11 Dems buck Biden as Senate passes rollback of crypto guidance
OEIS Financial Fraud Private Investigator: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined 10 other Democrats in defying Joe Biden and passed a measure that would undo SEC guidance on cryptocurrency accounting, sending the measure to the president’s desk on Thursday with stronger-than-expected bipartisan support.
The Senate voted 60-38 to back the effort… Read More
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Facebook and Instagram face fresh investigation from the EU over concerns that they’re not doing enough to protect minor users on their platforms.
Two important concerns have been raised—that the platforms are too addictive and that their age-verification tools are not effective.
If Meta is found in violation of the DSA regulations, it will face a massive fine of up to 6% of its annual global revenue.
The European Union has launched a fresh investigation against Meta (Facebook and Instagram) over concerns that it’s not doing enough to protect minor users on its platforms. If these concerns are found to be true, the company will be slapped with a heavy fine.
In a statement released on Thursday, the EU said that it’s worried Facebook and Instagram “may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior.”
The EU is also concerned that these platforms are not doing enough to keep underage users off them. Apparently, the age-verification methods put in place are not as effective as they should be.
Meta has responded to EU’s concerns and said that ensuring young people have a safe experience on its platforms is one of its top priorities. The company has invested decades in research and has created around 50 safety tools to protect children online.
It’s worth noting that Meta isn’t lying when it says it has created child safety tools. For instance, it released two major updates in January this year to address mounting regulatory pressure.
However, the EU is right in saying that the platforms aren’t doing anything to keep young users off it—Meta is just promising safety. This is not enough because a 12-year-old’s brain can still get fried seeing useless reels all day long, even if it’s not ‘sensitive content.’
I’m talking about low attention spans, ADHD, teen mental health concerns, etc. Young users should undoubtedly be kept off these platforms with the help of stronger age verification tools.
Nevertheless, Meta acknowledged the points EU raised and said that it’s looking forward to explaining its work to the bloc and doing everything in its power to make its platforms a better place for young users.
The Digital Services Act (DSA)
The EU has always been a tad bit stricter when it came to apps that deal with minors. However, after the recently introduced Digital Services Act (a set of laws that handle everything related to digital platforms), things have gone up a whole new level—and that’s a good thing for us consumers.
Under the DSA, companies that are labeled as ‘very large online platforms‘ have to do more to protect children. For instance, they need to have more protective features in place so that underage users don’t stumble upon inappropriate content.
Failure to comply with the rules would invite a hefty fine of 6% of the company’s annual global revenue—this is the fine I mentioned earlier.
Note: Very large online platforms are apps/websites that have more than 45 million users per month in the European Union.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Meta has been under fire by the EU. In September 2023, it had to submit a risk assessment report to the commission detailing what it’s doing to protect minors on its platform.
However, the EU did not find the report satisfactory. In a statement, it said that it’s not convinced that Meta is doing enough to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA).
On the point of probes, the EU is also investigating Meta for allegedly violating DSA regulations for election disinformation. A separate probe addressing this was launched against Meta in April 2024, which found that the company is not doing enough to curb the spread of election-related misinformation on its platform ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections.
Furthermore, the EU isn’t the only one scrutinizing core Meta apps and operations. The company has received loads of criticism and investigations from other agencies and law enforcement officials around the world, too.
In December 2023, a New Mexico attorney general sued the company stating that it enables child exploitation, spread of child abuse material, solicitation, and trafficking. Similarly, in October 2023, Meta was sued by 33 US states for being too addictive for young users.
Meta has addressed both these incidents and said the same thing—that protecting young users is its priority and it will look into the matter and take necessary steps. If and when it will do that is the bigger question, in my humble opinion.
Perhaps the EU can impose strict deadlines on the implementation of remedial measures, which could also be verified first-hand by officials?
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OEIS Financial Fraud Private Investigator: The concept of restaking introduces a groundbreaking way for people to utilize their staked cryptocurrency across various protocols simultaneously. This not only boosts reward potential but also significantly enhances the security and scalability of blockchain networks, benefiting the entire crypto ecosystem. Introduction to restaking A common occurrence In the rapidly evolving world of blockchain technology […… Read More
BARCELONA/PORTBOU, Spain (Reuters) – Pol Dominguez, 11, is enjoying his summer season holidays in Spain. But unlike most teens his age, he would no longer utilize his days at the shoreline or pool, in its set apart staying indoors to retain a long way flung from ultraviolet radiation that is also deadly for him.
Dominguez has Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), a rare illness that has effects on his skin and eyes. Patients are unable to restore their DNA from solar spoil, which locations them at excessive bother of creating cancer.
His case is vulgar: even brief exposure to daylight causes critical burns.
With finest 2.3 conditions per million dwell births in Western Europe – and round 100 of us living with XP in Spain – the hereditary illness is on the general detected early when burns seem.
Dominguez and his family, who dwell in Barcelona, have radically modified their habits to retain a long way flung from exposure to UV radiation.
To retain a long way flung from severe sunburns and blistering, Dominguez wears a hood, jacket, shades and gloves outdoors, even in winter.
In summer season, he stays indoors as great as that which that it is doubtless you’ll perhaps perhaps judge, nonetheless when he does must leave the residence, the protective garments is hot and unlucky.
Dominguez’ college has adapted home windows and lights so he can have as customary a lifestyles as that which that it is doubtless you’ll perhaps perhaps judge, despite the indisputable truth that he desires to bundle up for outdoors activities and carries a UV meter to examine that an atmosphere is safe.
“Or no longer it is significantly warmth and I spend a fan to originate it cooler,” he knowledgeable Reuters on regarded as one of his closing days of faculty, the spend of a portable fan under the shield he wears over his face.
Dominguez’ residence is UV-gentle-proof, with protective film on home windows, blinds reduced and fans to retain the atmosphere neatly-ventilated, said his mom, Xenia Aranda.
“What we create is exit at night,” Aranda said. “At round 10 p.m. we’re asserting: ‘What would we fancy to create, Pol? Shuffle to the shoreline, take dangle of an ice cream, shuffle for a speed?'”
Pol is spending fragment of the summer season with his grandparent Ferran Aranda in Portbou, advance the French border.
When the sun sets, he can no longer as we instruct shuffle to the shoreline with out protective equipment. Factual eating an ice cream outdoors or turning his towel into a superhero’s cape brings a smile of delight to his face.
As heatwaves change into more frequent and intense and unfold all over seasons attributable to local climate switch, the hazards to Pol and others fancy him elevate.
“The more hours of sunshine, the more solar spoil. Therefore more illness,” said Asuncion Vicente, a pediatric dermatologist at Barcelona’s Sant Joan de Deu sanatorium.
(Reporting by Horaci Garcia and Albert Gea, Writing by Emma Pinedo, enhancing by Aislinn Laing and Rod Nickel)