A new decision from Meta's Oversight Board reiterates Facebook's continual role as a platform for dangerous election rhetoric. The Board reversed Meta's initial decision to leave public a video posted in January that called for insurrectionist actions in Brazil following the inauguration of its new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula took office on January 1st, and two days later, a user posted the video of a prominent Brazilian general — and supporter of the former president Jair Bolsonaro — telling people to "hit the streets" and "go to the National Congress … [and the] Supreme Court." Portugese text overlaid the video stating, "Come to Brasília! Let's Storm it! Let's besiege the three powers." Three Powers Plaza sits in the Brazilian capital and is home to the Congress, Supreme Court and the presidential offices.
Meta had previously acknowledged the risk of civil and election-centric unrest in Brazil, first labeling the country a "Temporary High-Risk Location" in September 2022 and then extending it to late February of this year. Yet, when an initial user reported the video, a moderator didn't find it in violation of Meta's policies — a second moderator agreed following an appeal. Seven moderators in total reviewed reports from four individuals between January 3rd and 4th, but none found an issue with the video. An accompanying caption for the video called for a "besiege" of Brazil's Congress as a last-ditch effort. Five days after the video arrived on Facebook, hundreds of protesters broke into the three governmental buildings and set fires, broke windows and assaulted police officers.
The next day Meta called the riots a "violating event" and claimed to have "been removing content calling for people to take up arms or forcibly invade Congress, the Presidential palace and other federal buildings." Yet, the video remained on Facebook until January 20th, when Meta removed the post following the Oversight Board's choice to shortlist its review into it. Moderators should categorize a post as violating Meta's rules when it calls for forced entry into a high-risk place (like a government building) in a temporary high-risk location (as Brazil was at the time). Meta stated that leaving up the video with a military official calling for an insurrection was an "error."
In its decision, the Oversight Board said it was "deeply concerned" that Meta's moderators had continually found the video not to violate its policies. The Board recommended that Meta finally "develop a framework for evaluating its election integrity efforts. This includes creating and sharing metrics for successful election integrity efforts, including those related to Meta's enforcement of its content policies and its approach to ads." It also called on the company to expand its protocols when evaluating if content causes harm in high-risk events.
The Oversight Board has operated since 2020 as an independently funded entity to which individuals can appeal content visibility decisions. It has the power to permit or remove Facebook and Instagram content with statements outlining its rationale accompanying each decision. The Board currently has 22 members (a report claims it will eventually be 40), including Nighat Dad, founder of the Digital Rights Foundation, and Ronaldo Lemos, a Rio De Janiero State University's Law School professor.
Meta has served as a home for right-wing conspiracy theorists and organizers, with at least 650,000 posts arguing against Joe Biden's victory shared on Facebook between Election Day 2020 in the US and the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. The social media platform had enacted some safety features after misinformation spread had spread across it around the 2016 Election, but it continued to do so, and ahead of the 2022 midterms and Brazil's general election, Meta quietly rolled back many of its safeguards.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oversight-board-criticizes-meta-for-refusing-to-take-down-brazilian-pro-insurrection-video-124533251.html?src=rss
As the unromantic name implies, TP-Link’s Deco XE75 AXE5400 is one of the company’s many, many routers. A trio of plain cylinders standing 6.7-inches tall, they mirror the lack of excitement in its name, but as the saying goes, let’s not judge a book by its deeply unsexy cover. Hiding inside is a mesh of extreme quality that, despite a few rough edges, offers a great mix of power and affordability. If you’re confident in your ability to work your way through an admin panel or two, then this might be the mesh for you.
Hardware
I’ve already mentioned that the XE75 comprises a series of nondescript-looking cylinders which aren’t the prettiest mesh units. They certainly look like WiFi equipment, unlike many of the others on the market, which look like paperweights designed by Henry Moore. Unless you’re living in a minimalist’s paradise, they’ll hopefully blend into your decor with no fuss.
On the back of each node are three gigabit ethernet ports, one of which you’ll need to hook the primary mode up to your modem. You can also use the ports to run ethernet backhaul, if your house is (or will be) suitably-equipped. In 2023, when it can sometimes feel like wired ethernet is becoming a niche proposition, having three ports per node feels like luxury. And I don’t think many users will gripe over a lack of a 2.5 Gbps port which is a bit excessive, even these days.
One of the first choices you’ll need to make is how you’ll use the 6GHz band, which is reserved as backhaul by default. You can leave it like this or, if you have a plethora of WiFi 6-enabled devices already, you can run it dynamically. Like I said in the mesh WiFi buyer’s guide, using the 6GHz band for backhaul makes sense for now since so few phones, laptops and tablets can access that band directly at the moment.
TP-Link says its “AI-driven mesh” will learn which devices get faster speed from which nodes and prioritize those connections accordingly. Once each of your devices is connected to the mesh, you should hope to see your speed and reliability improve as it learns your usage.
Installation
Deco XE75 was easy to get set up, taking just 16 minutes from when I pulled the plastic film from the box to finish. Download the Deco companion app, set up a TP-Link account and you’ll then be guided through the short setup process. You just need to plug the first node in, tell the app if you have any ISP-specific needs, give your network a name and password and you’re off at the races.
Once done, the app will tell you to turn on the other nodes in the set and wait as they connect to the existing mesh. You’ll also need to assign each node a name based on their locations in your home. My phone pinged several times in quick succession after this as all the gadgets in my home joined the network. The degree of seamlessness and ease of setup was more or less perfect.
That is, except for one minor real-world annoyance that I feel compelled to flag — the length of the power cables for the UK models I’ve been testing. A lot of mesh products ask users to place nodes in visible, prominent locations, rather than hidden behind furniture, to avoid interference. That’s harder to do, however, if your power cable is just 57 inches long, a small but noticeable bit shorter than the other products I’m testing. To the point where I couldn’t put one module in my usual location at the top of a bookcase because the cable didn’t stretch that far. In this case, that module had to go on my top shelf, rather than above it. It’s a specific and possibly niche complaint but worth mentioning in case you have an unforgiving room layout.
Performance
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
After setting up the modules in the usual places in my home, I found that it took about 10 minutes for the connection to stabilize. I had to run a firmware update that caused things to drop out for a further five minutes afterward, but after that, the connection was very stable. A lot of more affordable 6E routers use the 6GHz band as backhaul, and this worked well in my home.
Close to the primary node, speeds hit an average of 270 Mbps down, and in my office two floors away, I was still getting 260 Mbps. Even in my back bedroom with its dreaded signal dead spot, SpeedTest download benchmarks fell to around 220 Mbps. Ping times were similarly consistent, to the point where I reckon a two-point mesh might have sufficed.
The Deco app very clearly shows your network topography, enabling you to quickly see which devices connect to which node. What surprised me is that the hardware in my office preferred the primary node rather than the one that was nearer. I suspect, over time, those connections would shift, but the fact I saw such good performance despite being two floors away was great.
App and controls
The Deco app lays everything out in a friendly, easy-to-parse manner that shouldn’t deter novice users from upgrading. The home screen shows you the network topography, and what devices are connected to each node by default, helping you to feel in control of what’s going on.
If there’s a downside, it’s that the level of control available to you inside each submenu isn’t that deep. View your WiFi settings, for instance, and you’ll be able to change your network name and password or share those details to someone else. But the only other option is to decide if the 6GHz network is used for dedicated backhaul or if you can share it with devices on the network. You can activate a Guest Network on the homescreen, letting you set one up with one press, although I’m less of a fan that it’s password-free by default.
You can scroll the list of what’s connected to the network to see its signal strength, as well as how much data it’s up-and-down-loading at the time. Each device can be assigned to a family member for parental controls, and you can single out a unit for priority on the network. The one downside to this is that TP-Link really struggles to identify each piece of equipment on your network compared to, say, a product from Netgear. So many units were named “iot_device” in the list, that you’ll probably need to take the time to rename them all manually.
In the More sub-menu, you can run tests to optimize your network, set up an IPv6 connection, as well as tweak IP settings. One feature I appreciated was the choice to get a push notification every time a new device joins the network, which appeals to my paranoia.
You can also access your settings through a browser-based client but, as far as I could see, the only difference is it lets you force a firmware upgrade with a local file rather than handling the system online. That’s a fairly niche use, though.
Additional features
Deco does offer smart home integrations, but it’s limited to TP-Link’s own gear and Philips Hue. The only other thing that the company offers is Homeshield, which offers a suite of security features to help keep your WiFi secure. The free Basic tier will scan your network for security threats and offers “robust” parental controls. That includes the ability to block specific websites, set daily usage limits and time-out zones to stop your kids accessing the internet in the middle of the night.
You can also activate content filtering, which will lock down swathes of the web that TP-Link deems unsuitable. That includes Adult Content, Gambling, and Download sites, amongst many others. More problematically, you can block access to sites offering sex and relationship education information, which feels like TP-Link is enabling more harm than good there.
What I will say, despite my objections, is that the suite of options available for free here is a very good mix. Plenty of companies have taken to putting even the most basic parental controls, like time limits and access control, behind their paywalls. The fact the essentials are available here, for free, means the company gets plenty of extra points here.
TP-Link also offers a paid version of Homeshield, which includes more protection against hacks, greater data about what websites users are visiting. This, it says, will guard against “teenager internet addiction (sic),” “IoT Devices Attacks (sic)” and “Cyber Virus Intrusion (sic).” Homeshield Pro costs $5.99 a month, or $55 for a year, although I’m not sure I see enough value in it to encourage anyone to sign up for the extras on offer.
Wrap-up
There’s no single glitzy, attention-grabbing feature that makes the Deco XE75 a must-buy, but what puts it ahead of the competition is its brawn. Nestled inside those cylinders is powerful, reliable hardware that generates a fast and far-reaching network which is reason enough to pick up TP-Link’s system. The app and services offered at no additional cost, squarely tick the “good enough” box.
The one thing the Deco XE75 lacks is polish, both in its app and its services. I wouldn’t suggest this to anyone who would freeze up at the very thought of having to make a decision about something like a backhaul channel. But, if you are prepared to make the effort, then this is certainly the mesh WiFi system for you. It’s fast, reliable, fairly easy to use and I reckon the (cheaper) two-pack will cover all but the biggest of homes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tp-link-deco-xe75-review-a-solid-wifi-6e-router-system-that-delivers-more-for-less-123033332.html?src=rss
DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused alternative to Google, has been working on its own browser. First available on the Mac in open beta late last year, the DuckDuckGo browser is rolling out in beta for Windows starting today. DuckDuckGo says this is “our most requested product for years.”
Naturally, DuckDuckGo is the default search engine here. But the browser has some additional features such as the Duck Player, which will prevent YouTube from serving targeted ads and prevent user-tracked recommendations. YouTube will still see this as a new view, but the browser will prevent any sort of tracking or information that would contribute to your advertising profile.
DuckDuckGo also claims a superior ad-blocking experience. It says that in addition to blocking ads and cookies, the browser will also clean up the white space that’s typically still there with traditional ad blockers. Users familiar with the Mac beta will be familiar with other features including password management, automatic cookie pop-up handling and email protection.
DuckDuckGo first previewed its desktop web browser in late 2021 and released an initial Mac beta in late 2022. Windows is the latest platform to get an official app. But if you don’t use Mac or Windows, DuckDuckGo is available in search engine support on Google Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox. It’s also available as an app for iOS and Android.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/duckduckgos-privacy-focused-browser-is-now-available-for-windows-120039393.html?src=rss
DFRobot Launches UNIHIKER: A User-Friendly Single Board Computer for Learning and Coding
DFRobot recently introduced an exciting new all-in-one single board computer (SBC) development platform known as UNIHIKER. This remarkable device comes equipped with its own 2.8" touchscreen, offering seamless plug-and-play programming capabilities. DFRobot representative Liang Li expressed great enthusiasm about the UNIHIKER, hailing it as a groundbreaking addition to the single-board computer landscape.
The battle over Reddit’s API changes continues, even after coming into effect. Reddit's decision to charge for access to its API was supposedly aimed at companies scraping the website to train Large Language Models for generative AI, but the decision also affects thousands of third-party clients and apps that tie into the platform, including ones with powerful moderation tools not available on the main site and app. Thousands of communities protested the move by setting their subreddits private and making them inaccessible.
Following the API changes, several popular subreddits that historically prohibited porn have started allowing users to post NSFW – Not Safe For Work – content. These communities include r/mildlyinteresting and r/videos. In r/TIHI’s (Thanks, I Hate It) case, a stickied post says the subreddit is removing a rule that forbids extreme NSFW content and will now welcome it, as long as it’s legal under US law. By allowing their subreddits to be filled with posts deemed not safe for work, the moderators have made sure Reddit can't monetize them. The site’s response to the situation has been swift – administrators have reportedly removed whole moderating teams for communities that labeled themselves NSFW.
So far, these protests have had little effect on Reddit CEO Steve Huffman. He told NPR: "It's a small group that's very upset, and there's no way around that. We made a business decision that upset them."
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It’s back again. This time, it’s real-time. With Final Fantasy XVI, the series’ creators have decided the franchise's future is action-centric and storyline driven. And it’s heavily inspired by epic TV fantasy series. Until now, the Final Fantasy games have never quite had their angry, moody dark moment. With nuanced, occasionally horny characters and often a lot of violence, is this the series’ moody teenager era? The tale of FFXVI is achingly Game of Thrones-y, but sometimes the inspiration is a little on the nose: Dad dies early on? Check. Mysterious wolves? Check. Creepy mother-son relations? Check. While this is a very different kind of game for the series, for those looking for a fantasy adventure with a plot that’s kept me hooked, the 16th Final Fantasy delivers.
Google’s WiFi products have always offered an acceptable blend of power, price and performance. The Nest WiFi Pro, the company’s latest flagship, builds on that existing formula by adding WiFi 6E. Part of its appeal is the Google brand, plus the promise of regular free software updates and tight integrations with most of the world’s smart home players. You won’t get into the fundamentals of running a network, but it should appeal to people who want to set up a guest network quickly. Something like the TP-Link XE75 might run faster and offer more features, but for this price, Google’s made the right compromises.
And Nintendo’s remastering 'Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon' for the Switch.
An unusual SNES classic is getting the remake treatment. Super Mario RPG is back with "brand-new graphics" and it's coming to Nintendo Switch on November 17th. The 1996 original was the very first Mario RPG, made in collaboration with Squaresoft (now Square Enix). It tasks Mario, Bowser, Peach and friends with taking down a mechanical enemy named Smithy and recovering stolen pieces of the Star Road. The remake uses the same art style as modern Mario games. Nintendo is also working on an updated version of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon – perhaps not a huge surprise given the success of Luigi's Mansion 3.
And not all of these over-ear models will break the bank.
For Engadget’s best wireless headphones guide, we tested several models with a variety of features, including noise cancellation and sound quality. Plus, our favorites span a range of prices, so you can decide how much you’re comfortable spending and, ultimately, get the best buy for you. That includes a set for a mere $79.
Categories include sexual themes, gambling and significant profanity or vulgarity.
Twitch has overhauled its mature content policies, switching from a general toggle to specific categories describing what viewers can expect. The new Content Classification Labels are myriad, including mature-rated games, sexual themes, significant profanity or vulgarity, gambling, violent and graphic depictions and, lastly, drugs, intoxication or excessive tobacco use. The ratings apply to both the game and you. For example, if you're playing a mature-rated game, Twitch will automatically label it as such. But, if you're playing an E-rated game and you’re excessively swearing, you must mark your stream as having significant profanity or vulgarity.
AST SpaceMobile recently completed a two-way voice call.
Earlier this year, AST SpaceMobile, with the help of AT&T, connected an off-the-shelf Samsung Galaxy S22 to a satellite in low-Earth orbit to complete a two-way voice call. Now the company says it’s one step closer to bringing the technology to consumers. AST recently completed multiple tests in Hawaii where its engineers saw download speeds of 10Mbps from the company’s BlueWalker 3 satellite to unmodified phones on the ground.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-popular-subreddits-welcomed-adult-content-to-protest-reddit-changes-111510310.html?src=rss
India Can Manufacture Electronics Worth $225bn And Not $300bn By 2025-26, Claim Some Industry Insiders
As the Chinese manufacturers are not present in the export market, India’s mobile phone production is anticipated to witness a $26 billion deficit
In a press conference back on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that India is now moving in the right direction to achieve the set target of $300 billion in electronics manufacturing. According to the minister, the set target is a colossal growth of 20-25 times in almost a decade.
Instead of pen and paper, many students are now carrying a laptop with them, using it for everything from taking notes to doing research. Companies are responding with programs designed for tech-centric learning, including Figma, a cloud-based design tool. The company has announced that Figma is now free for all US students in K-12, in partnership with Google for Education. The initiative started in beta last year, with 50 high schools across the country getting free access to Figma and FigJam, a collaborative whiteboard.
While Figma offers a free version, it only allows users to have three files for each program. Instead, schools can access the company's most advanced tier, Figma Enterprise, for free (typically $75 per person monthly). It includes unlimited files, individual and shared project options, dedicated workspaces and more sophisticated design features, among other perks. Schools will need Chromebooks to utilize the program, but they can apply for access if they have non-Google systems. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 94 percent of schools provided devices like laptops and tablets to students who needed them for the 2022 to 2023 school year.
Figma's fate is a bit up in the air after Adobe entered into an agreement to buy the competitor in September 2022 for $20 billion in cash and shares. Regulators across the US, UK and EU are investigating whether the deal violates antitrust policies, with the first barrier emerging in February with reports that the US Justice Department was preparing an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal. The UK followed in May with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announcing it was launching an inquiry into the agreement. Most recently came reports that European antitrust regulators plan to initiate an investigation into the merger later this year.
As for free Figma access for students, the initiative holds promise, with the company sharing positive reviews from educators involved in the beta program. Educators can now sign up to bring Figma to their schools in the US — plus, the company is taking its Chromebook partnership global, starting with Google schools in Japan.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/figma-is-now-free-for-all-us-school-students-105514037.html?src=rss
I haven't watched a fight since Manny Pacquiao fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. way back in 2015, but I'd totally tune in if Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg duke it out in front of the camera. And I'm not the only one who would, based on the attention the idea of a fight between the two tech billionaires is getting on social media.
It all started when Musk reacted to a report about Meta's Twitter rival. Apparently, Meta chief product officer Chris Cox said the company has "been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run." Someone told him to be careful, because Zuckerberg does jiu jiutsu now. "I’m up for a cage match if he is," Musk responded. As The Verge reports, Zuckerberg posted a screenshot of the exchange as a story on his Instagram account with the note: "Send Me Location."
Zuckerberg has been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for around a year now, and his efforts have been well-documented — he even competed in a tournament back in May and won gold and silver medals. As for Musk, he said he has a great move called "The Walrus" where he just lies on top of the opponent and does nothing. His proposed venue for the fight? The UFC Octagon in Las Vegas.
Since Musk Vs. Zuckerberg will be the main event, Engadget editors have a few suggestions for undercard matches. Satya Nadella Vs. Sundar Pichai would be almost as interesting to see, especially now that Bing has finally become part of the conversation, thanks to its AI chatbot. And then there's Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who can take their mobile-first services' rivalry to the octagon. Since both Musk and Zuckerberg are looking for ways to monetize their platforms, the smart thing to do is to broadcast the event as pay-to-view live streams on Twitter Blue and Meta Verified. Of course, these are imaginary fights that will most likely not happen, but we're expecting a juicy check as thanks for our ideas if they do.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-ready-for-a-zuck-vs-musk-cage-fight-100611527.html?src=rss
A new report has revealed alarming statistics about Discord's issues with child safety. Over the past six years, NBC News identified 35 cases of adults being prosecuted on charges of "kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault" that allegedly involved Discord communication. At least 15 of those have resulted in guilty pleas or verdicts, with "many others" still pending.
Reporters also discovered 165 more cases, including four crime rings, in which adults were prosecuted for sharing CSAM (child sexual exploitation material) via Discord or allegedly using the site to extort children into sending sexually graphic images of themselves, a practice known as sextortion. The illegal acts often take place in hidden communities and chat rooms, according to the report.
A simple Google search of "site:justice.gov Discord" yields a large number of hits, many of a disturbing nature. In one case identified by NBC News, "a teen was taken across state lines, raped and found locked in a backyard shed, according to police, after she was groomed on Discord for months."
"What we see is only the tip of the iceberg," the Canadian Center for Child Protection's Stephen Sauer told NBC News. And it's not the first time Discord has been under fire for its handling of child abuse complaints. Last year, CNN also identified numerous incidents of CSAM, with some parents claiming that Discord offered little help.
Earlier this year, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) issued a statement titled "Discord Dishonestly Responds to How it Handles Child Sexual Abuse Material After Being Named to 2023 Dirty Dozen List." Among other things, it noted that CSAM links were identified and reported, but still available on Discord's servers "over two weeks later." It added that Discord's actions in responding to the issues are "far too passive, failing to proactively search for and remove exploitation." It recommended that the site, which currently has over 150 million users, ban minors "until it is radically transformed."
In a recent transparency report, Discord said its "investment and prioritization in child safety has never been more robust," adding that it disabled 37,102 accounts and removed 17,425 servers for child safety violations. The company's VP of trust and safety, John Redgrave, told NBC News that he believes the platform's approach to the issue has improved since Discord bought the AI moderation company Sentropy in 2021. It uses several systems to proactively detect CSAM and analyze user behavior, and Redgrave said that he thinks the company now proactively detects most materials that already "identified, verified and indexed."
However, the systems can't currently detect child sexual abuse materials or messages that have yet to be indexed. In a review of Discord servers created over the past month, NBC News found 242 that use thinly disguised terms to market CSAM.
Discord isn't the only social media company with CSAM problems. A recent report found that Instagram helped "connect and promote a vast network of accounts" devoted to underage-sex content. However, Discord has reportedly made it particularly difficult for law enforcement at times, in one case asking for payment after the Ontario Police asked it to preserve records, according to the report. Engadget as reached out to Discord for comment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/discord-still-has-a-child-safety-issue-085304790.html?src=rss
YouTube TV has expanded its multiview feature's scope so that even non-sports fans can enjoy it. When the service launched multiview, it could show up to four sports streams on the screen at once. But now users will be able to choose from streams with news, business news and weather content, in addition to sports streams. Viewers will still have to pick from preselected videos and can't choose whatever stream they want to watch in multiview, but at least they now have more choices and don't have to stick to having all four screens tuned into sporting events.
The service first rolled out multiview in March with a focus on sports, just in time for NCAA's March Madness. Multiview is supported on all smart TVs and media players that can run YouTube TV, because the processing is done on the service's servers. While viewers can keep an eye on all four streams at once, they can jump to a full-screen view for each one and switch the audio and the captioning to whatever event they want to focus on at the moment.
In addition to expanding multiview's repertoire, YouTube TV is also adding Spanish-language sports channels to the preselected stream options for members with a Spanish or Spanish Plus plan. Some members might not have access to the expanded multiview options yet, but they will soon enough — YouTube TV says it gradually roll out these updates to all users over the summer.
And, we’re ROLLING 🔴🎥
Starting today in the Home tab, a small portion of members will see us testing up to 5 brand new multiview streams that will be available to watch 24/7 across news, sports, business news, weather, and Deportes. pic.twitter.com/wYDPjWWmDz
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-tvs-multiview-streams-now-include-non-sports-options-060246814.html?src=rss
