Though it consistently ranks among the world’s safest big cities, police in the Asian financial hub say the new cameras are needed to fight crime – and have raised the possibility of equipping them with powerful facial recognition and artificial intelligence tools.

That’s sparked alarm among some experts who see it as taking Hong Kong one step closer to the pervasive surveillance systems of mainland China, warning of the technology’s repressive potential.

Hong Kong police had previously set a target of installing 2,000 new surveillance cameras this year, and potentially more than that each subsequent year. The force plans to eventually introduce facial recognition to these cameras, security chief Chris Tang told local media in July – adding that police could use AI in the future to track down suspects.

[...]

Hong Kong police have repeatedly pointed to other jurisdictions, including Western democracies, that also make wide use of surveillance cameras for law enforcement. For instance, Singapore has 90,000 cameras and the United Kingdom has more than seven million, Tang told local newspaper Sing Tao Daily in June.

[...]

“The difference is how the technology is being used,” said Samantha Hoffman, a nonresident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research who has studied China’s use of technology for security and propaganda.

Places like the United States and the UK may have problems with how they implement that technology, too – but “this is fundamentally different… It has to do specifically with the system of government, as well as the way that the party state… uses the law to maintain its own power,” said Hoffman.

[...]

Hong Kong has more than 54,500 public CCTV cameras used by government bodies – about seven cameras per 1,000 people, according to an estimate by Comparitech, a UK-based technology research firm.~~

China: Rights group urges Beijng to free ‘bridge man’ protester Peng Lifa, who sparked ‘White Paper’ protests and 'forcibly disappeared' in 2022

"The Chinese government may have taken away the ‘Bridge Man,’ but his arrest ignited widespread support for a free and democratic China,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “Two years since Peng Lifa was taken into police custody and forcibly disappeared, his message continues to resonate.”

On October 13, 2022, a man in a construction outfit unfurled two banners on Sitong Bridge in Haidian district in Beijing. One read: “We want food not Covid testing; we want freedom not lockdowns; we want dignity not lies. We want reform not the Cultural Revolution; we want to vote not a leader; we are citizens not slaves.”

And another read: “Go on strike, depose the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping.” The police immediately took him away and he has not been seen since.

[...]

Peng’s protest was rare in a country where police closely monitor all public spaces and dissidents. Control was especially tight in the capital ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress at the time of the protest. While authorities quickly censored all news about it, Peng’s messages nonetheless spread.

[...]

On July 30, 2024, a 22-year-old activist who participated in the White Paper movement, Fang Yirong (方艺融), put a Peng-inspired banner on a bridge in Loudi City, Hunan province, and posted a video online saying that he “hope[s] that the Chinese will get rid of autocracy and live a better life as soon as possible.” Police arrested Fang in early August and his current condition is also unknown.

[Edit typo.]

For the first time, internal TikTok communications have been made public that show a company unconcerned with the harms the app poses for American teenagers. This is despite its own research validating many child safety concerns.

The confidential material was part of a more than two-year investigation into TikTok by 14 attorneys general that led to state officials suing the company on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges that TikTok was designed with the express intention of addicting young people to the app. The states argue the multi-billion-dollar company deceived the public about the risks.

In each of the separate lawsuits state regulators filed, dozens of internal communications, documents and research data were redacted — blacked-out from public view — since authorities entered into confidentiality agreements with TikTok.

But in one of the lawsuits, filed by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, the redactions were faulty. This was revealed when Kentucky Public Radio copied-and-pasted excerpts of the redacted material, bringing to light some 30 pages of documents that had been kept secret.

[...]

TikTok’s own research states that “compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety,” according to the suit.

In addition, the documents show that TikTok was aware that “compulsive usage also interferes with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities, and connecting with loved ones.”

TikTok: Time-limit tool aimed at ‘improving public trust,’ not limiting app use

The unredacted documents show that TikTok employees were aware that too much time spent by teens on social media can be harmful to their mental health. The consensus among academics is that they recommend one hour or less of social media usage per day.

The app lets parents place time limits on their kids’ usage that range from 40 minutes to two hours per day. TikTok created a tool that set the default time prompt at 60 minutes per day.

[...]

Archived version

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign lashed out at journalist Bob Woodward after he reported that Trump secretly sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a stash of COVID-19 tests at the height of the pandemic in 2020, when Americans couldn't get them.

However, Bloomberg reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is confirming that Trump sent Putin the tests four years ago, while at the same time denying Woodward's reporting that Trump and Putin have spoken multiple times since the ex-president the White House in 2021.

[...]

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung suggested on Tuesday that Woodward lied about every single piece of information in his new book, which will be called "War."

"None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," said Cheung, who provided no evidence to back up his claims. "Woodward is an angry, little man and is clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously."

Archived version

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law a measure imposing the 12% value-added tax (VAT) on nonresident digital service providers, such as Netflix, Amazon, and Shein.

“With this law, we say that ‘if your presence in the Philippine market is as real as your profits, then your tax responsibilities should also be equally tangible,'” Marcos said during the ceremonial signing of the law on Wednesday, October 2.

Marcos also clarified that this was not an imposition of a new tax, but just a way to streamline the BIR’s ability to collect VAT from digital services.

[...]

Republic Act 12023 extends VAT to all digital services consumed in the Philippines, even if provided by companies without a physical presence in the country. This includes purchases from popular electronic marketplaces like Amazon, Shein, and Temu, and subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, which were previously not subject to VAT.

[...]

The VAT imposed will be equal to 12% of gross receipts derived from the sale or exchange of services, including digital services, and the use or lease of properties.

[...]

“This means our artists, filmmakers, musicians, the very people who fill our platform with stories and with content, will directly benefit. It ensures that our creative talents are not just surviving in a competitive digital market, but will be allowed to prosper,” Marcos said.

Archived version

[...]

The inquiry will focus on whether TikTok adequately informs users about its advertising policies and provides them with the opportunity to opt in rather than opt out.

[...]

Concerns have been raised that TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, does not fully disclose the details of its terms of service and privacy policy at the time users sign up. Under South Korean law, digital platforms are required to give users the freedom to decide if they wish to receive marketing communications, ensuring that consent is obtained clearly and transparently prior to any such communications being sent.

[...]

The [South Korean media regulator Korea Communications Commission] KCC's probe into TikTok comes amidst a broader global conversation about the responsibilities of social media platforms in protecting user data. As authorities worldwide seek to enforce stricter data protection measures, companies must navigate complex legal landscapes to maintain user trust and compliance.

[...]

Archived version

Human rights concerns continue to dog China's fast fashion retailer Shein‘s initial public offering (IPO) in the UK

If Liam Byrne—a British Labour Party politician who leads parliament’s business and trade committee—gets his way, Shein might need to redirect its planned IPO float to Hong Kong or its home base in Singapore. He is calling for the U.K. government to ban imports made in the Xinjiang region in China, according to the Financial Times. That kind of legislative change will result in greater intensive scrutiny in the supply chain, and ultimately on producers such as Shein over alleged use of forced labor.

Xinjiang is the Chinese region with links to the exploitation of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups via forced labor. The evidence of crimes against humanity are widely documented.

[...]

Even those connected to the fast-fashion firm end up getting pulled into Shein controversies.

Last month, Italy launched a greenwashing probe into Shein. The Italian antitrust watchdog is probing Infinite Styles Services Co., a Dublin-based operation that manages Shein’s online presence. The probe’s focus is over the possibility of misleading sustainability claims connected with Shein’s clothing.

Last month, Italy launched a greenwashing probe into Shein. The Italian antitrust watchdog is probing Infinite Styles Services Co., a Dublin-based operation that manages Shein’s online presence. The probe’s focus is over the possibility of misleading sustainability claims connected with Shein’s clothing.

And in August, David Schwimmer, the leader of the London Stock Exchange Group, found himself pushing back on allegations that the Exchange had lowered its standards to court Shein so it could switch course from the U.S. to the U.K. for its flotation.

[...]

Shein initially planned to file its IPO in the U.S., but drew scrutiny from Washington lawmakers, who urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to block the firm due to concerns over ties to the Chinese government and alleged use of forced labor in its supply chain.

[...]

[Given the scrutiny in the UK], the most likely scenario could be a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

[...]

But how a Hong Kong listing would fare also remains a big question mark. Hong Kong isn’t exactly the go-to choice for companies aiming to go public. Exchanges elsewhere, such as the U.S. or London, are seen as more active, and therefore get to attract more investors.

A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country allege that the company uses addictive features to hook children to the app and that it has intentionally misled the public about the safety of prolonged use.

[...]

New York Attorney General Letitia James said young people across the country had died or been injured doing TikTok "challenges" and many others were feeling "more sad, anxious and depressed because of TikTok's addictive features".

She cited a 15-year-old boy, who died in Manhattan while “subway surfing” - riding on top of a moving subway car. His mother later found TikTok videos of such activity on his phone, she said.

[...]

Regulators have launched similar cases against Facebook and Instagram for their impact on young people's mental health.

[...]

The Federal Trade Commission, a government watchdog, accused TikTok in August of violating child privacy laws.

Chinese hackers (Salt Typhoon) penetrated the networks of US broadband providers, and might have accessed the backdoors that the federal government uses to execute court-authorized wiretap requests. Those backdoors have been mandated by law—CALEA—since 1994.

Refering to a story published by the Wall Street Journal, security expert Bruce Schneier writes "that the attack wasn’t against the broadband providers directly, but against one of the intermediary companies that sit between the government CALEA requests and the broadband providers".

"For years, the security community has pushed back against these backdoors, pointing out that the technical capability cannot differentiate between good guys and bad guys. And here is one more example of a backdoor access mechanism being targeted by the “wrong” eavesdroppers."

The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two scientists, Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield, for their work on machine learning, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

American Professor John Hopfield, 91, is a professor at Princeton University in the US, and Prof Hinton, 76, is a professor at University of Toronto in Canada.

[...]

The Academy listed some of the crucial applications of the two scientists’ work, including improving climate modelling, development of solar cells, and analysis of medical images.

[...]

Professor Hinton is sometimes referred to as the "Godfather of AI". [His] pioneering research on neural networks paved the way for current AI systems like ChatGPT [...] He also said he uses the AI chatbot ChatGPT4 for many things now but with the knowledge that it does not always get the answer right.

[...]

Professor John Hopfield invented a network that can save and recreate patterns.

It uses physics that describes a material’s characteristics due to atomic spin.

In a similar way to how the brain tries to recall words by using associated but incomplete words, Prof Hopfield developed a network that can use incomplete patterns to find the most similar.

[...]

The Nobel Prize committee said the two scientists' work has become part of our daily lives, including in facial recognition and language translation.

But Ellen Moons, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said "its rapid development has also raised concerns about our future collectively".

Archived version

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has expressed support for children as young as five being exposed to the weekly doses of war propaganda introduced after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

While Putin claimed that any such material must be made accessible to very small children, these weekly ‘conversations about important things’ glorify war and the army; and aim at inculcating a highly specific form of ‘patriotism’ and at pushing Russia’s false narrative about its war against Ukraine.

Facilitated communication was created in 1977 by Australian disability advocate Rosemary Crossley, who died last year and left a complex legacy. To those who knew her, she’s remembered as champion for “people with little or no functional speech”.

But others say her communications invention - and her formidable defence of it - were misguided and harmful. It is still used worldwide, despite being widely criticised.

The first notable subject to use facilitated communication was Anne McDonald, a non-verbal Australian woman with cerebral palsy, a severe intellectual disability, and no control over her limbs.

At the time, Crossley claimed that McDonald - then 16 - could communicate by pointing at magnetic letters while Crossley supported her upper arm.

Within weeks McDonald was spelling out whole sentences and doing fractions, despite having no formal education and being institutionalised since age three.

Some of Crossley’s colleagues expressed surprise that McDonald, who’d never read, could suddenly write eloquent prose, and cite literary references, when her arm was held by the highly educated Crossley.

One who raised questions was the institution’s head paediatrician and psychiatrist Dr Dennis Maginn, who wouldn’t validate Crossley’s communication theory without independent testing.

Advocates insist it is a miracle tool, one which gives disabled people a voice.

But a growing chorus of experts, families and even former facilitators want it banned, due to research indicating that the likely author of the messages is the facilitator, not the communicator.