We recently published an updated report setting out these measures, such as restricting people over 19 from messaging teens who don’t follow them and using technology to identify and take action against malicious behaviour. “As we roll out end-to-end encryption, we expect to continue providing more reports to law enforcement than our peers due to our industry-leading work on keeping people safe.” Read More Call of Duty launch sparks record traffic on broadband networks Crypto investment fraud warning issued by major bank Council investigating extent of cyber attack that affected website and systems Setback for Ireland as EU legal adviser recommends revisit of Apple tax case Smartphones ‘may be able to detect how drunk a person is with 98% accuracy’ Ireland and Apple await major development in long-running EU tax dispute

A landmark trial against Google will be a key test of whether the US can rein in the industry.

By Munsif Vengattil and Praveen Paramasivam CHENNAI (Reuters) -A Foxconn unit will on Monday sign an agreement with India's Tamil

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(Note: Strong language in paragraph 10) By Alexandra Ulmer and Anna Tong "I actually like Ron DeSantis a

Apple has unveiled an augmented reality headset which it claims to be “the most advanced personal electronic device ever”. Called Vision Pro, it is labelled as “mixed reality” as it combines “virtual reality” – in which the wearer is fully immersed in the digital world – with “augmented reality” – where digital images are overlaid onto the real world. Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “Blending digital content with the real world can unlock experiences like nothing we’ve ever seen.” The device, which resembles a pair of ski goggles, features a glass 23-million-pixel screen which covers the upper face and is controlled using the wearer’s eyes, hands and voice. It enables what Apple calls “spatial computing” – where the wearer can interact with digital content “just like it’s in your physical space”. The headset features built-in speakers and attaches using an adjustable headband, while a wire leads from the device to a battery pack which sits in the user’s pocket. Vents draw in air to cool the device down, rendering it “virtually silent”, Apple claimed. Vision Pro will cost 3,499 US dollars (£2,800) – roughly 10 times the price of the Meta Quest 2, the leading VR headset from Facebook’s parent company, which retails for £299.99. It will be available online and in Apple stores in the US from early next year and will come to more countries “later next year”. After years of speculation, the product was unveiled at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference at its California headquarters on Monday. This is the first augmented reality headset released by Apple, and the first new product it has launched since announcing the Apple Watch in 2015. Mr Cook, who succeeded Steve Jobs as Apple CEO in 2011, said: “I believe that augmented reality is a profound technology. Blending digital content with the real world can unlock experiences like nothing we’ve ever seen. “Vision Pro is a new kind of computer that augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world. “With Vision Pro, you’re no longer limited by a display. Your surroundings become an infinite canvas. “There are certain products that shift the way we look at technology and the role it plays in our lives. “Apple’s Vision Pro, together with Vision OS, introduces an entirely new spatial computing platform, a platform that presents incredible possibilities for our users and exciting new opportunities for our developers.”

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The YouTuber has garnered a substantial following of over 3.5 million YouTube subscribers for his unique content

Taylor Swift is known for dropping musical Easter eggs, and with the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version) on the horizon, a new Google game has appeared where fans can unlock the album vault track titles and features. In a post to Instagram, the pop star shared a clip of the 1989 blue and seagull-themed vault, where the vault opened to reveal different letter flying letters - a similar rollout to her previous re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) back in 2021. "You can tell me when the *search* is over… if the high was worth the pain," the caption read, referring to the commencement of "the search," as well as lyrically referencing the 1989 hit song Blank Space. If you Google 'Taylor Swift' now, a graphic of a blue vault sitting in the sand will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the search results. Once clicked on, a series of jumbled letters appear on the screen in different colours along with a hint at the bottom to help fans figure out the word. Altogether there are 89 puzzles to solve in total but Swifties need to collectively solve a whopping 33m (Swift is 33 years old) puzzles globally to unlock the vault, and the fandom has made it their mission to complete the challenge. At the time of writing, over 27.2m puzzles have been solved. After quickly realising the mission, the Google page was inundated with Swifties desperately to join in - so much so that they "jammed" the vault due to demand with the search engine providing an update. (With some Swift-based lyrical puns, of course). Since then it looks like the vault is working as fans get closer to cracking it open... Swift's fourth re-recording of 1989 (Taylor's Version) is set to be released next month on October 27. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Twitter’s head of trust and safety says that she has resigned from Elon Musk’s social media platform. Ella Irwin was in charge of content moderation at the company, which has faced allegations of an increase in harmful content since the Tesla CEO bought the company last October. Ms Irwin only took over the job from Yoel Roth last November after he also resigned from the San Francisco-based company. She confirmed her resignation to Reuters on Thursday. Neither Mr Irwin nor Mr Musk has posted on Twitter about her departure. Mr Muk announced earlier this month that he was hiring Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s former advertising chief, to replace him as Twitter’s new CEO. Twitter investor Fidelity says the company is now worth just a third of the $44bn that the billionaire paid for it. Mr Musk has publically admitted he paid too much for the company, a deal he tried repeatedly to get out of before closing the deal. Mr Musk has made huge staff cuts since he bought the company, with the original headcount of around 7,5000 employees being slashed to below 2,000 by February. The company has struggled to keep advertisers with many company’s not wanting their brands or products to appear alongside unsuitable and unmoderated content. Read More Elon Musk is once again world’s richest person Elon Musk’s visit to China should send a shiver down the spines of Western governments AOC warns Elon Musk is ‘testing waters’ to interfere in 2024 election

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Sammit acts upon the stalker and rescues the woman, but how did he find out?