Misinformation

• Nine Japanese political parties, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and opposition groups, agreed on Thursday to require social media operators to reduce disinformation, misinformation and slander during elections. • The plan would push platforms to halt reward payments to users, respond faster to deletion requests, and label AI-generated content, with lawmakers aiming to pass legislation during the current Diet session. • The move matters because Japan is trying to blunt online interference before unified local elections next spring, while also increasing transparency around how platforms moderate election-related content.

Health officials in Trump administration were accused of fueling ‘crisis of public trust’ over autism and vaccinesMisinformation from top health officials in the Trump administration has created a “crisis of public trust” – and Congress should conduct oversight hearings and possibly impeach officials such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a recently released report.Experts say that officials in the past year have focused intently on both vaccines and autism, including efforts to connect autism to the use of acetaminophen (frequently sold as Tylenol) during pregnancy, despite growing evidence of no link, and replacing all members of the federal autism committee with advisers who have anti-vaccine and pseudoscientific histories. Continue reading...

• A bipartisan advisory panel convened under President Biden’s tech‑regulation agenda delivered a draft report recommending that Congress ban politically targeted digital ads that spread “clearly false or misleading information” about voting procedures, candidates, or ballot access. • The panel, whose members include former FEC commissioners and civil‑rights leaders, argues that such ads undermine trust in elections and disproportionately affect voters of color, urging platforms to adopt stricter labeling and ad‑library rules. • The proposal sparks backlash from free‑speech advocates, who warn that any government‑defined standard for political misinformation could chill legitimate debate and benefit incumbent parties.

Parliamentary hearing focused on online harms from X, TikTok and Meta including use of AI to nudify young girlsUK politics live – latest updatesMPs have accused “complacent” social media giants of spreading Iran war misinformation, allowing political deepfakes that could threaten elections and still enabling the use of AI to nudify young girls.In a testy parliamentary hearing that exposed deepening frustration among MPs with big tech firms, X, TikTok and Meta listed measures they have taken to tackle online harms, but were told: “You seem to be doing an awful lot, and it’s not making a jot of difference.” Continue reading...