Latest news with #censored
Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
New Zealand MP shows AI-generated nude photo of herself in Parliament to push for deepfake laws
A New Zealand MP last month held up an AI-generated nude photo of herself in Parliament to show how easy it is to make fake explicit images and how damaging they can be. Laura McClure, a member of the ACT Party, created the deepfake of herself in just a few minutes using a website she found through a simple Google search. The censored image was shown during a debate on 14 May. 'This image is a naked image of me, but it's not real,' she told Parliament. 'It took me less than five minutes to make a series of deepfakes of myself.' Speaking later in a video on social media, she said: 'I brought to the attention of all the other members of Parliament about how easy it is to do this and how much abuse and harm it is causing, particularly for our young Kiwis and more likely to be our young females.' 🇳🇿 MP HOLDS UP AI-NUDE OF HERSELF IN PARLIAMENT TO FIGHT DEEPFAKES New Zealand politician Laura McClure held up an AI-generated nude of herself in Parliament to push a law against fake explicit images. She made it at home to show how easy it is to create deepfakes that can ruin… — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 2, 2025 She also said, 'The problem isn't the tech itself, but how it's being misused to abuse people. Our laws need to catch up.' McClure said she was 'absolutely terrified' to show the image, but felt it was necessary to push for new laws to deal with deepfake abuse. Current laws in New Zealand do not directly cover deepfakes, although some rules exist for harmful digital communications. She is now backing a new proposal called the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill. It would update existing laws around revenge porn and intimate recordings, making it a crime to create or share deepfakes without consent. It would also give victims clearer ways to have content removed and seek justice. Experts in New Zealand say most deepfake porn is created without consent, and almost all of it targets women. McClure hopes her act will help speed up legal reforms. 'No one should ever be the target of deepfake porn especially without their consent,' she wrote in another post. 'This is abuse, plain and simple. Our laws haven't caught up, and that needs to change.'
Miami Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Russia TV Cuts Short Donald Trump's Critique of Putin
Russian state media has deliberately omitted U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of its leader from its coverage, according to an independent Russian investigative outlet. According to the news site Agentstvo, media controlled by the Kremlin has "censored" Trump by not reporting that the U.S. president has been criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin since last week. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment by email. Relations between Washington and Moscow have thawed since Trump was sworn into office in January, but tensions are mounting as the U.S. leader attempts to broker peace talks to end the war. After Russia launched an attack on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, last week, Trump publicly urged Putin to stop his attacks and expressed his disappointment in the leader for continuing military actions. Last week, Trump urged Putin to "STOP!" after Russian forces launched an attack on Kyiv, killing at least 12 people. "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" The Trump administration also warned it would abandon diplomatic efforts to end the war if Russia and Ukraine did not soon accept a Washington-brokered peace proposal. However, Russian state television channels and Kremlin-controlled media-including Russia-1 and news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti-have omitted Trump's criticism of Putin from their coverage, according to Agentstvo. They left out Trump's calls for Putin to stop the attacks on Ukraine. On Sunday, Vesti Nedeli, a program on Russia-1, selectively quoted Trump's criticism of Putin on social media, citing only the portions that excluded any criticism of the Russian president. Instead, the segment highlighted Trump's earlier remarks criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump criticized Zelensky on April 23 after Kyiv's leader said he wouldn't accept Russia's demands to legally recognize the annexation of Crimea. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in 2014, but it remains internationally recognized as Ukrainian. "Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea," Zelensky told reporters on April 22, adding, "It is against our constitution." Trump and Zelensky met one-on-one at the Vatican on Saturday ahead of Pope Francis' funeral. After that meeting, reporters asked Trump whether Zelensky might be willing to give up Crimea. The U.S. president responded: "Oh, I think so, yeah. Look, Crimea was 12 years ago." Meanwhile, European and Ukrainian officials fear Trump is close to abandoning his efforts to put an end to the war, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people briefed on the discussions. U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters in India on April 23: "We have engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy and on-the-ground work. We really tried to understand things from the perspectives of both Ukrainians and Russians. I think that we put together a very fair proposal. "It's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process. The current lines, somewhere close to them is where you're ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict." Vance told Charlie Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA, on his podcast on Monday: "If this doesn't stop, the Ukrainians aren't winning the war. I think there's this weird idea among the mainstream media that if this thing goes on for just another few years, the Russians will collapse, the Ukrainians will take their territory back, and everything will go back to the way that it was before the war, that is not the reality that we live in." Plans are in motion for a meeting between Trump and Putin, with Trump indicating they could meet "shortly" following his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in May. Related Articles NATO Fighter Jets Scrambled After Long-Range Russian StrikesPutin's Fear of Attacks on Victory Day Behind Abrupt Ceasefire: KyivMichael Gloss Obituary Removed After He Died Fighting for Russia'Frustrated' Trump Wants Putin to Go Further 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
The Independent
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Assassin's Creed Shadows updated after Japan's prime minister addressed concerns in parliament
Assassin's Creed Shadows has been updated by video game giant Ubisoft in a day-one patch, after concerns about the game were addressed by Japan's prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, in parliament. The game, released on 20 March, is set in Feudal Japan but has courted controversy, as some people have vented frustration at how its setting has been depicted. Ubisoft's latest entry in the Assassin's Creed series has already been censored in Japan, compared with its Western release, because it was considered to be too gory to obtain a rating unless changes were made. According to a report from IGN, on 19 March, Hiroyuki Kada, a Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors of Japan, raised a question about the game, because players had the ability to deface and destroy shrines. He is reported to have said: 'I fear that allowing players to attack and destroy real-world locations in the game without permission could encourage similar behaviour in real life. Shrine officials and local residents are also worried about this. Of course, freedom of expression must be respected but acts that demean local cultures should be avoided.' Kada seemed to be concerned that players being able to perform certain acts in the game could lead to them visiting Japan and replicating that behaviour in real life, with over-tourism already being blamed for an increase in cases of vandalism. He is understood to have seen pre-release gameplay in which a shrine in his constituency was defaced. Prime minister Ishiba is reported to have replied: 'How to address this legally is something we need to discuss with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 'Defacing a shrine is out of the question – it is an insult to the nation itself. Respecting the culture and religion of a country is fundamental, and we must make it clear that we will not simply accept acts that disregard them.' While it has not been confirmed if Ubisoft updated the game directly because of this exchange, the developer and publisher released a day-one update in which shrines are no longer destructible. According to patch notes seen by IGN, changes include 'tables and racks in temples/shrines are now indestructible' and 'citizens without weapons no longer bleed when attacked, reducing unintended blood spill in temples/shrines'. This update has been rolled out to all countries and not just in Japan. Ubisoft has previously issued reassurances that the game is not a representation of history and is a work of historical fiction. Assassin's Creed Shadows was released on 20 March on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
