Is Misinformation Unstoppable? Bill Gates Reflects on the Crisis and Who Must Fix It

Bill Gates has placed the burden of addressing misinformation on younger generations, acknowledging that he underestimated the challenge. Speaking to CNBC, the Microsoft co-founder reflected on his earlier belief that people would naturally gravitate toward accurate information. His optimism, however, has faded as misinformation has proliferated, especially in the digital age, where identifying falsehoods on social media platforms has grown increasingly difficult.

Gates, who has long been at the center of various online conspiracies, admitted that the complexity of this problem has eluded him. During the pandemic, false claims about him, including accusations of embedding microchips in vaccines, gained traction. Such incidents brought the issue of misinformation closer to home, even affecting his family. Gates revealed that his youngest daughter, Phoebe, faced online harassment, shedding new light on how pervasive this problem has become.

Gates’ reflections come as public sentiment has increasingly called for stronger action against misinformation. A 2023 Pew Research survey found that a majority of American adults believe tech companies should take a more active role in curbing false information and harmful content. Yet, even with decades of experience in the tech industry, Gates admits that a definitive solution remains elusive.

He questioned how free speech should be balanced with the need to prevent harm, suggesting that incitement to violence or the spread of dangerous health misinformation should have consequences. However, implementing such measures, especially with the vast amount of content online, poses its own set of challenges. Gates mused whether artificial intelligence could help, but he also pointed out that by the time false information is flagged, the damage is often already done.

Despite his early optimism about the internet's potential for spreading knowledge, Gates now recognizes the limits of technological solutions. Confirmation bias, the tendency of individuals to favor information that aligns with their pre-existing beliefs, exacerbates the problem. He reflected on how even he can fall into this trap, admitting that he's sometimes drawn to articles critical of politicians he dislikes, even when the criticism may be exaggerated.

For Gates, misinformation is not a problem with a clear or easy solution, and it's one that the next generation will have to confront head-on.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Survey Shows 61% of the Internet Users are Worried About their Data After their Death

In the Digital 2024 Overview Report conducted by Kepios, it was revealed that 94.9% of the internet users all over the world use social media every month, with 282 million accounts added between July 2023 to July 2024. As there is an increase in digital footprint due to rise in social media accounts, there are also concerns about the privacy and identities of these accounts. Kaspersky’s new study revealed that 6 in 10 of the users believe that the accounts of deceased people are more vulnerable to identity theft as there is no one to monitor those accounts.

58% of the people agree that AI can be used to create online presence of deceased people with 35% saying that they do not find it wrong to create digital memories like images and videos of the deceased using AI. However, 38% disagree, with 67% saying that the loved ones of the deceased can get upset if they see the images and videos of the person on the internet.

When asked how users are planning to manage their digital footprints after their death, 63% agree that they should add it in their will and should request their data and social media to be managed accordingly. Web content analysis expert at Kaspersky, Anna Larkina, says that users often do not think about what would happen to their digital print after they pass away. But the survey says that many respondents are aware of this matter and have plans to manage their digital footprints after their death.

Kaspersky suggests some points by which users can protect their privacy. Users should employ modern security solutions to manage their data and apps. Their browsers and operating systems should always be up-to-date as the updates often add more security to the system. And lastly, users should check the terms and conditions on online Privacy Checker as most apps do not make it clear how they collect and protect users’ data.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Federal Judge To Deliver Punishment To Google After Antitrust Case Finds Company Guilty Of Monopoly In The Search Industry

The New York Times has confirmed that Google will receive a punishment after it lost its battle to prove its innocence in an antitrust case.

The Federal judge delivered the news about how the punishment was due after it declared Google guilty of monopoly in the search industry.

The Judge following the case gave out an estimated timeframe of when we could expect the news to be delivered and that was highlighted as August 2025. This was announced during the hearing held in the US capital on Friday. Such an outcome would result in how people look for data on the web.

• Also read: Regulators in UK Are Raising Voices About Google’s Unfair Ad Tech Practices that Are Giving a Hard Time To Competitors

Meanwhile, prosecutors were given up to this year’s end to submit proposals. It would take aim at Google’s high-profile deal with iPhone maker Apple. This would be in return for priority placements or to have Google sell off some of its major business components.

There is so much change taking place this year, considering how the elections in the US are also coming up. Both the Democrats and Republicans are asking candidates to make a breakthrough in the regulatory tech world by shaking things up. Hence, the verdict of Google’s legal case might be on the table of such negotiations.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Google Tests New Forum Display For Search Results
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google Tests New Forum Display For Search Results

According to Barry Schwartz's finding, Google is testing a new forum display section in search results, highlighting top comments and related discussions.

The goal right now seems to be adding a new means for displaying forum content when users are hunting for results. While not a lot of details were shared, we can confirm that a mockup was put out by the search giant on what users can soon expect.

The changes will include snippets with a section for top comments. This is followed up with related content search sections.

• Also read: Most Google Searches Result In Zero Clicks, New Study Reveals

Amid the surge of AI-generated content, Google appears to encourage reliance on forum discussions for certain topics, as niche forums still offer human-driven insights. However, with AI tools flooding these spaces with automated replies, Google may soon face the challenge of ensuring factual, accurate content is prioritized over AI-generated gibberish.

On the other side, it's important to note Google is investing heavily in partnerships with platforms like Reddit, raising questions about whether Reddit is being artificially favored in search results.

Critics believe this monopolistic tactic will keep users browsing within Google's ecosystem, subtly discouraging visits to the original content sources. This approach helps Google retain user engagement while shaping the flow of information, potentially sidelining external platform.

Image: SERoundtable

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Regulators in UK Are Raising Voices About Google’s Unfair Ad Tech Practices that Are Giving a Hard Time To Competitors

Competition regulators in the UK have objected to Google’s ad tech practices that are affecting the competition in the UK. The British Competition and Marketing authority has released a statement saying that Google has impacted the competition in the search market by advertising their own services favoring themselves. According to CMA, many marketers and publishers in the UK bid and sell to Google to advertise in the market. In 2019, these marketers and publishers gave £1.8 billion annually to use Google’s technology for advertising.

The British regulators also said that Google is misusing its dominance in the market to advertise its own services. CMA also said that Google isn’t giving a fair field to many competitors which is disadvantageous to many ad technologies. Interim executive director of enforcement at the CMA, Juliette Enser, says that through ads, many businesses and websites are keeping their platform free. They are earning millions of revenue from these ads and when these ads reach millions of people in the UK, a lot of goods and services get bought or sold out. That’s why it is important that all publishers and advertisers experience fair competition as they are keeping most of their content free.

The vice president of Google ads, Dan Taylor, says that Google completely disagrees with CMA views and will soon respond in accordance with that. Taylor wrote an email which said that Google is fair to all types of content and their advertising technology is helping millions of websites earn revenue and reach customers. Google aims to create value for advertisers and publishers in a competitive setting and all the things that have been said about Google ads are flawed.

It is worth mentioning here that this isn’t the first time that Google ads have been accused of abusing its power in ad tech. Last year, European Union regulators also charged Google with breaching antitrust rules about ad tech. They said that Google has always been dominating search and text advertising for years. This accusation on Google is being compared with Microsoft’s accusation that the company has used its market power to bring down its competitors.

CMA said that Google has used its dominant power to strengthen its ad exchange platform, AdX. Google charges the highest on AdX and it is a center for many advertisements buying and selling. Google takes about 20% of each bid that is done on AdX.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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Survey Highlights Key Challenges and Breakthroughs in Small Business Marketing: Budgets, AI, and Influencers Dominate

SimpleTexting conducted a survey to find out which marketing strategies and tactics are giving the best results in the US markets. The survey was conducted among 400 small business managers which are managing their business in the USA. Most of the respondents of the survey said that their business sees the most growth on Facebook, websites and review sites.

The survey asked the managers about the biggest challenges they face in marketing. 52% of the respondents said that a limited budget is the biggest challenge when it comes to marketing their business. 34% feel time constraint and 28% feel that finding the right marketing channels are the biggest challenges for them. Other challenges that business managers are facing are keeping up with tech trends (27%), lack of marketing expertise (23%), finding and retaining a strong team (20%) and creating the marketing (19%).

The respondents were also asked about what are the most influential marketing tactics for them. 33% answered reviews on websites like Google and Amazon, 32% said referrals and 26% said influencers/endorsements are the most influential marketing tactics for them. Other influential marketing tactics for respondents included sponsorships (25%), promotions/discounts (23%), partnerships (22%) and loyalty programs (21%). Contests/giveaways (9%) and press/news coverage (6%) were also answered as influential marketing tactics by some.

There are also some marketing trends seen among small businesses. The biggest marketing trend among small businesses is AI and Machine Learning (61%). 85% of the small businesses say that they use AI in their marketing which promises them marketing success. 40% of the small businesses are using social commerce for marketing, 37% are doing ethical marketing and 36% of them are making short-form video content for marketing purposes. Micro-influencers or local influencers (33%) and localized SEO (16%) are also being used by small businesses for marketing.

Explore the charts below for deeper insights into the current state of small business marketing

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

US, UK, And EU Enter Into First Legal Treaty On AI Safety

The US, the UK, and the EU have all entered into a legally binding treaty called the Framework Convention on AI.

This is the first agreement that’s designed to ensure these regions follow proper AI safety requirements that align with human rights as well as democracy. The document lays down the foundation for important AI principles regarding AI systems.

This includes how user data can remain safe, how the law is obeyed, and how everything must remain transparent at all times. Every nation signing the agreement needs to adopt the best legislative measures and administrative tasks that are outlined in the agreement.

Therefore, you can think of it as a guide on how to best use AI and prevent its abuse.

Interestingly, the framework is not something new. It’s been under discussion since the start of 2019 and several countries are already following it including Israel, and Norway. Andorra. Moldova, Georgia, and San Marino.

In the past few months, we’ve seen a huge number of AI safety documents prevail. This just reflects how popular the technology is and what punishments signatories might incur when they go against it.

As mentioned by The Financial Times recently, this treaty is legally binding but following it can only be done through monitoring. This is never considered the best form of enforcing it.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure. We feel it might serve as the most important blueprint for various nations that want to curate their own laws related to AI.

As we speak, America has several bills in the pipeline linked to AI while the EU has already passed historic AI regulations. Now, the UK is looking for its own framework on the subject.

California is the closest to passing its first AI Safety Act which many tech companies like OpenAI have tried to ignore for so long.

Highlighting the best AI standards and ensuring they’re met has always been a topic of great debate. Hence, it’s going to be interesting to see how signing this new treaty will change the way AI is used today.

As far as implementation of the treaty is concerned, that will come into play starting three months after several signatories formally approve it.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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