Source: BBC
Security & Justice
Mawlawi Ensures Strict Monitoring for Wanted Syrian Regime Figures at Beirut Airport
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, conducted an inspection tour of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut to review the security arrangements and measures implemented by the Airport Security Apparatus ahead of the holiday season.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Hezbollah Faces Internal Criticism Over Missing Fighters and Captured Prisoners
Hezbollah is grappling with increasing internal and external pressure as the fate of over 1,000 of its fighters remains uncertain following the recent war with Israel, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper revealed.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Opinion
Lebanon After the Assads
The United States has important equities in Lebanon, including a desire for a generally friendly government’s economic and political stability; security cooperation; long-standing relations with the large Christian community in Lebanon and Lebanese diaspora in the United States; and ultimately peace between Israel and Lebanon within a broader regional settlement. Achieving these objectives will require navigating a tumultuous period in the country’s history following a war between Hezbollah and Israel that has devastated a large part of the country, exacerbating Lebanon’s already challenging economic conditions. But perhaps the most important dynamic will be how a likely Sunni-dominated state of uncertain composition in Syria will differ in its intentions toward Lebanon from the previous Alawite-led minoritarian Assad regime.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Europe’s Syrian Dilemma
The news of the sudden and unexpected demise of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has met a mixed response in Europe. The jubilation that a murderous dictator and close ally of Russia and Iran has fallen is not just good for the Syrian people but serves as a morale booster for Eastern Europeans wondering whether Russia can be defeated
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo Unveils New Private Jet Worth $73 Million
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the richest global athletes, has unveiled his upgraded private jet reportedly worth $73 million. With its top-notch design, exceptional speed and range of 7500 nautical miles, the Gulfstream G650 is among the fastest jets in the world.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Guardiola Accepts Man City May Need to Sign More Players to Cope with Schedule
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes he will need a bigger squad to handle soccer’s ever-expanding fixture schedule.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Tuesday 22 October 2024 18:24:08
Facebook and Instagram Launch Celebrity Scam Ad Crackdown
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is to introduce facial recognition technology to try and crack down on scammers who fraudulently use celebrities in adverts.
Elon Musk and personal finance expert, Martin Lewis, are among those to fall victim to such scams, which typically promote investment schemes and crypto-currencies.
Mr Lewis previously told the Today program, on BBC Radio 4, that he receives "countless" reports of his name and face being used in such scams every day, and had been left feeling "sick" by them.
Meta already uses an ad review system which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect fake celebrity endorsements but is now seeking to beef it up with facial recognition tech.
It will work by comparing images from ads flagged as being dubious with celebrities' Facebook or Instagram profile photos.
If the image is confirmed to be a match, and the ad is a scam, it will be automatically deleted.
Meta said "early testing" of the system had shown "promising results" so it would now start showing in-app notifications to a larger group of public figures who had been impacted by so-called "celeb-bait."
Deepfakes
The problem of celebrity scams has been a long-running one for Meta.
It became so significant in the 2010s that Mr Lewis took legal action against Facebook, but he ultimately dropped the case when the tech giant agreed to introduce a button so people could report scam ads.
In addition to introducing the button, Facebook also agreed to donate £3m to Citizens Advice.
But, since then, the scams have become more complex and significantly more believable.
They are increasingly powered by so-called deepfake technology, where a realistic computer-generated likeness or video is used to make it seem like the celebrity is backing a product or service.
Meta has faced pressure to do something about the growing threat of these ads.
On Sunday, Mr Lewis urged the government to give the UK regulator, Ofcom, more powers to tackle scam ads after a fake interview with Chancellor Rachel Reeves was used to trick people into giving away their bank details.
"Scammers are relentless and continuously evolve their tactics to try to evade detection," Meta acknowledged.
"We hope that by sharing our approach, we can help inform our industry’s defences against online scammers," it added.
Social media
Meta has also announced it will also use facial recognition tech to help people who find themselves locked out of their social media.
Currently, unlocking Instagram or Facebook accounts involves uploading official ID or documents.
But now video selfies and face recognition is being tested as a way to prove who a person is and and regain access more quickly.
The material provided by the user will be checked against the account's profile image to see if it is a match.
However, the widespread use of facial recognition is controversial - Facebook has previously used it, before ditching it in 2021 over privacy, accuracy and bias concerns.
It now says that the video selfies will be encrypted and stored securely, and won't be shown publicly. Facial data generated in making the comparison will be deleted after the check.
But the system will not be initially offered in areas where permission from regulators has not yet been obtained, including the UK and EU.