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☆ Russia has launched its own version of Wikipedia, called Ruwiki, which is notably more sympathetic to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Kremlin-compliant version of Wikipedia, Ruwiki, has launched in Russia. Its founder, a former longtime editor at Russian Wikipedia, says it will follow strict Russian media laws. Russia has launched its own version of Wikipedia that is markedly more friendly towards President Vladimir Putin and his government. Insider compared Ruwiki with Russian Wikipedia using Google Translate as of July 13 to get a sense of their key differences. Russian Wikipedia has a dedicated article on the episode, during which Wagner forces marched on Moscow and came within 125 miles of the Russian capital before turning back.

Persons: It's, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Wikipedia's, Vladimir Medeyko, Medeyko, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Ruwiki Organizations: The Telegraph, Bloomberg, Google, Russia's Ministry of Defense, Wired Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow

☆ FBI Director Christopher Wray, who is a Republican, says it's 'somewhat insane' to suggest he's biased against conservatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray expressed exasperation that House Republicans would think he's biased against conservatives. A more sympathetic GOP lawmaker expressed hope that Wray wouldn't leave the party after a contentious hearing. Wray also began to snap back, at one point expressing shock that anyone would suggest he's biased against conservatives. The onslaught led Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, to quip that he hoped Wray wouldn't leave the party. The reception illustrates the fury many conservatives hold for the FBI and Wray.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, Wray wouldn't, Joe Biden's, Matt Gaetz, Edgar Hoover, Harriet Hageman, Ken Buck, Buck, Donald Trump, Chris Christie's, General Michael Horowitz, John Durham's, Ron DeSantis, wouldn't, CNN's Jake Tapper Organizations: Republican, Service, Republicans, Florida Republican, Wyoming Republican, Colorado Republican, FBI, Justice Department, New, New Jersey Gov, Florida Gov, CNN, GOP, The Colorado Republican Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida, Wyoming, Colorado, New Jersey, United States

☆ Generative AI tools are quickly 'running out of text' to train themselves on, UC Berkeley professor warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Gabriel Rivera | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Berkeley professor said AI developers are "running out of text" to train chatbots at a UN summit. But Russell's insights point toward another potential vulnerability: the shortage of text to train these datasets. A study conducted last November by Epoch, a group of AI researchers, estimated that machine learning datasets will likely deplete all "high-quality language data" before 2026. Language data in "high-quality" sets comes from sources such as "books, news articles, scientific papers, Wikipedia, and filtered web content," according to the study. Russell added that while there are possible explanations for such a purchase, "the natural inference is that there isn't enough high-quality public data left."

Persons: Stuart Russell, Russell, OpenAI, Elon Musk, he's, Sarah Silverman, Mona Awad, Paul Tremblay, Sam Altman, Altman Organizations: UN, University of California, International Telecommunication Union, OpenAI Locations: Berkeley, UN, Abu Dhabi

☆ Authors sue OpenAI, allege their books were used to train ChatGPT without their consent
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Two authors filed a lawsuit against OpenAI last week alleging that their copyrighted books were used to train the company's artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, without their consent. They allege the summaries are "only possible" if ChatGPT was trained on their books, which would be a violation of copyright law. OpenAI doesn't reveal what precise data was used for training ChatGPT, but the company said it generally crawled the web, including the use of archived books and Wikipedia. The complaint references exhibits of the summaries that ChatGPT generated, and it notes that the chatbot gets some things wrong. "At no point did ChatGPT reproduce any of the copyright management information Plaintiffs included with their published works," the complaint said.

Persons: OpenAI, Paul Tremblay, Mona Awad, ChatGPT, Tremblay, Awad, Sam Altman Organizations: Microsoft, San Locations: San Francisco, San Francisco federal

☆ Kinnu helps users improve their long-term memory and their rate of learning. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck it used to raise $6.5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Learning platform startup Kinnu has raised $6.5 million from LocalGlobe and Cavalry Ventures. Kinnu aims to help users improve in areas like long-term memory and the rate at which they learn. A startup using generative AI to build a learning app to help people improve in areas like long-term memory and the rate at which they learn has raised $6.5 million in fresh funds. London-based Kinnu bills itself as a gamified learning platform for those who want to learn generalist knowledge. The platform is currently popular among adult generalist learners, "who love learning for the sake of learning," Kahler told Insider.

Persons: Chris Kahler, chatbots, Kahler, Kinnu, Tom Hulme, Guy Podjarny, Rene Rechtman Organizations: Cavalry Ventures, UK, Spark, Google Ventures, Moonbug Entertainment Locations: LocalGlobe, London

☆ The rise of political nepo babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Chris Dalla Riva | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Second, if you are a nepo baby in your first term, you will continue to be counted as a nepo baby in each subsequent term. Thus, Pelosi has been counted as a nepo baby each year since she was first elected in 1987. It's possible that this trend is the result of the Democratic party electing more nepo baby incumbents like Pelosi. Thus, it's not surprising that the Democratic Party does not just have more incumbent nepo babies but also more first-time nepo babies. On top of that, we continue to see that independent of party the Senate elects more nepo babies than the House.

Persons: —, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Rodney's, Peter, Frederick T, Frelinghuysen, it's, you've, Lawrence Jackson, Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi, Thomas D'Alesandro, we've, weren't, Bush, Kennedy Organizations: Service, NJ, Democratic, Republican, AP, Maryland's, Congressional, Democratic Party, Republicans, Union, Madison Hall Locations: New Jersey, Baltimore, . California, Wyoming, Alaska

Genius, formerly known as Rap Genius, maintains a vast database of song lyrics. "We license lyrics on Google Search from third parties, and we do not crawl or scrape websites to source lyrics," Castaneda added. The Genius lawsuit stated that one of the first Google posts it suspected as copying involved the lyrics for the song "Panda" by the rapper Desiigner. "I got broads in Atlanta," part of the song's lyrics read. Genius said in its appeal to the Supreme Court that the 2nd Circuit's ruling would give "behemoths like Google" a free pass to "vacuum up content and increase their internet dominance."

Persons: Alphabet's, Genius, Jose Castaneda, " Castaneda, Hittin, bando, Kendrick Lamar, Selena Gomez, Alessia Cara, Joe Biden's, Blake Brittain, Will Dunham Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Supreme, Alphabet's Google, Google, eBay, Genius, The, Circuit, Thomson Locations: New York, Atlanta, The New York, Washington

☆ Meet the 33-year-old Canadian chemist and the renowned MIT professor who are building the 'electric vehicle of cement making'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

An electric vehicle replaces a combustion engine with an electric motor, and that's what Sublime Systems does in the cement-making process. So he moved to eastern Canada, where they don't have a lot of rabbis," Ellis told CNBC of her father's move. And I think we both sort of gravitate to things that are challenging," Ellis told CNBC. I think the best way we have to get around fossil fuels is to use electrons," Ellis told CNBC. There will be numerous approaches, all of which have challenges and most of which deserve to be tested," Chiang told CNBC.

Persons: Leah Ellis, Ming Chiang, Ellis, Chiang, Sublime, she's, haven't, It's, Leah Ellis Ellis, it's, Mark Mutter, Mutter, Clay Dumas, Dumas, Katie Rae, Rae, Timothy McCaffery, McCaffery, Scott Carmichael It's, I'm Organizations: Sublime Systems, Sublime, CNBC, Battery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bloomberg, Getty, Jamcem Consulting, LowerCarbon, Siam Cement, SCG, American Society for Testing Locations: Texas, South Africa, Israel, Jerusalem, Canada, Houston , Texas, Europe, Boston, Africa

☆ Russia tells Amazon Web Services to set up local representation or face restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 22 (Reuters) - Russia's state communications regulator Roskomnadzor has added Amazon Web Services (AMZN.O) and 11 other foreign technology companies to a widened list of firms it wants to open local offices or face penalties and possible bans. Moscow's subsequent invasion of Ukraine intensified Russia's disputes with Big Tech, ultimately leading to Twitter, Facebook and others being banned from the market. But despite the initial threats, may other listed web services remain operational and available, such as YouTube, Wikipedia, Telegram and Zoom. Amazon Web Services and another 11 mostly hosting sites were added on Thursday, Roskomnadzor's website showed. It was not immediately clear what the listing would mean for Amazon and others.

Persons: Roskomnadzor's, Alexander Marrow, David Evans Organizations: Web Services, Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine

[1/2] The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken SS Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, dives in an undated photograph. OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via REUTERSJune 21 (Reuters) - Around the world, the story of the missing Titanic submersible and its rescue operation's race against time has been riveting onlookers. Erin Geary, a 27-year-old research assistant in Atlanta, Georgia, described feeling sad, anxious and mystified as she watched the rescue operation for the Titan submersible unfold. Geary grew up as a fan of the 1997 movie the "Titanic" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which cemented the ill-fated ship's tale in modern popular imagination. "Some people think the Titanic is kind of cursed, so why would you purposely put yourself in that situation?"

Persons: Erin Geary, Geary, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman, Paul, Henri Nargeolet, Jenna Roat, Gabriella Borter, Tim McLaughlin, Sandra Maler Organizations: OceanGate Expeditions, REUTERS, Google, Stockton Rush, OceanGate, Coast Guard, Thomson Locations: Newfoundland, Atlanta , Georgia, Chile, Pakistani, French, Greece, Boston

☆ Pink Floyd, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and Me
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

Muted tk tkLike other band members have done consistently over the years, Waters denied that Pink Floyd intentionally structured its 1973 album to align with the 1939 film. Before my article, “The Dark Side of the Rainbow” was just a word-of-mouth thing on an early internet message board. I mostly listened to alternative rock in those days, but Pink Floyd’s Usenet group had a hold on me. I shared that page on the Usenet group and added it to a Pink Floyd “Web ring” — a system in which people with related pages linked to one another. The article page was logging hundreds, then thousands, and eventually tens of thousands of visitors.

Persons: Floyd, ‘, Oz ’, ”, Roger Waters, Joe Rogan, Waters, Noam Chomsky, Rogan, Pink Floyd —, Oz, Dorothy, Clare Torry’s, “, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, Willie Nelson, ” Waters, ” Rogan, “ I’ve, it’s, I’m, floyd, Kurt Cobain, Toto, Marvel, grooving, Dave Gilmour, Pink, Kurt Loder, Oz ”, “ Akira ” —, Dorothy tiptoeing, perversely Organizations: The, Gazette, New York Times, Hoosier, MGM, Miss, Journal Gazette, Columbia Records, Dave Gilmour & Co, MTV, New York Daily News, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, YouTube Locations: Austin , Texas, Louisiana, Fort Wayne, Ind, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Indiana, Boston, York

☆ Women are seeing historic labor market gains. AI could disrupt that
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Minneapolis CNN —More prime working age women are employed in the United States now than ever before. The labor force participation rate for women between 25 and 54 years old set a record high in April and then again in May, rebounding from the pandemic “she-cession” and returning to its pre-pandemic form of making progressively historic labor market gains. Estimates that nearly eight out of 10 women workers could be affected “are just staggering,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist with online job marketplace ZipRecruiter. “Some of these things are becoming more prevalent, and that’s supportive of more women in the labor market,” she said. On the other hand, AI could prove harmful and threatening for any role that is highly “automatable,” Peterson said.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, University of North Carolina’s, ”, Julia Pollak, it’s, Mark McNeilly, Flagler, “ It’s, ‘ I’m, ’ ” McNeilly, “, Pollak, didn’t, Dana Peterson, that’s, ” Peterson, Ben Zweig, Jobs, Peterson, we’ve, Sara Mannheimer, Kathrin Ziegler, ” Meredith Nudo, you’re, Nudo Organizations: Minneapolis CNN —, University of North, University of North Carolina’s Kenan, Flagler Business School, Kenan, Flagler, UNC Kenan, CNN, of Labor Statistics, Conference Board, Baby Boomers, Labs, Montana State University, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Librarians, Digital, National Association of Voice Locations: Minneapolis, United States, Houston

☆ These tiny Japanese pick-up trucks that cost about $5,000 are winning fans in America
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tiny Japanese trucks that cost as little as $5,000 are winning over some Americans. It's not just tiny homes taking America by storm – now tiny trucks made in Japan are becoming increasingly popular too. The tiny trucks are a common sight on Japanese roads, but they've also won over some Americans wanting a versatile, compact – and cheap – vehicle. The cheapest Kei truck sold by Japan Car Direct is about $5,000, with shipping costs accounting for much of that sum. Japan Car Direct and its competitors will walk customers through the import process, which requires several forms to be completed.

Persons: they've, It's, Kei, Subaru Sambar, Suzuki, Matt Matusiak, we've, Matusiak, there's Organizations: Japan, Morning, Daihatsu, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan, of Transportation, Environmental Protection, Vehicles, Twitter Locations: America, Japan, Pennsylvania

Then, a deep dive into MrBeast and what his YouTube empire says about the future of the internet. Reddit came along and said, oh, we need to protect Reddit from the rise of these large language models. So I don’t think they’re totally out of the woods. But I don’t think people would say it was a golden age for how safe the platforms fell to use. But I want to challenge you on this, because I don’t necessarily think that it’s a bad thing if we have past peak trust and safety.

Persons: kevin roose, you’ve, casey newton, casey newton Yes, I’ve, there’s, kevin roose I’m, Kevin Roose, ” casey newton, Casey Newton, Casey, Reddit, casey newton Right, roose, Steve Huffman, you’re, Kevin, It’s, They’re, casey newton Well, they’ve, we’re, Huffman, “, Redditors, We’ve, Everyone’s, we’ve, I’m, let’s, Sam Walton, Max, kevin roose Hey, kevin roose Oh, kevin roose Max Read, MrBeast, it’s, Jimmy Donaldson, He’s, Willy Wonka, he’s, somethings, haven’t, kevin roose We’ll, We’ll, kevin roose She’s, she’s, kevin roose MrBeast, Jeremiah, jeremiah howard, Jeremiah Howard who’s, Jimmy, Burger, You’re, Stefan Molyneux, PewDiePie, Paul, Let’s, Raman, kevin roose It’s, MrBeast financials, doesn’t, Logan Paul, they’re, Vincent Miller, Jon Hamm’s, Matthew Weiner’s, kevin roose Max, Will, Max Read, ” kevin roose, casey newton Max, Robert F Kennedy, COVID, Kennedy, Instagram, Connor Roy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Elon, Donald Trump, We’re, Jim Jordan, kevin roose Totally, Alex Jones, casey newton Totally, Kate Kalanick, Trump, Tucker Carlson, aren’t, — casey newton, hasn’t, Rachel Cohn, Jen Poyante, Caitlin Love, Alyssa Moxley, Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, Sofia Lanman, Rowan Niemisto, Paula Szuchman, Tam, Nell Gallogly, Kate LoPresi, Jeffrey Miranda Organizations: The New York Times, Twitter, YouTube, Lamborghini, Netflix, Walmart, News, Producers, Meta, Instagram, COVID, Democratic, Washington Post, Apple, Republicans, Facebook, 4chan, Republican Party, Trump, Fox News, Stanford, Davis Locations: Hawaii, Reddit, Greenville , North Carolina, hysterics, New Jersey, New York, Greenville, North Carolina, Central, United States, Bay, San Francisco, Stanford

☆ Opinion: Before Trump or Viktor Orban, there was Italy’s Berlusconi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Ruth Ben-Ghiat | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —“I’m the most persecuted man in all of history,” then-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi claimed in 2009, just after Italy’s constitutional court stripped him of immunity from prosecution, leaving him vulnerable as he faced yet another corruption trial. Berlusconi, the three-time Italian prime minister who died this week at 86, wrote the script for an authoritarian style of leadership within a democracy. The flamboyant billionaire owner of a business, media and sports empire, Berlusconi privatized Italian television in the 1980s. Italian television had been limited to three state-owned RAI national networks, but by the 1980s Berlusconi’s Mediaset conglomerate owned the three largest private channels. Berlusconi also raised fears in Italians about the loss of “tradition,” using the specter of Italian demographic decline to justify anti-immigrant policies that preceded those of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other far-right leaders.

Persons: Ruth Ben, “ Strongmen, Mussolini, CNN — “, ”, Silvio Berlusconi, Berlusconi, Benito Mussolini —, Vladimir Putin, Marcello Dell’Utri, Publitalia, Ferdinando Meazza, “ Mussolini, ” Berlusconi, Viktor Orban, Fininvest, Sergei Chirikov, Donald Trump, “ Organizations: CNN, New York University, Italian, Forza Italia, National Alliance, Italian Social, Northern League, AC Milan soccer, RAI, AC Milan, Milan, Milan's, Italian Communist Party, British, Kremlin, Getty, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Italian, Milan, Milan's San Siro, Italy, Western Europe, Hungarian, Moscow, AFP

☆ Thousands of Reddit communities go dark to protest company’s controversial new policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Thousands of Reddit forums are going dark Monday in one of the largest user-driven protests ever to hit the social media platform. For years, Reddit users could browse posts, write comments and share pictures and video on Reddit from third-party apps. Some users have said they were not even aware it is possible to access Reddit from third-party apps. Twitter’s move prompted an outcry from third-party app makers, misinformation researchers and public service account-holders who said the move would harm transparency and accessibility. For Reddit and its future shareholders, the company’s value derives from the infrastructure the site provides for conversation.

Persons: Reddit, Christian Selig, Selig, Steve Huffman, ” Huffman, Elon Musk, Twitter’s, reddit, “ I’ve Organizations: CNN, Twitter Locations: Reddit

One is about the possibility that we’re going to have this super intelligent AI that’s capable of great destruction. casey newtonI think that’s right. But it’s just like — I don’t think — I don’t think about to do these things in the moment like Dan. I don’t think that there’s an ethical issue with doing what he wants to do. And yeah, I just think it’s going into an area that’s going to be uncomfortable for the friend.

Persons: kevin roose, casey newton, we’re, ” casey newton I’ve, kevin roose It’s, Kevin Roose, ” casey newton, Casey Newton, clowned, New York Times ’, Kate Conger, Casey, Ajeya Cotra, kevin roose Totally, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Dario Amodei, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, They’re, Kevin, Dan Hendricks who’s, “, “ I’m, don’t, you’re, I’m, — casey newton, it’s, ChatGPT, casey newton I’m, I’ve, Martinez, Varghese, kevin roose Tyler, —, Steven A, Schwartz, ”, they’re, it’ll, there’s, Mr, Bean, We’ve, James Vincent, It’s, Jensen Huang, Harry Potter, Harry Potter of, kevin roose —, casey newton Parallelelizable, Parallelizable, — casey newton Let’s, that’s, who’s, NVIDIA —, casey newton Well, doesn’t, katie cogner, Kate Conger who’s, katie cogner Hi, katie cogner I’m, Dan, what’s, Getty, casey newton Kate, let’s, John, Here’s John, john, kevin roose That’s, Kate, he’s, He’s, he’ll, casey newton That’s, There’s, we’ve, “ I’ve, ” Kate, cogner, Prince Harry, katie cogner Doesn’t, Harry, casey newton We’re, We’re, kevin roose Kate, they’ve, Joni Mitchell, Chris Vecchio, Chris, kevin roose I’m, You’d, casey newton “, you’ll, casey newton Oh, ” kevin roose Organizations: The New York Times, NVIDIA, New York Times, Safety, Google, AI, ChatGPT, Avianca Airlines, Delta Airlines, China Southern Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Royal Dutch Airlines, “, Bar Association, Texas, M University Commerce, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Harry Potter of Kentucky Christian, Facebook, eBay, “ New York Times, Boston, Garden, MetLife, TED, AIs Locations: British, Avianca, Durden, ChatGPT, Taiwan, Kentucky, Hogwarts, Harry Potter of Kentucky, California, Madison, —

☆ Russia fines WhatsApp for first time for not deleting banned content
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, June 1 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Thursday fined messenger service WhatsApp three million roubles ($37,080) for not deleting banned content, its first fine in Russia for that offence. Other Meta services, Facebook and Instagram - now banned in Russia - have been fined over content, as have the likes of Twitter and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google. WhatsApp, however, has previously been fined for its alleged refusal to comply with Russian data law and store Russian users' data on servers in the country. It has previously said information that Russian authorities complained about was well-sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards. Moscow has for years clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in disputes that escalated after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Persons: Meta, Alexander Marrow, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Meta, Inc, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Wikimedia Foundation, Russia, Wikimedia, Big Tech, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ OpenAI is exploring collective decisions on AI, like Wikipedia entries
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 22 (Reuters) - ChatGPT's creator OpenAI is testing how to gather broad input on decisions impacting its artificial intelligence, its president Greg Brockman said on Monday. At AI Forward, an event in San Francisco hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and SV Angel, Brockman discussed the broad contours of how the maker of the wildly popular chatbot is seeking regulation of AI globally. One announcement he previewed is akin to the model of Wikipedia, which he said requires people with diverse views to coalesce and agree on the encyclopedia's entries. "We’re not just sitting in Silicon Valley thinking we can write these rules for everyone," he said of AI policy. Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San FranciscoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ WhatsApp faces first fine in Russia for failure to delete 'banned' content
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Messenger service WhatsApp faces a maximum fine of 4 million roubles (51,500) after Russia accused it of failing to delete banned content, state-owned news agency RIA reported on Friday, citing a Moscow court. Although WhatsApp's parent company Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) was last year banned in Russia as an "extremist" organisation, the messenger app - which is widely popular in Russia - has not previously been threatened with legal proceedings for failing to remove prohibited information. The RIA report did not specify what information WhatsApp had allegedly failed to delete. At the outset of its military campaign in Ukraine, Russia introduced harsh new military censorship laws under which technology companies including Google, Wikipedia and Discord have been fined. ($1 = 77.7205 roubles)Reporting by Reuters Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ On ‘The Blog Era,’ Resurrecting Rap Media History
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In all, the Rosenthals conducted more than 150 interviews spanning more than 500 hours of raw tape. In a recent video interview, Jeff, 38, and Eric, 42, discussed corralling their subjects, memorializing digital culture and what caused the blog era’s demise. JEFF ROSENTHAL We’d been doing this weekly interview podcast, “A Waste of Time,” for five years, but when the pandemic happened we stopped pretty much immediately. It didn’t really make sense to have people coming over to our apartment to record. We think all of these places deserve monuments, so we wanted to make sure they were remembered in the right way.

☆ Johnny Depp at Cannes: ‘I Don’t Have Much Further Need for Hollywood’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Kyle Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If nothing else, Cannes is a reminder that nearly every major figure in the French film industry has a sizable “controversy” section on Wikipedia.) “Of course, if you’re asked to resign from a film you’re doing because of something that is merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yeah, you feel boycotted,” Depp said. “Do I feel boycotted now? But I don’t feel boycotted by Hollywood because I don’t think about it. I don’t have much further need for Hollywood myself.”The 59-year-old Depp continued, “It’s a very strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves but they can’t.

☆ How doctors create a penis from a vagina and why one trans man changed his mind about which surgery to get
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Kelly Burch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Creating a penis from a vagina is more complicated than turning a penis into a vagina. Then, they must define their priorities for their penis, Horwitz said. Then, during a meta, doctors cut ligaments around the newly enlarged clitoris, allowing it to extend away from the body. Phalloplasty creates a penis from a skin graftScar left over from a skin graft taken for a phalloplasty surgery. Once they've formed the neo-phallus (new penis), doctors surgically connect it to the genitals' nerve and vascular system.

☆ Wikipedia cofounder slams Elon Musk for caving to Turkey's government and censoring tweets, says Wikipedia fought similar demands and won
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter announced it would "restrict access to some content in Turkey" right before the country's presidential election. Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales criticized Twitter CEO Elon Musk's decision to restrict content. Twitter's Global Government Affairs account had tweeted about the changes ahead of Turkey's presidential election held on Sunday. Turkey's highest court determined that blocking the website was unconstitutional, and access to Wikipedia was restored in January 2020, The New York Times reported. Before Musk, Twitter agreed to around 50% of government requests.

☆ 'Free speech opportunist' Elon Musk caved to government pressure to censor tweets ahead of the Turkish election. Critics argue SpaceX dealings with the country's right-wing leader may have caused the
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Elon Musk's reputation as a free speech absolutist took another hit on Saturday after Twitter sided with the Turkish government and censored the accounts of political opponents ahead of a contentious election. Targeted Turkish dissidentsThe details of the legal request and which specific accounts were targeted were not made public. Yakut had previously shared information about Erdogan's governmental dealings and alleged the Turkish leader had been involved in the disappearance of his son-in-law, Turkish Minute reported last week. "I'm sure this is just a coincidence," users on Twitter posted, some sarcastically, circulating news of Musk's business dealings with Turkey. Musk and representatives for Twitter, SpaceX, and the Republic of Turkey did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

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