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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 1 February 2020

In this Aug. 21, 2018, file photo, a Facebook start page is shown
on a smartphone in Surfside, Fla.
Associated Press
Facebook fights spread

of misinformation

In this July 5, 2015, file photo, a man uses the dating app Tinder in New Delhi. about virus online
Associated Press
Dating apps face U.S. inquiry Associated Press users who shared the post

Facebook says it's working a notification. Users who
over underage use, sex offenders to limit the spread of misin- search for information on
formation and potentially the virus on Facebook, or
harmful content about who click on certain relat-
By BARBARA ORTUTAY underage use of dating information may include the coronavirus as bogus ed hashtags on Instagram,
AP Technology Writer apps is heightened by re- sexual orientation, gender claims about the ongoing will receive a pop-up pro-
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A ports that many popular identity, political views, outbreak circulate online. viding authoritative infor-
House subcommittee is in- free dating apps permit and drug, alcohol and to- Kang-Xing Jin, Face- mation on the virus. In addi-
vestigating popular dating registered sex offenders to bacco use. book's head of health, an- tion, information about the
services such as Tinder and use them, while the paid The subcommittee cited nounced that the social outbreak will also appear
Bumble for allegedly allow- versions of these same a report by a Norwe- media platform will begin at the top of Facebook us-
ing minors and sex offend- apps screen out registered gian consumer group this removing posts that include ers' news feeds based on
ers to use their services. sex offenders," Rep. Raja month that found that dat- false claims or conspiracy guidance from the World
Bumble, Grindr, The Meet Krishnamoorthi, the Illinois ing apps including Grindr, theories about the virus Health Organization.
Group and the Match Democrat who heads the OkCupid and Tinder leak that have been flagged "We will also block or restrict
Group, which owns such subcommittee, said in a personal information to ad- by health authorities. The hashtags used to spread
popular services as Tinder, statement. "Protection from vertising tech companies company said it will fo- misinformation on Insta-
Match.com and OkCupid, sexual predators should in possible violation of Eu- cus on posts that discour- gram, and are conduct-
are the current targets of not be a luxury confined to ropean data privacy laws. age peopple from getting ing proactive sweeps to
the investigation by the paying customers." The Norwegian Consumer medical treatment, or that find and remove as much
U.S. House Oversight and Match Group said it uses Council said it found "seri- make potentially danger- of this content as we can,"
Reform subcommittee on "every tool possible" to ous privacy infringements" ous claims about cures. Jin wrote in a post. "Not
economic and consumer keep minors and bad ac- in its analysis of how shad- The company will also limit all of these steps are fully
policy. tors off its services and con- owy online ad companies the spread of posts de- in place. It will take some
In separate letters Thursday tinues to invest in technol- track and profile smart- bunked by its third-party time to roll them out across
to the companies, the sub- ogy to keep users safe. In phone users. q fact checkers, and sent our platforms.q
committee is seeking infor- an emailed statement, the
mation on users' ages, pro- company said the problem Maine lawmakers propose bill
cedures for verifying ages, was broader and requires
assaults, rape or the use of app stores that know who to ban ‘deepfake’ political ads
and any complaints about other
including
parties,
the services by minors. It is their users are, "to do their
also asking for the services' part as well." AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine lawmak- makers, especially prominent politicians
privacy policies and details Match added that the na- ers are considering a bill banning the use who have been smeared by its use on
on what users see when tional sex offender registry of “deepfake” video technology in the social media.
they review and agree to needs to be updated so state’s political advertising. The videos are created with digitized im-
the policies. It also seeks that perpetrators' digital A Democratic lawmaker told the Legis- ages, using a form of artificial intelligence
information on what data footprints can be tracked lature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Com- known as deep learning. The technology
is collected on people, and blocked by social me- mittee on Wednesday that technologi- can be used to produce videos, still im-
including sexual orienta- dia and dating services. cal advancements could be used to ages or audio that’s highly convincing
tion, drug use and political Grindr and The Meet undermine the state’s political process and often impossible to identify as fake.
views. Group did not respond to and the public’s trust, the Portland Press Millet’s bill would prohibit publication
Although the minimum age messages for comment on Herald reported. and distribution of deepfake content of
for using internet services is Thursday. Bumble had no “It’s not hard to imagine how destruc- a candidate within 60 days of an elec-
typically 13 in the U.S., dat- immediate comment. tive this technology could be in an elec- tion. The proposal would also allow the
ing services generally re- Besides safety issues, the tion,” the bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. targeted candidate to seek a court or-
quire users to be at least investigation also seeks to Rebecca Millett, of Cape Elizabeth, said. der to block publication of the content
18 because of concerns address concerns about The use of deepfake video continues to as well as pursue civil action against
about sexual predators. data the services request be a growing concern for federal policy- whomever published or distributed it. q
"Our concern about the to make matches. Such