Google, Facebook, Twitter aren’t prepared for deepfakes, US Rep. Schiff says

  (istockphoto)   After years of stalled efforts at the state level, New York City is now pursing its own legislation to criminalize “revenge porn”—the act of sharing explicit photos of a person with the “intention to cause economic, emotional or physical harm.” Under the new bill, which is expected to get a committee vote in the council next month, sleazy offenders who share “intimate images” without their subject’s consent will face one year in jail and a fine of $1,000. Victims may also pursue civil penalties—including “compensatory and punitive damages”—in the absence of a criminal conviction. The bill was first introduced by Queens Councilman Rory Lancman last September, and has since gained the support of both Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD. “It is critically important for the laws in New York City to catch up with our technology to provide protections for New Yorkers from such abuse,” Lancman…

  Surat: Two separate cases of women being blackmailed and harassed by men through social media have been registered with the city police on Monday. In one complaint, the accused made abusive comments on the woman’s Facebook page to defame her. In the other case, the accused issued threats to share the photos of the woman on social media if he was not paid money. Tushar Patel, a resident in Parvat Patiya, was booked at Puna police station for making abusive comments on Facebook page to defame the complainant woman and her mother. The accused was booked for harassment and also under the Sections of the Information Technology Act. The woman alleged in her complaint that the accused made the comments to tarnish her image with the intention to break her engagement. The complainant had recently got engaged to a man according to the wish of her family. The woman…

  At Primus Private School, we interviewed students to find out how they are being cyber bullied and how they felt about it Dubai: Shaikh Zayed believed that it is important to respect everyone equally. Throughout his life, Shaikh Zayed treated people with utmost respect regardless of status or gender. Students should also treat each other with respect. This will surely decrease the rate of cyber bullying. Anyone who is cyber bullied should first tell an adult who will help him or her solve the issue. A reason for bullying is that students do not respect each other and others’ culture.  Having interviewed some students, we have come to the conclusion that cyber bullying is a problem quite widespread.  Have you ever been cyber bullied? How did you react? Yes, I have been cyber bullied. I use the Facebook and Instagram social networking sites. I had posted a photo in…

  A Mobile man is being charged under Alabama’s new revenge porn law after he allegedly posted naked pictures of his ex-girlfriend on social media. Bryndon Bess, 21, is accused of posting the pictures on social media app Snapchat and refused to stop until the victim spoke to him, according to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department. The new law, formally known as Distributing Private Images, went into effect one year ago and carries up to a year in jail. Source link

Aiken County Public Schools and local law enforcement are urging students to be aware of cyberbullying and to know the consequences of taking part in any form of bullying and/or making threats online. The school district’s bullying policy defines harassment, intimidation or bullying as a gesture, electronic communication or a written, verbal, physical or sexual act reasonably perceived to have the effect of either of the following: Harming a student physically or emotionally or damaging a student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of personal harm or property damage. Insulting or demeaning a student or group of students in such a manner as to cause substantial disruption in or substantial interference with the orderly operation of the school. Captain Maryann Burgess, with the Aiken Department of Public Safety, said the online threats within Aiken County schools has been a common issue but emphasized its a common issue nationwide….

  NATIONWIDE — A new study is showing that a number of adolescents and teens are participating in a new form of self-harm. According to the recent study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, “digital self-harm” is the “anonymous online posting, sending or otherwise sharing of hurtful content about oneself.” The teens who participate bully themselves in order to manage their feelings of “sadness and self-hatred” and to get attention. The study found that about 6 percent of students have “anonymously posted something online about themselves that was mean.” This isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon, as in 2012, 9 percent of teens said they’d bullied themselves. Involvement in digital-self harm was correlated with sexual orientation, experience with school bullying and cyberbullying, drug use participation in various forms of “adolescent deviance” and depressive symptoms. “I think it would be a launching pad for more of a personality disorder that they’re…

  VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - An Orange City police officer was arrested on a warrant after Georgia authorities said he attempted to extort nude photos from a woman on social media, threatening to kill and rape her family if she did not comply. Joshua David Fancher, 25, was arrested Tuesday at his home in DeLand on a warrant charging him with making terroristic threats, according to officials with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives in Lowndes County, Georgia, said Fancher first started messaging the victim on Instagram, demanding she send him nude photos. Fancher threatened to kill the victim and her family and rape them if she didn’t send him the photos, according to Lowndes County authorities. Volusia County Sheriff’s Office detectives searched Fancher’s apartment on a warrant out of Georgia to assist with the ongoing investigation. Fancher was called in from patrol Tuesday morning and arrested, Orange City Police Department spokesperson Lt. Jason Sampsell said. The…

Technology and relationships are increasingly overlapping, but are laws dragging behind?(Photo: USA TODAY College file photo) Story Highlights Three out of four college students will be in a long-distance relationship at some point before graduation. A 2011 University of Rhode Island study found that 56% percent of students had received “sexually suggestive images.” As Millennials become increasingly tech-reliant in all facets of life — including relationships — some are facing unfortunate consequences. Three out of four college students will be in a long-distance relationship at some point before graduation, according to a study in the Journal of Communication. Sending nude photos to a partner may be one way to maintain the passion. In fact, a 2011 University of Rhode Island study found that 56% percent of students had received “sexually suggestive images.” But what happens when a relationship dissolves and a heartbroken ex has a library of nude photos of…

  Camryn Cowdin was checking her Facebook page when she saw hateful posts from a person she considered a friend. Her name was never used, but she knew the words were about her. “He would directly reference a comment or situation that happened between him and I,” Cowdin, 16, said. He threatened to end their friendship. He’d say, `You’re dead to us.’ ” The comments left her feeling depressed, Cowdin said. She cried every night. She didn’t want to go to school. “He pretty much tried to ruin me,” said Cowdin, a student at Highlands Ranch High School who loves making costumes for Comic Con, journaling and music — a set of headphones often hang around her neck. “I know a lot of beautiful people who have been ruined by social media.” Cowdin’s experience of being bullied over a social media platform is part of an increasing national trend in…

BENGALURU: A 31-year-old techie was arrested on Thursday for uploading a fake and insulting profile of his wife on dating and matrimonial sites. A senior official of Cyber Crime Branch tells City Express that at least 10 to 15 cases of revenge porn and identity theft by ex-lovers are reported on a daily basis. Mila Singh (name changed), a 24-year-old resident of Bengaluru was one of the recent victims. She had shared few of her intimate pictures with her lover, who she was in a relationship with for more than three years. When she decided to break up with him, he threatened her saying he would upload all her nude pictures online. Mila did not believe that the person she was once in love with was capable of doing such a thing, so she ignored his threats and messages. Soon after, her friends informed her that a series of her…

  My teen and I were settling into our seats at the movie theatre for the opening night of Ocean’s 8 when this pre-show warning interrupted our mother-child bonding. There are 8 million kids in Canada. By the time I finish this sentence, six of us will be cyberbullied. By the end of the month, 1 million. Bullied. We’re not okay with that. Telus’ cyberbullying campaign is alarmist and misplaced, writes @awsamuel via @NatObserver Then came the on-screen call to action: Stand with us to #EndBullying. Take the TELUS Wise Digital Pledge. All I wanted was a peaceful evening watching a bunch of A-list actresses steal a bunch of jewels. Instead, I was plunged into a familiar form of parental worry: screen time anxiety. I assume that is the whole point of throwing around figures like “a million kids a month.” But the anxiety Telus triggered wasn’t about whether my…

I’ve grown up with the Internet for most of my life. I’m old enough to remember when the it was only a few websites and there was almost no real content. The possibilities, however, were endless. There was this feeling that we all knew that we were participating in something revolutionary that would change the world and how we would view it. With time, and with more and more people accessing it, the Internet began to change. This most recent fundamental change, dubbed Web 2.0, was heralded as the “Great Equalizer” that would bring peoples of all walks of life together. The Internet, as it turns out, is only as good as the people who use it. For most, the Internet is simply a tool for communication and to absorb media. People use it to find the best restaurant in town, to post their favourite photo on Instagram, or to…

  An Argentinian man allegedly spent most of February, March and April stalking, threatening and attempting to extort his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, according to court documents. The ex-girlfriend reported to police that she was afraid of Alejandro Saez-Blanco, 40, and believes he might return to Aspen and exact violent revenge on her new boyfriend, documents state. If he returns to Aspen, Saez-Blanco will face felony charges of extortion and stalking, as well as numerous misdemeanor charges, according to an affidavit filed in Pitkin County District Court. The incidents began in February when Saez-Blanco began texting the woman’s new boyfriend, including the fact that he had found the man’s house locked when he visited, the documents state. Two days after that, video surveillance at the man’s house caught Saez-Blanco knocking on the man’s front door and peering into his window. The same night, Saez-Blanco texted the new boyfriend threatening…

Instagram said Tuesday it was expanding its online anti-bullying initiative, adding a new filter to weed out comments meant to harass or bully the 800 million users of the popular social media site. The company said it would review accounts that have a large number of comments filtered out. If those accounts violate Instagram’s community guidelines, it will take action, which could include banning them. The new filter will also hide comments attacking a person’s appearance or character, and alert Instagram to repeat offenders. It is the second step in an initiative announced last year to curb offensive comments and rid Instagram of its most malicious members. “To be clear, we don’t tolerate bullying on Instagram,” Kevin Systrom, the company’s chief executive and co-founder, told Instagram users in a blog post Tuesday. The company will also expand policies to guard against the bullying of young public figures who are often the target…

  SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Mean, hurtful comments online, spreading rumors, even threats. Cyber bullying is sadly, incredibly common and something local school officials are racing to keep up with. Dr. Gausman says, “We’re not able to use solutions that might have worked 10 years ago to address the challenges of cyber bullying and social media. We’re we’re working with challenges that have come to the fore in last last five years. And so, just as soon as adults seem to acquire working knowledge of social media software, the students have already moved onto something new, so it’s important for us to consider new ways to deal with this. ” Sioux City Superintendent of Schools Paul Gausman is preparing to go to Washington D.C. to address the President’s Commission on School Safety. He says, along with changing technology, there’s perhaps an even bigger challenge for schools dealing with cyber bullying. Gausman says, “The challenge…