TV star’s AI porn allegations spark national debate in Germany Collien Fernandes accuses ex-husband Christian Ulmen of sharing sexually explicit deepfake images of her online

"Among the placards, one stated: 'AI won’t make our bodies yours.'"

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Social media firms must better enforce Australia under-16 ban, watchdog says Regulator eSafety says it has concerns about how Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube are complying with the ban.

"Any cultural change that pushes against the powerful interests and revenue potential of entrenched industry players - whether car manufacturers, Big Tobacco or Big Tech. Those players will push back but we continue to push ahead."

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Why we should 'fight like hell' against Big AI | CBC Radio Tech journalist Karen Hao, who once worked in Silicon Valley as an engineer, is sounding the alarm on holding AI giants accountable. She argues people need to push back against massive companies that ...

"We need to stop thinking of [AI] companies as merely businesses providing us products and services. These are new forms of empire that are consolidating a historic amount of economic and political power, terraforming our earth, reshaping our geopolitics [...]"

www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/...

Proton adds a secure video conferencing service called Meet to its toolbox Proton continues to build up its suite of apps to take on Microsoft and Google.

👀

Teenager died after asking ChatGPT for ‘most successful’ way to take his life, inquest told Luca Cella Walker asked chatbot for best way for someone to kill themself on railway line before his death

Abolish ChatGPT.

The rise of facial recognition policing The technology is being rolled out by forces across the country—and there are no obvious limits on how it can be used

“More than 25,000 ‘retrospective’ facial recognition searches are now made every month using the police national database, comparing images taken from sources such as social media and CCTV to a database of more than 19m custody images, or mugshots.”

I tried to prove I'm not AI. My aunt wasn't convinced I asked experts if I'm real. Bad news. Even my aunt wasn't sure if I was a deepfake. AI is so convincing that a sitting prime minister struggled to prove he's alive. You might be next.

"Without taking additional steps before or after our call, Farid says there's nothing I could do to make him 100% certain I was the real Tom Germain. 'No,' he says. 'It's over.'"

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Teenage girls sue Musk’s xAI, accusing Grok tool of creating child sexual abuse material Lawsuit details how sexualized AI-generated images were produced and distributed without girls’ knowledge

“xAI chose to profit off the sexual predation of real people, including children, despite knowing full well the consequences of creating such a dangerous product.”

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

'Maybe we can role-play something fun': When an AI companion wants something more With a loneliness epidemic gripping many parts of the world, some people are turning to AI chatbots for friendship and relationships. But is it really all just harmless fun?

"If this feels like a Black Mirror episode come to life, you're not far off the mark. The founder of Luka [...] was inspired by the Black Mirror episode 'Be Right Back', in which a woman interacts with a synthetic version of her deceased boyfriend."

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Bluesky Users Respond With Overwhelming Disgust to Platform's New AI Bluesky's latest foray into AI isn't exactly sitting well with what appears to be the vast majority of the platform's user base.

Who could have predicted.

Bluesky's new AI tool Attie is already the most blocked account other than J.D. Vance | TechCrunch More than 125,000 Bluesky users have blocked Attie in just a few days, sending a strong message from the user base.

I love this for them.

I go into schools to teach violence prevention and we've just shown a generation of young men that raping someone won't ruin your life and might even make you President one day.

Big tech reckoning: Meta fined $375m in landmark case – The Latest A court in the US has ordered Meta to pay $375m after a jury found that the company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, enabled harm including child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Lucy Hough sp...

"Could it set a new precedent for holding big tech to account?"

www.theguardian.com/technology/v...

Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial A woman has been awarded $6m in a verdict that could have implications for hundreds of other cases in the US.

"When lawyers for Kaley told Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, that her longest single day of use of the platform stretched to 16 hours, he denied that it was evidence of an addiction."

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Meta loses trial after arguing child exploitation was “inevitable” on its apps Meta plans to appeal as it faces down two other child safety trials.

“At trial, Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified that ‘harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, were inevitable on the company’s platforms due to their vast user bases…’”

The 33 Data Brokers Selling US Data to Foreign Actors, According to California <p>On March 24, California released an updated registry of data brokers—companies in the business of collecting, inferring, aggregating, and selling people’s data</p>

Data brokers should not exist.

We asked experts about the most responsible ways to use AI tools – here’s what they said Use AI as a brainstorming partner and organizer, but don’t outsource your judgment

"Experts say the emerging divide – between those who may already be deeply invested in AI, and those who are refusing to engage with it – makes it increasingly important to have an open conversation about how best to use it."

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Meta ordered to pay $375m after being found liable in child exploitation case New Mexico hails ‘historic’ win after jury finds firm misled consumers over safety and enabled harm against users

“Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.”

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Y’all can react how you want, but I’m going to take joy in every win against tech oligarchs, no matter how small it seems.

OpenAI to Shut Down the Sora Video App The AI giant announced the decision Tuesday. What it means for its Disney deal is not immediately clear.

Welp

Google’s Android Automotive is moving from the dashboard to the ‘brain’ of the car Better voice assistants and more predictive vehicle maintenance alerts

“From a truly integrated voice experience to proactive maintenance reminders, your car will become a true extension of your digital life…”

(This sounds like a threat)

‘Our consciousness is under siege’: Michael Pollan on chatbots, social media and mental freedom In his new book, the celebrated author explains why we need ‘consciousness hygiene’ to defend ourselves from AI and dopamine-driven algorithms

"Our ability to sit with our thoughts and perceive the world [...] is increasingly disrupted by algorithms engineered to tickle our dopamine receptors and capture our attention."

www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...

Hillsborough survivors 'appalled' by 'triggering' Grok AI posts Posts generated by Grok repeated debunked lies about the cause of 1989 disaster, which claimed 97 lives.

"There is somebody sitting at home behind a phone or a computer who thought that that type of instruction to a computer-generated search was entertainment."

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Smart Glasses Companies Are Getting Shamed Into Covering Their Cameras The Inmo Go 3 has a camera cover that speaks volumes about smart glasses right now.

I’ve got some suggestions for the smart glass camera cover.

Training is open to anyone, anywhere but I wanna say to men: What we see in our sector is that men either don't care OR tend to be overly confident in their ability to intervene effectively.

I get so much feedback from men re: this workshop who say they've completely re-thought their approach now.

NIH grant terminations affected women scientists more than men, study finds A new paper shows that women, particularly those early in their careers, have been disproportionately affected by NIH grant terminations.

The paper “shows that women, particularly those early in their careers, were disproportionately affected by terminations, even though they receive less funding from the NIH in general.”

Join us on March 26 for the Ian R. Kerr Memorial Lecture featuring Prof. Meg Leta Jones exploring how emerging technologies reveal deeper anxieties in a rapidly changing digital world.

› www.uottawa.ca/research-inn...

Woman at heart of US trial says she was addicted to social media at age six Lead plaintiff, now 20, says use of social media made her relationships with friends and family anxious and strained

"The crux of the case alleges social media companies intentionally create addictive products, leading to mental health issues in young people."

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study suggests Cognitive health in later life is ‘strongly influenced’ by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchers

“Our findings are encouraging, suggesting that consistently engaging in a variety of mentally stimulating activities throughout life may make a difference in cognition."

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

I hear from people all the time that they want an evening session because they can't participate while at work or because they want their kids to attend.

Here's your chance!

7pm EST on April 16th. Give me 1 hour of your time and I'll teach you 5 practical ways to de-escalate and intervene safely!