IMPERSONATING PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

How is Election Commission preparing for the new challenge of the misinformation monster?

Misinformation is not just an electoral issue in Indian elections but across the many democracies going to polls this year. Last month’s Indonesian elections already pointed to this malaise, while the run-up to the US elections this November is already throwing up worrying indications. This is a much more potent problem than what the Cambridge Analytica data scandal in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was.

Monsters, asteroids, vampires: AI conspiracies flood TikTok

From vampires and wendigos to killer asteroids, TikTok users are pumping out outlandish end-of-the-world conspiracy theories, researchers say, in yet another misinformation trend on a platform whose fate in the United States hangs in the balance.

Haryana’s Proactive Approach: A Model for Cybersecurity Success

Tech companies sign accord to combat AI-generated election trickery

Tech executives from Adobe, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and TikTok gathered at the Munich Security Conference to announce a new voluntary framework for how they will respond to AI-generated deepfakes that deliberately trick voters.

Meesho’s fintech bet; Byju’s valuation crashes 99%

Ecommerce firm Meesho is diversifying revenue streams via two new business lines. Details of this and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch. Multiple people aware of the developments told ET that Meesho wants to restart grocery delivery in a couple of cities, beginning from the next financial year.

What's KYC fraud and how to stay safe from this scam

Fraudsters are continuously finding new ways to bypass these checks and steal personal information or engage in criminal activities.

MHA think tank alerts against 'hijack', sextortion, impersonation scams on WhatsApp

The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has issued an advisory and alert against various scams on WhatsApp that lead to cyber crimes and financial frauds. BPRD has identified seven types of frauds, including tricking through missed calls, video calls, job offers, investment plans, impersonation, hijacking, and screen share. Scammers hijack victims' WhatsApp accounts and request money from their contacts.

Problem of cybercrime troubling everyone, policing system needs to be reformed: HC

The Delhi High Court suggested adopting a simple process for filing complaints to address the genuine problem of cybercrime. Increasing awareness and reforming the policing system are also recommended to tackle this issue. The court emphasized that scamsters indiscriminately target individuals and commit fraud.

Is it time to update Model Code of Conduct? Adapting to tech-driven election landscape

The Model Code of Conduct by itself is not legally enforceable but the EC draws power from other legislation such as the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the IPC. There have been discussions on whether the code should have legal backing but the commission was not in favour of it.

One year in and ChatGPT already has us doing its bidding

Trolling a product hyped as an almost-human conversationalist, tricking it into revealing its essential bleep-bloopiness, I felt like the heroine in some kind of extended girl-versus-robot power game.

Inside an exemplary fiscal fitness regime: How to manage govt finances the Indian way

India has shown exemplary fiscal behaviour throughout multiple global shocks. Government debt went up less and came down faster than major systemic economies whose imprudence is creating risks for the rest of the world. India has among the best prospects for fiscal consolidation. It is the strategy underlying this outperformance that needs to be understood and emulated elsewhere.

Southeast Asia eyes hands-off AI rules, defying EU ambitions

Southeast Asian countries are taking a more business-friendly approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI) compared to the European Union (EU). The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has drafted a "guide to AI ethics and governance," which asks companies to consider cultural differences and does not prescribe risk categories.

Manipur: Normal life affected today during 48-hour bandh against arrest of 5 youths

Manipur police on Sunday stated there are reports of extortion threats, misuse of police uniform and impersonation by armed miscreants. In view of this, Manipur Police has been making all out efforts to curb the same.

Delhi court denies bail to man accused of cheating people across world through fraud calls

A Delhi court has denied bail to a man accused of cheating people in multiple countries, including USA, out of approximately Rs 157 crore through fraudulent calls from Indian call centers. The accused, posing as officials from various organizations, coerced victims into paying fees, fines or taxes and disclosing sensitive bank account details.

China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crackdown on 'self-media' accounts

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it had closed 67,000 social media accounts and deleted hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22 as part of a broader "rectification" campaign.

Tweets become harder to believe as labels change meaning

Elon Musk's decision to stop giving check marks to people and groups verified to be who they said they were, and instead offering them to anyone who paid for one, is the latest tumult at Twitter, the social media giant he has vowed to remake since he acquired it last year for $44 billion.

Twitter pulls check mark from main New York Times account

The removal comes as many of Twitter's high-profile users are bracing for the loss of the blue check marks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on the social media platform.

Paytm stock hits record low on Reliance threat; startups shouldn’t see public markets as exit option: Zerodha CEO

Paytm’s stock plunged more than 11% to a record low of Rs 475.55 on Tuesday after analysts said the company faced a threat from Reliance’s foray into the financial services business. Reliance already has a non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence, which it could leverage to kickstart consumer and merchant lending in a big way, the analysts said, putting Paytm into direct competition with Jio Financial Services.

Inquiry ordered into alleged voter data theft after apprehension of impersonation: K'taka CEO

The opposition party alleged that the private trust, which was assigned by the Bengaluru civic agency to spread awareness among voters, collected details of the voters such as name, mother tongue, gender, religion, caste, voter ID number and the Aadhaar number. Meena declined to comment on the complaint by the Congress with the State Election Commission regarding the voter data theft.

ETtech Explainer: Past, present and future of the Twitter Blue Tick

What started in 2009 as a measure against impersonators on Twitter evolved to become a badge of honour, a symbol of trust, and most of all, a status symbol. Elon Musk is changing that.

Army of fake fans online boosts China's global messaging

Liu Xiaoming, who recently stepped down as China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, is one of the party's most successful foot soldiers on this evolving online battlefield. He joined Twitter in October 2019, as scores of Chinese diplomats surged onto Twitter and Facebook, which are both banned in China.

Public sector bank selection process to get more stringent

Getting employed in a public sector bank will become more rigorous from this year as the nodal selection body has introduced a third layer to the hiring process.

Getting a public sector bank job gets tougher, IBPS adds new layer to hiring process

Getting employed in a PSB will become more rigourous from this year, with the nodal selection body introducing a third layer to the hiring process.