New Study Shows Instagram is Promoting Self-Harm on the Platform and Meta is Turning Blind Eye to It

According to Danish researchers, Instagram and other social media apps are promoting self harm content and making them reachable to the users. The researchers who did the study created fake Instagram profiles of people as young as 13 years old and shared different content about self harm, including videos and photos, to encourage people to self harm. The study was done to understand if Meta’s claim of moderating harmful content was right or wrong as Neta claims that it removes 99% of the content that doesn't meet its guidelines. During this whole segment of experiment, Digital Ansvar found that not a single self harm content was removed from Instagram.

The organization also created its own AI tool to find and remove harmful content. 88% of the content that was very harmful and 38% of the content about self harm was immediately identified by the AI tool. This shows that Meta has advanced AI tools to identify the content but it is simply choosing not to use them to identify harmful content on the app. It also shows that Meta isn't following EU law for content moderation.

EU law known as The Digital Services Act states that any harmful material that poses risk to mental or physical health should be immediately identified and removed from digital services. One of the Meta’s spokesmen said that the company always removes content with harmful intentions and self harm. The company claims that they removed 12 million images and videos related to suicide and self harm on Instagram. Meta has also.launched Instagram Teen Accounts which gives teens a safe platform and where the content control is also stricter.

The study, on the other hand, says that Meta is spreading self harm content instead of stopping out. Instagram algorithm is also helping in the spread of self harm networks where children become friends with self harm groups. The chief executive of Digitalt Ansvar, Hesby Holm, said that he is extremely alarmed by the study because Instagram is contributing to the spread of self-harm even though it should do all things to make it stop. He added that we thought that AI tools will be a big help to identify and remove self-harm content but it doesn't seem that way. There are going to be severe consequences if we do not stop it because many children may try to inflict self harm on themselves without their parents knowing. As Instagram does not moderate small groups, it may take some time for Instagram to identify self-harm groups as they are smaller and private on the platform.

Leading psychologist who left Meta’s global expert group said that she left the company because it was not paying attention to harmful content on Instagram. She was shocked that Instagram hasn't removed explicit and harmful content. She added that even with all this technology, Instagram is promoting self-harm in children and young women and there's no one to stop it. Right now, moderating content on Instagram is a matter of life and death but nobody seems to care.

Image: DIW-Aigen

H/T: TG

Read next: New Security Alert For Android DroidBot Malware That Steals Credentials For More Than 77 Crypto Exchanges and Banking Apps
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

New Security Alert For Android DroidBot Malware That Steals Credentials For More Than 77 Crypto Exchanges and Banking Apps

There’s a new Android banking malware called Droidbot that’s causing a stir among cybersecurity experts.

They've raised the alarm about how it’s making attempts to steal credentials belonging to more than 77 crypto exchanges and banking platforms located in different parts of the world. This includes Spain, France, the UK, Italy, and Portugal.

As per experts at Cleafy, Droidbot has been active since the summer of this year and continues to operate from the MaaS platform. This is where the tool is up for sale for just $3000 a month. Let’s not forget how 17 affiliate groups were highlighted using the malware producers to customize payloads for certain targets.

Droidbot does lack the right kind of sophisticated features or novel features but still, it can infect devices in a unique manner. The activity is significant and the malware seems to be under heavy development at this time. There are signs of it heading towards an expansion in different regions like Latin America.

The developers behind the malware seem to be Turkish in origin and can give rise to affiliates possessing all the right kinds of tools to carry out attacks. Furthermore, it can retrieve data that was stolen while issuing commands at the same time.

The payload builder enables affiliates to customize malware so that target apps are struck. This includes using different languages and setting up C2 server addresses. Meanwhile, affiliates even get access to detailed documents and provide support for malware creators. There’s even access to Telegram channels where updates routinely get published.

As a whole, this operation makes any obstacles or hindrances it could face low for those who are inexperienced or possess low skills. Another alarming finding is the tendency to disguise itself as another leading platform like the Play Store, Chrome, or Android Security. This way, victims get tricked into downloading malicious platforms.

The main features worth mentioning include keylogging, overlaying, SMS interception, and VNC. Shocking features include abusing the Accessibility Services on Android to monitor actions and simulate swipes. Anyone downloading apps requesting suspicious permissions needs to say no immediately.

Some stand-out platforms where attempts were made to steal sensitive user credentials include Binance, Unicredit, Kraken, and also KuCoin. To ward off the threat, security researchers advise downloading platforms using Google Play. At the same time, being mindful of permission requests after downloads and keeping Play Protect active are other useful pointers worth remembering.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• 76% of Americans Report Emotional Stress From Finances During the Holiday Season
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

76% of Americans Report Emotional Stress From Finances During the Holiday Season

A survey of 2,000 Americans by Talker Research commissioned by Beyond Finance found that most of the Americans are financially stressed during the holiday season. 56% of the respondents said that they feel pressured to spend money on gifts during the holidays. When asked where they feel the most pressure to spend money on, 71% answered family, 28% said friends and 19% said because of social media. 76% reported experiencing “Money Wounds” that is emotional stress from financial challenges.

26% suffer from low self esteem because of financial stress, 21% feel money wounds because of their habit to spend a lot on useless things. During the holiday season 25% respondents reported experiencing money wounds because of compulsive overspending. The survey also asked why respondents are experiencing financial stress and reasons were financial mistakes (40%), being in debt (25%) and not making enough money at all (34%).

27% said that they can feel their money mindset changing and a habit to spend more resurfacing during the holiday season. 61% of the respondents reported that they are anxious to spend money this holiday season because of the financial situation they are in. 42% said that they get distant from others during the holiday so they do not have to feel less than them.

To minimize all of this pressure, 61% of the respondents said that they are trying to change their mindset to “money and spending doesn't equate to happiness.” There are also some respondents who are taking help from a therapist or a coach to ease their anxieties and worries about money. Even with this, 37% said that they don't feel that the trauma or issues around money are ever going to heal.

Dr. Erika Rasure, Chief Financial Wellness Advisor at Beyond Finance said that many of her clients at their weekly financial wellness sessions tell her about how they are financially struggling and their struggle increases during the holiday season. Chief Operating Officer at Beyond Finance, Lou Antonelli, added that financial wellness is more about overcoming your shame and guilt about financial struggle than overcoming your debts. It is important that people know more about financial wellness so they can easily manage their finances around the holiday season. Once you are free from financial stress, you can develop healthier spending habits even when there is high pressure on you to spend more, like during holidays.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Amnesty International Confirms Israel’s Atrocities In Gaza Is Equivalent To Genocide

A new report from leading human rights group Amnesty International is accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

The news is major considering it’s the first such conclusion made by a leading human rights organization since the conflict in Gaza began. The report comprising 32 pages examined several leading events in Gaza between the period of October 2023 to July 2024.

It goes on to explain in detail how Israel’s actions are a complete violation of human rights. How innocent lives were attacked was said to be equal to unleashing hell on a population comprising 2.3 million individuals. There is so much evidence mentioned about how the behavior justifies genocide.

The behavior of Israel included killing many innocent individuals and causing serious bodily and mental harm. It deliberately inflicted conditions that made it hard for anyone in the region to survive. It was highlighted as physical destruction of the worst kind with the intent to destroy the Palestinian race.

This is also the first time that the Human Rights group used the term genocide and it’s directly in line with the report rolled out by the UN about Israel’s crime. These damning reports serve as a serious wake-up call and the organization says it’s about time that this stops right now.

To purposely destroy human life and block aid and power to Palestinians is unacceptable, the secretary general explained during the conference. This led to a serious collapse of the food, water, and health system which repeated with the occupation of Israeli forces.

They did not necessarily think that this would be the end result. It was risky in terms of being called genocide but now Amnesty International says there’s no doubt about what Israel is doing when all dots join together. It’s a complete violation of international law, it concludes.

Most allegations relate to the massive amount of military offensive arising with death rates hitting peak levels. Many civilians lost their lives for no reason. Attacks carried out on populated areas like medical facilities were also enlisted in the crimes committed by Israel.

Israel is obliged legally to provide for the civilians in the occupied population. The offensive carried out on Rafah was the last point which led to this conclusion, the report stated. Israel was well aware that this was a point for aid and how many people would arrive there. Still, they chose to attack, and that led to many killed. In defense, Israel tried to cover that up by claiming the attack was aimed at Hamas militants.

The report now calls for a ceasefire and a law to roll out target sanctions against leading Hamas and Israeli officials. At the same time, it wants leading world powers like the US, the UK, and Germany to put an end to security assistance and ban selling weapons to Israel.

It’s similarly pledging the international criminal court to roll out arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister. Last but not least, it wants the unconditional release of civilians held as hostages for both Hamas and Palestinian armed forces who carried out crimes on October 7.

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Read next: Can AI-Generated Academic Work Really Go Undetected by Educators?
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Can AI-Generated Academic Work Really Go Undetected by Educators?

ChatGPT has already infiltrated everyone's lives and it has been just two years since its release. There is a lot of work that is being done by AI, but people are also making ChatGPT do their homework, assignments and other written work. This is a serious problem, because students are using it to get their degree even though they haven't learnt anything at all. Many media and software engineers, are going to their related fields without having any understanding about what they studied. It seems that students are using ChatGPT for work, but many teachers are unable to detect AI content. Many schools have also allowed the use of AI but disallowed that use of tools that can correctly identify AI.

A study from the UK found that teachers are unable to detect any academic work generated by AI. The researchers of the study faked some students’ profiles and sent some basic AI generated content to teachers. The researchers found that almost 94% of the submitted work generated by AI was undetected by the teachers. Many studies have proved that humans themselves cannot identify AI work and the difference of linguistics used by AI and humans.

Another study from American universities in Vietnam found that AI detectors are mostly right when it comes to AI detection as compared to humans. The study said that Turnitin identified 91% of the AI generated papers correctly, while only 54.5% of the papers could be identified by faculty members. The study also used prompt engineering to make AI content as difficult to detect as possible but still AI content detectors could identify 91% of AI generated papers, and humans only 55%. But the crisis is that many schools are not using AI detectors.

• Also read: Who Owns the Most Generative AI Patents? China and the US Compete

So, not using AI detectors for AI detection and using humans instead results in AI work being missed most of the time. The UK study also found that the work that was created by AI scored higher than human created work. 83.4% of the work created by AI got a higher score than human written work. In short, if a student is using basic AI prompts for their work, they are 83% more likely to score higher and only 6% chance of getting caught.

• Related: Read This Before It's Too Late: A Guide to Highest Paying Academic Fields

But it seems like professors and teachers do not care, as well as schools that don't have any sanctions for using AI for work. A recent BBC report showed that a student was caught using AI after being detected by an AI detector but the panel cleared her as there was no solid evidence against her. Students are using AI to cheat and improve their grades, but teachers have no way to identify it. Many online classes are also being run without AI detectors which can have long term effects. But schools seem reluctant to not use AI detectors, probably because of additional work and high costs.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Is Meta's AI ‘Mistakenly’ Censoring Too Much? Company’s Top Executive Nick Clegg Says Yes

Meta’s top executive is shedding light on the company’s moderation efforts. This includes how it's AI might be removing too much content across all of its platforms in error.

Nick Clegg who is the head of the tech giant’s global affairs admitted that many mistakes continue to be made in terms of getting rid of content it feels is ‘unnecessary’. He also confirmed that the mistake rates remain too high while pledging for change in terms of better accuracy and greater precision.

Clegg also spoke about how the company might be trying to follow all the rules in the book and as a result, harmless content is being removed. This causes a lot of users to be penalized unjustly in the long run.

The company has already come under scrutiny in the past for deleting a lot of material related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zuckerberg admitted that a lot of incorrect decisions arose after coming under pressure from the government.

At that time, rules were harsher and timing was not great for the pandemic. Hence it all came down to wisdom and some poor decision making. They did admit to overdoing it quite a bit. And it’s thanks to Meta app users who raised their voices to be heard.

These comments are proof that Meta’s automated AI systems are just unnecessarily harsh. It’s quite the right example of moderation failures that were once trending on Threads. However, despite knowing it all, the company has yet to make some major changes to content since the election started.

On the other hand, Meta’s oversight board, supposedly established to handle complex moderation dilemmas, remains powerless in addressing all the shadow banning and overly-moderated content due to the absence of a reporting mechanism and limitation. Critics argue this isn’t a mere oversight but a calculated move to limit the board’s influence, keeping ultimate control firmly in Meta’s hands. This aligns with Meta’s controversial track record of suppressing certain voices while amplifying harmful narratives. For instance, during the Rohingya crisis, Meta was accused of enabling violence against minorities, and in the Israel-Palestine conflict, it censored pro-Palestinian and Gaza voices fighting against genocide. Such actions suggest that Meta’s commitment to fairness may be secondary to its bottom line, prioritizing profit and power dynamics over accountability and justice.

Does this mean huge changes might be on the horizon? Well, we do think so because Meta is definitely working on it, especially since the issue is confirmed. Clegg admitted that not a lot of detail can be provided since discussions are high-level. However, they do hope to make new changes with the Trump administration.

So for users like us, it’s only about time that we see Meta make some necessary moderation changes and give users’ content the credit it deserves. What do you think?

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Google’s AI-Powered Store Reviews: A Game-Changer for Shoppers or a Nightmare for Businesses?
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google’s AI-Powered Store Reviews: A Game-Changer for Shoppers or a Nightmare for Businesses?

Web browsing researcher Leo discovered a new AI-powered feature recently added in Google Chrome. The upcoming addition in Google Chrome will let users give a quick summary of websites or stores that they are visiting online. This will be done with the help of artificial intelligence so users can have short reviews about the websites they are about to visit. This new feature is called “Store Reviews”. The reviews won't be summarized randomly, rather AI reviews will come from trusted review websites like ScamAdvisor, Trustpilot and some other review websites that users use to write their reviews.

The website summary will be in the page info bubble. Page info bubble is in the address bar, next to the website URL, and it is usually denoted with a lock icon or ‘i’ icon. When users click on it, some tabs about site information are present there and “Store Reviews” will be one of them. For instance, if a user visits X on a website, they can click on the lock icon to have information about the website. Once a user clicks on Store Reviews, they will be able to see what other people are saying about X and multiple sources will be used.

It will be a great feature to help users understand the trustworthiness and credibility of the website. Another thing is that this feature isn't the only AI update coming to Google Chrome. AI is also going to provide protection from viruses, dangerous downloads and suspicious sites. It is being referred to AI-Powered Protection and it will be on Google Chrome in upcoming months.

The introduction of Google Chrome's AI-powered "Store Reviews" feature could significantly impact eCommerce websites, SEOs, webmasters, and marketers. For eCommerce platforms, trust signals from credible reviews might boost conversions if the reviews are positive. However, businesses with less favorable reviews could face declining traffic or sales as users make decisions directly from the page info bubble. For SEOs, this feature emphasizes the importance of maintaining a stellar online reputation on sites like Trustpilot and ScamAdvisor, as these reviews will influence user trust more than organic search results alone. Webmasters must prioritize building secure, credible sites to avoid being flagged by Chrome’s AI-Powered Protection for suspicious behavior. Marketers may need to pivot their strategies to incorporate robust reputation management and leverage these summaries to highlight brand strengths.

On the other hand, Google might integrate its ecosystem further by incorporating Google Maps data or ads into these summaries, offering businesses new advertising opportunities while also presenting challenges to those aiming to rank organically. This evolution could reshape how users interact with websites and make decisions online.

The "Store Reviews" feature has sparked debate among users. Some fear the risks of LLM hallucinations falsely labeling malicious websites as trustworthy, potentially misleading users into dangerous interactions. Others argue that even an imperfect LLM is an improvement, as it offers quick insights and helps less tech-savvy users navigate online risks, though more discerning users may still rely on personal judgment and tools for protection.

These updates also come at a time when Google faces increasing pressure from the DOJ regarding Chrome’s dominance in the browser market. If such features lead to a tighter integration of Google services, critics might argue it further solidifies Google’s market hold, raising antitrust concerns. This could intensify scrutiny over whether Chrome’s innovations truly serve users or unfairly promote Google’s ecosystem.

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