Latest news with #pornography
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Elon Musk is told to block children from viewing porn on X or face huge fine
Elon Musk 's company X has been instructed to prevent children from accessing porn or face huge fines under a new crackdown in the UK. Media watchdog Ofcom is bringing in rules from Friday insisting that all firms hosting pornography online should have robust and 'highly effective' age checks. These are aimed at stopping anyone aged under 18 from accessing such content. Billionaire Musk, 54, the world's richest man, has been in charge of X - previously named Twitter - since 2022. He has faced criticism in recent weeks after one of the artificial intelligence brands he owns, xAI, launched a chatbot 'girlfriend' available to users as young as 12. Internet safety experts have warned it could be used to 'manipulate, mislead, and groom children'. Fines for non-compliance with the new Ofcom regulations could be up to $25million or 10 per cent of the platform's qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater - with estimates suggesting as much as $270million for $2.7billion-revenue X. The crackdown is part of the Online Safety Act 2023 - a set of laws that protects children and adults online. Other threatened punishments include barring a social media company from operating in the UK. X, which officially has a 13-plus age limit for users, is said to be under scrutiny due to the volume of pornographic material shared on the site, the Telegraph reports. The Children's Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza has previously warned many youngsters are more likely to see pornography on X than on dedicated adult sites. A study suggested 41 per cent of 16-to-21-year-olds told of viewing pornography on X , against 37 per cent for specialist adult sites - followed by 33 per cent doing so on Instagram, 32 per cent on Snapchat and 30 per cent on search engines. The new age restriction rules say Internet firms should ensure users submit ID or even have their face scanned, depending on what sites they access. Recommended measures include open banking, photo IDs, facial age estimation software and checks by credit card or mobile phone operators. And industry sources have highlighted three options for Musk's X ahead of the new system. The website could bar anyone aged below 18 from signing up, remove all pornographic content from the site or else introduce bespoke age checks for accounts or areas of the platform where such material is shared. A government insider was quoted as saying: 'If X or any other company that hosts pornography has not introduced highly effective age assurance by this Friday deadline, Ofcom has been clear that they will face enforcement action.' When contacted by MailOnline, an Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling. 'By Friday, all sites and apps that allow pornography - whether they're dedicated adult sites or social media apps - must use highly effective age checks to protect children from online material that's not appropriate for them. 'If companies fail to act, they should expect to face enforcement.' There has been criticism in recent days of xAI's new chatbot girlfriend named Ani, described a fully fledged, blonde-haired AI companion with a gothic, anime-style appearance. She has been programmed to act as a 22-year-old and engage at times in flirty banter with the user. Users have reported that the chatbot has an NSFW mode - 'not safe for work' - once Ani has reached 'level three' in its interaction, including the additional option of appearing dressed in slinky lingerie. The character is said to have a seductive computer-generated voice that pauses and laughs between phrases and regularly initiates flirtatious conversation. Ani was made available to use within the Grok app, which is listed on the App store and can be downloaded by anyone aged 12 and over. Those who have interacted with Ani since it launched earlier last week report Ani describes itself as 'your crazy in-love girlfriend who's gonna make your heart skip'. Ofcom said: 'We are aware of the increasing and fast-developing risk AI poses in the online space, especially to children, and we are working to ensure platforms put appropriate safeguards in place to mitigate these risks.' Matthew Sowemimo, associate head of policy for child safety online at the children's charity NSPCC, said: 'We are really concerned how this technology is being used to produce disturbing content that can manipulate, mislead, and groom children. 'And through our own research and contacts to Childline, we hear how harmful chatbots can be - sometimes giving children false medical advice or steering them towards eating disorders or self-harm. 'It is worrying app stores hosting services like Grok are failing to uphold minimum age limits, and they need to be under greater scrutiny so children are not continually exposed to harm in these spaces.' In its terms of service, Grok advised that the minimum age to use the tool is 13, while young people under 18 should receive permission from a parent before using the app.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
AI deepfake porn humiliated me, says Penny Mordaunt
Former Conservative cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt has spoken about how shaken she was to learn she was the victim of "deliberately humiliating and violent" deepfake porn when serving as an to BBC Newsnight, the former leader of the House of Commons said that her face had been used in AI-generated deepfake porn, adding it happened to "a number of parliamentarians".Deepfakes are images or videos that have been digitally altered using artificial intelligence (AI) to replace the face of one person with was being interviewed on the programme about advanced age checks that websites with pornographic material must implement before Friday. But speaking on the issue of deepfake porn, she said: "The people behind this... don't realise the consequences in the real world when they do something like that... It plays across into people taking actual real world actions against ourselves."Mordaunt became aware that her face had been used in deepfake porn after a Channel 4 documentary by Cathy Newman last year revealed that Mordaunt, Tory colleague Dame Priti Patel, Labour's Angela Rayner and several other senior female politicians were victims of the the time, Newman revealed she was also a victim. "It was violating... it was kind of me and not me," she said, explaining the video displayed her face but not her this year, the government unveiled plans to make the creation or distribution of sexually explicit deepfakes a criminal offence, following a surge in their proliferation over recent years. "The worry for me is actually more with children," Mordaunt told Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire."We wouldn't want people to see these things on the walk to school. If they did, they'd be in therapy. But we have seemed to be perfectly happy for them to see it online."Mordaunt also said she was "with the Australians" on their decision to ban social media platforms for added that the government needed "to have some courage" in tackling the issue with people like Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter."[Musk] is taking the human race to Mars. I'm sure he can figure out age verification," she said. Mordaunt has held senior positions within previous Conservative governments, including briefly serving as the UK's first female defence secretary. She competed in the 2022 Conservative leadership election, before serving as the leader of the House of Commons and lord president of the gave her a prominent role in the coronation ceremony of King Charles III, during which she held a ceremonial sword for more than an hour. Mordaunt served as the MP for the Portsmouth North constituency for 14 years, before becoming one of several high-profile Conservative figures to lose her seat in last year's general election.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Comedian Tom Dillon said the vice president told him there wasn't '10,000 hours″ of horrific videos related to the late pedophile.
Vice President JD Vance casually informed a comedian over dinner what's in the files connected to Jeffrey Epstein while trying to downplay their significance. Tim Dillon made the revelation on an 'emergency' episode of his podcast titled 'The Epstein Cover-Up.' Featured on the episode was conspiracy theorist and InfoWars host Alex Jones, one of several Donald Trump supporters who have turned on the president over his handling of the Epstein case. '[Attorney General Pam] Bondi said we have 10,000 hours of video. I had dinner last week with the vice president,' Dillon said. 'He told me that that was commercial pornography, they do not have videos of any powerful person in a compromising position. That's the party line that they're going with?'
Sky News
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News
New internet rules come into force this week - here's what will change
New rules for the internet will start being enforced on Friday, which may well change how you browse. Ofcom's Children's Codes, a set of regulations designed to protect young people online, will mean sites hosting adult content like pornography will need to have "highly effective" age verification in place. Social media sites will need to make sure their algorithms aren't pushing harmful content to young people and if their terms and conditions say those kinds of posts aren't allowed, the sites will have to make sure their own rules are properly enforced. So what's going to change? The biggest change you'll notice straight away is around age verification. Many adult sites currently have simple boxes for users to tick and say they're over 18 - that's no longer good enough, according to Ofcom. Instead, they'll have to properly verify their users' ages before allowing them to see adult content. So on Friday, users visiting adult websites should be presented with a screen that offers them a few different ways to verify their age. That could be by checking credit card details, checking ID or by using AI facial age estimation. This is different to AI facial recognition; whereas facial recognition "recognises" a face by comparing it to an ID or to a database, facial age estimation doesn't attempt to identify the individual. Instead, it judges faces based on the positions of their features and other ageing traits to estimate how old a user is. "Facial age estimation is effectively taking a selfie in front of your mobile phone or your laptop, and we capture that image [...] on behalf of the business," Robin Tombs, the chief executive of age estimation company Yoti, told Sky News. "[The AI] checks 'liveness' to ensure it isn't a photo of somebody older and then estimates the age from that selfie, and then returns an over-18 or under-18 message to the business. "It then deletes the image." Every company with adult content on its site is obliged to put these rules into place and Ofcom is willing to "be tough" with non-compliers, according to Jessica Smith, the regulator's online safety principal. It can impose fines of up to £18m or 10% of revenue and, in very serious cases, stop sites operating in the UK. 1:11 Will it actually make a difference? Plenty of people hope so - the government, Ofcom, children's groups and campaigners are all banking on these new rules to change children's experience on the internet. "We've had unrestricted access to this content for a generation of children which has had a lot of impacts," Ms Smith told Sky News. "It is widely accepted that you have to check your age before you can drink alcohol, and so this is a kind of social change as well as a technical one. "It's about what we, as a society, say is normal for our online experiences. And I think these protections will be important for children in all walks of life." This isn't necessarily going to stop determined young people from seeking out adult content, according to Ms Smith, but it should stop inappropriate posts from popping up unexpectedly on young people's feeds. "The most common way that children come across pornography, at least at first, is that they come across it accidentally," she told Sky News. "So they're not seeking out, they are just scrolling through a social media service and then they'll see something that they don't want to see. And that can be really shocking and disturbing for them. "But it also shows them what content is out there and introduces them to a new type of online content." Some websites and apps have already announced they'll implement the changes, including the UK's biggest pornography site PornHub, social media sites Discord and Reddit, and dating app Grindr.
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man caught with child abuse material claimed he was acting as vigilante
A man who claimed he was 'acting in the capacity of a vigilante' when he was caught with videos of child sex abuse will be sentenced later for possession and distribution of the material. Murilo Dos Santos (36) of North Circular Road, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of images of child sexual abuse, known in law as child pornography and to distribution of the material on dates between November 18th, 2020 and January 2021. He has no previous convictions. Advertisement Detective Garda Donagh Mannix told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that the then home of Dos Santos, in Christchurch in Dublin city, was searched in connection to an unrelated matter and his phone was seized as part of that investigation. The phone was subsequently analysed and 66 videos were found which were considered to be in contravention of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act. Dos Santos shared various videos with six other people on dates between October 2020 and November 2020. Det Gda Mannix gave a description of one of these particularly graphic videos which involved a child estimated to be between six and 12 months old. The child was strapped down and unable to move in the footage. This video was five minutes long. The detective outlined further videos of children, most aged between eight and 12 years old, either involved in sexual activity with each other or sometimes sexual activity with an adult male. Advertisement There were also more videos involving younger children, described by Det Gda Mannix as toddlers. Gardaí also discovered that Dos Santos was using a sharing app which allowed him to share and receive links from others. The analysis showed that he was using one sharing app between September 2020 and October 2020. Det Gda Mannix said there were a number of files shared in this application, mainly videos which were of a similarly graphic nature to the others found on the defendant's phone. A Whatsapp account had also been created and gardaí were able to recover conversations between Dos Santos and others, with Dos Santos sharing a link to a folder termed – a MEGA folder. He also told the other users where he lived in Dublin, shared a photograph of his own face and suggested meeting up. Advertisement Det Gda Mannix told Mr Cooney that a large number of videos were sent – this time involving children between 10 and 14 years old, again engaged in sexual activity. The court heard extracts from conversations between various people and Dos Santos including him stating that he had more and they could be sent on later. Dos Santos also used a chat application for chat and file sharing. The court heard more extracts from conversations Dos Santos had on this app. The conversations included chat about 'what are you into?' and what 'kind of stuff' they could get and share before further videos of child abuse material was shared. Advertisement Judge Orla Crowe considered documentation before the court, including refences on behalf of Dos Santos and acceded to a request from defending counsel, Dara Foynes SC, to adjourn the case to allow for the preparation of a report from a psychologist. The judge revoked Dos Santos bail and remanded him in custody until December 1, 2025 for sentence. Det Gda Mannix agreed with Ms Foynes that no one else who conversed with Dos Santos in these apps has been prosecuted. He further agreed that her client was easily identifiable in that he sent a photograph of himself and mentioned where he lived. It was accepted that no person engaging with Dos Santos shared such information. Advertisement Det Gda Mannix agreed that this was a sub culture – on the 'margins of what is deemed normal society'. It was further accepted that at one point during his interview, Dos Santos suggested to gardaí that he was accessing this material because he was 'acting in the capacity of a vigilante'. It was acknowledged that he was 'teetering on the brink of serious self harm' and that he has not come to any adverse garda attention since. Ms Foynes submitted that a report from a psychologist would be of assistance to the court in sentencing her client. She acknowledged that it was 'a very shocking offence' that has 'weighed very heavily on my client', counsel said, before adding that Dos Santos had blocked his ears during some of the evidence in court, such was the level of his shame and remorse. Ms Foynes said it was an offence that is 'very difficult to comprehend' adding that the sharing of such material in this sub-culture is 'heinous'. She said Dos Santos has been in Ireland for 16 years and financially supports his mother.
