Anti-hate group says Elon Musk continues to peddle election falsehoods on X unchecked

A new report from the British non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found X owner Elon Musk spread misinformation about the US election and the Democrats’ presidential campaign in 50 posts this year alone. His assertions continue to go unchecked on the platform, not even through its own "Community Notes" feature. CCDH's CEO Imran Ahmed says the absence of these grassroots fact-checks show “that his business is failing woefully to contain the kind of algorithmically-boosted incitement that we all know can lead to real-world violence, as we experienced on Jan. 6, 2021.”

The report cites 50 posts made on Musk’s X account from January 1 to July 31 that made claims about the election which have been proven false by independent fact-checkers. The posts overwhelmingly involve allegations of the Democratic party importing voters to gain an electoral advantage. He pushed conspiracy theories that “The Dem Party goal is to import voters” on March 28 and “Dems won’t deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point” on February 26. The fact checking website Politifact rated the latter claim as “False” citing the 3.6 million immigrants removed from the US under President Biden’s administration between February 2021 to September 2023.

Around half a dozen of Musk's posts also falsely insist the US election system is meaningfully vulnerable to fraud. He called for the elimination of electronic voting machines because of their “risk of being hacked by humans or AI” in a X post he made on June 15. He also asserted that “Mail-in and drop box ballots should not be allowed,” accompanied by a video of Fox News’ Jesse Waters and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson making claims about the ease of which non-citizens can vote in American elections. Neither post has been corrected. (The Brennan Center for Justice has called instances of voter fraud “extremely rare” and notes that states have “multiple layers of security to protect against malfeasance.”)

One of Musk's posts even featured an AI-generated deepfake of Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris. The faked fooage features the voice of someone claiming to be Harris talking about how she’s the “ultimate diversity hire” and how she tries to “sound black” and “pretends to celebrate Kwanzaa.” Once again, the post has no community note or correction, even though sharing "synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media" is in direct contravention of X's policies.

The CCDH report says the combined 50 tweets have been viewed approximately 1.2 billion times on X.

Based on these and other posts written by Musk, Ahmed called for the amendment of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1986 to include social media companies “to be held liable in the same way as any newspaper, broadcaster or business across America.”

The CCDH is currently involved in a legal battle with Musk and X Corp. The parent company of X filed a federal lawsuit in San Francisco against the non-profit group claiming it illegally scraped its servers and purposely picked hateful posts as part of “a scare campaign to drive away advertisers,” according to court documents.

We attempted to reach X for a chance to comment but are unlikely to receive a fulsome response — the site effectively dissolved its public relations team under Musk's stewardship.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/anti-hate-group-says-elon-musk-continues-to-peddle-election-falsehoods-on-x-unchecked-194522883.html?src=rss

YouTube invites users to test its community notes feature

YouTube seems to be starting to roll out its community notes feature to a select group of users. Screenshots of YouTube’s official invitation to join the pilot program for its new community correction feature are popping up all over social media, according to 9to5Google.

YouTube first announced its community notes feature in June. The new feature allows viewers to submit short blurbs that provide additional context or correct information to certain video content. The community notes feature comes ahead of the US presidential election.

There is no official start date for the new feature, but YouTube has added a section to its “Help” database with instructions on writing and submitting notes. We’ve also reached out to Google for a comment on the new feature.

The pilot program is currently only available in English for mobile devices in the US, according to the support page. The company previously said it would invite participants through email or their Creator Studios account. The select group of test subjects will provide feedback to YouTube to help the platform determine which notes are “helpful,” “somewhat helpful” or “unhelpful,” before rolling out its community notes feature to the public, according to the official YouTube blog.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/youtube-invites-users-to-test-its-community-notes-feature-224823088.html?src=rss

Meta shutters its first-party VR game studio Ready at Dawn

Ready at Dawn Studios, the game studio behind the Echo virtual reality series for the Meta Quest, has been shut down by its parent owner, Meta, effective immediately.

Android Central reported Meta’s decision to close Ready at Dawn Studios almost a year and a half after purchasing the game studio. The news comes on the heels of a mid-July report that Meta plans to cut its Reality Labs division’s budget by 20 percent by 2026 when it is reportedly scheduled to release the Meta Quest 4 and Quest 4s, its next VR headsets.

Ready at Dawn’s reach in the gaming industry goes all the way back to the days of Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP). The studio released its first game in 2006 with Daxter, a PSP spinoff of the popular Jak and Daxter series. Ready at Dawn also released three titles in Sony’s God of War series for the PSP including Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta and the Olympus Collection that bundled its two earlier titles. The studio made the jump to consoles starting with the PlayStation 4 in 2015 with The Order: 1886. The Victorian-era third-person action adventure became one of the year’s most anticipated titles for its boundary pushing graphics. Following a wave of mixed reviews, Ready at Dawn took a stab at a multiplayer title with a cheerier disposition in 2017 called De-Formers for the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Engadget senior editor Jessica Conditt described the colorful character combat competition as “cannibalism combat in a 3-D cartoon.”

The rise of and ease of access to virtual reality prompted the studio to pivot again in 2018 to the new immersive game medium. The studio released the first two VR titles in its Echo game series including the free-to-play Oculus Rift and Quest virtual sport Echo Arena and the interactive, gravity-free sci-fi adventure Lone Echo. Both found a fanbase on the all-in-one VR headset leading to sequels including the free-floating arena shooter Echo Combat in 2018 and Lone Echo II in 2021.

Oculus bought the studio in 2023 and allowed it to continue operations in its California and Oregon offices. The same year, Meta shut down its free Echo VR game due to dwindling player numbers.

Meta has slashed more than 20,000 jobs since 2023, a period that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has characterized as a “year of efficiency.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/meta-shutters-its-first-party-vr-game-studio-ready-at-dawn-212212491.html?src=rss

New York’s flood warning drones screamed at residents in ‘incomprehensible’ Spanish

New York City has implemented a new drone warning system to alert residents to hazardous weather conditions. Unfortunately, the drones need to work on their Spanish.

A resident spotted one of the new drones issuing a flood warning on Wednesday to NYC neighborhoods in English and Spanish, but the Spanish words that came out of the drones were “incomprehensible,” according to a resident who shared a video on X.

The drones had no problem issuing a weather warning in English as it delivered the news about an incoming batch of heavy rainfall in a clear and distinguishable tone. The Spanish message, however, sounded like a robot speaking the language for the first time.

Zach Iscol, the commissioner of NYC’s emergency management department, acknowledged the mistake on X in a reply.

“I’m very proud of the work our team has done preparing for this storm, but this shouldn’t have happened and we’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Iscol wrote in a reply.

The New York Times published a story on Tuesday about the new emergency alert drone system. The city sent the drones out to communities around 1 p.m. to inform residents about the heavy rainfall headed their way. Iscol told the newspaper that NYC Mayor Eric Adams came up with the idea to use drones as a new part of its warning system. Adams has instituted similar, tech-heavy initiatives during his term such as a security robot that patrolled the Times Square subway station, and the controversial “Spot Robot,” also known as the “Digidog,” for the New York Police Department to use during hazardous situations like hostage standoffs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/new-yorks-flood-warning-drones-screamed-at-residents-in-incomprehensible-spanish-194507725.html?src=rss

Apple apologizes for another ad that missed the mark

Apple pulled the latest short film in its The Underdogs: OOO (Out of Office) series set in Thailand. The tech giant scrubbed it over complaints about stereotypical portrayals of Thailand and its people in certain scenes.

The Bangkok Post reports that Apple issued an apology to the people of Thailand for the fifth film in its Underdogs series. The ad series features a group of travel weary office workers navigating the world using Apple’s various products.

Several viewers posted comments criticizing the film’s use of a sepia filter to make Thailand seem underdeveloped. The comments also called out the costuming and scenery decisions in its airport scene using outdated representations of Thailand’s citizens.

Sattra Sripan, the spokesman for the Thai House of Representatives’ committee on tourism, called for a boycott over the ad.

“Thai people are deeply unhappy with the advertisement,” Sripan said in a statement. “I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands.”

Apple issued an apology for the ad shortly after pulling it off of YouTube. Lawmakers have also invited Apple representatives to visit with them to discuss the ads and how they portray Thailand on film.

“Our intent was to celebrate the country’s optimism and culture, and we apologize for not fully capturing the vibrancy of Thailand today,” the statement read.

This is the second time this year that Apple has apologized for a commercial. Apple pulled an ad back in May that it told AdAge “missed the mark” for its new thin iPad Pro. The commercial features a giant pneumatic press crushing a large collection of items used in or to represent creative endeavors such musical instruments, paints, a generic arcade cabinet, and camera equipment. The steel crusher smooshes everything flat and lifts up to reveal an intact iPad sitting on the lower steel block that a voiceover describes as “the most powerful iPad ever is also the thinnest.”

Artists, musicians and other creators took offense to the ad’s implied tone that generative AI would replace human artistic endeavors. Apple vowed not to air the ad on TV but it’s still on its YouTube page with the comments section disabled.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-apologizes-for-another-ad-that-missed-the-mark-220045564.html?src=rss

Hack and payback Instagram scammer gets nabbed after bragging about it on a podcast

A guest who appeared on the No Jumper podcast to boast about a hack and payback scheme involving his victims’ social media accounts could face federal charges. Idriss Qibaa, also known as “Dani” and “Unlocked” who authorities allege ran the social media hacking site Unlocked4Life.com, faces two criminal felony counts filed by the US Attorney's Office in Nevada for allegedly violating interstate communications laws for threats he issued in text messages to two victims and members of their families, according to documents obtained by 404 Media.

Investigators filed the sealed complaint against Qibaa on July 25 and issued a warrant the following Monday when also made his first initial appearance in court, according to federal court records.

The criminal complaint states that the FBI received a tip about Qibaa’s alleged extortion scheme on April 1 pointing to an appearance he made on the No Jumper podcast hosted by Adam22, also known as Adam Grandmaison, back in January under his pseudonym “Dani.” Qibaa outlined a financial scheme using over 200 victims’ social media accounts in which he would lock them out of their pages and charge them to regain access.

He also boasted that he made about $600,000 a month from his activities and hired two security guards to follow him.

“You’re making $2 million a month off your Instagram and Telegraph,” Qibaa says on the podcast. “I come and I take it away and make you pay for it back and I make it public and I post it and I expose you.”

Qibaa even said on the podcast episode that he pulled the scheme on celebrities who unknowingly kept paying him to get their social media back. He later noted “I’m very petty” followed by a menacing laugh.

“I’ve talked to stars who have told me that they’ve paid to get it back 20 times over and over and over they just have to keep paying to get it back,” Qibaa says, “and I’m like you realize what’s happening to you right like the same that’s getting you it back is…you’re getting extorted.”

The criminal complaint tells the story of eight victims’ encounters with Qibaa and his services. One identified as “J.T.” operated two Instagram accounts: a cannabis news aggregate account called “theblacklistxyz” and a cannabis merchandising store under “caliplug,” both of which are currently set to private. J.T. reached out to Qibaa asking if he could obtain a username. Qibaa quoted a price back between $4,000-$5,000. J.T. refused to take Qibaa up on the offer and Qibaa responded with threats.

“Qibba told J.T. that J.T. had wasted Qibaa’s time, blocked J.T.’s Instagram pages and demanded $10,000 to reinstate it,” the complaint reads. “J.T. offered Qibaa $8,500 to reinstate the account, an offer Qibaa accepted.”

The complaint asserts that Qibba reached out to J.T. two more times. The first time, Qibba asked if J.T. would promote his Instagram page under the username “unlocked4life” that’s since been taken down. J.T. agreed but when he learned Qibaa had been threatening and extorting other victims, he confronted Qibaa and “Qibaa was irate.”

A few months later, Qibaa apparently increased the scope of his threats to J.T. and members of his family. He sent threats to call the victim’s ex-wife’s lawyer and child protective services on his kids. Screenshots of the victims’ phone show Qibaa allegedly identifying the address and phone number of the victim’s sister. He texted another family member and introduced himself as “The guy that’s gonna murder your drug dealer brother. Tell him Unlocked says hi though. We have your entire family’s info.”

Another victim identified as a journalist and comedian with the initials “E.H.” learned they were a target of Qibaa’s illegal services. Qibaa blocked their Instagram account, the name of which was redacted, at the request of a dentist in California who treated them. E.H. reached out to the Unlocked4Life account and received a reply that read, “Yo its Idriss.” He then told E.H. to pull up the No Jumper podcast episode featuring his interview. Qibaa not only took the victim’s Instagram account access away but also threatened to take their Social Security number and “blast it out” if they didn’t pay him $20,000.

According to the complaint, not even restraining orders could make Qibaa leave his victims alone. One named “R.B.” received a restraining order from Los Angeles County Superior Court in July but “Unblocked” responded, “Cute restraining order..last I checked you’re still gonna die.” Then “UNLOCKED UNCENSORED” posted on Telegram, “$50,000 reward for whoever sleeps BO this week.”

Perhaps the most disturbing threats happened to several victims in which Qibaa claimed he’d happily go to jail if payments weren’t made to him. Screenshots of the text chains show a person named “Dani” and “Daniel” telling his victims, “I will come and shoot you myself,” “I’m going to bury you for this shit” and “D., L., J., T., Children-Main Targets” referring to the victims’ children.

Another text chain shows Qibaa allegedly threatening someone that he would “rather take a life sentence for murdering you then this,” “Idc if I have to shoot you my self [sic]” and “I’ll go to jail happily.” He follows the text with the threat “Here’s the last guy that came to take photos / came near my home” and sends three pictures of an unidentified bearded man, his car and a photo of his badly bruised and bloodied on the ground.”

Adam22 concluded his podcast interview with “Dani” saying he was “very excited to see the fallout from this” and “I respect the hustle even though I can’t justify it on a moral level.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hack-and-payback-instagram-scammer-gets-nabbed-after-bragging-about-it-on-a-podcast-202509349.html?src=rss

Game Informer magazine is shutting down after 33 years

Another giant name in the gaming press is shutting down its operations. Game Informer announced today that it’s been shut down by its parent company GameStop after 33 years in the business. The entire website and its archives have also been removed and now redirect to the magazine’s final statement of thanks to its readers.

“After 33 thrilling years of bringing you the latest news, reviews and insights from the ever-evolving world of gaming, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of Game Informer,” the publication’s statement reads. 

Several social media posts confirmed the sad news about the state of the magazine and its staff. Lead video producer Alex Van Aken posted on X that the staff didn’t know what was happening until “there’s a tweet that someone higher up posting spilling the news.”

Game Informer’s content director Kyle Hilliard says on X that the bad news about the mass staff layoffs landed right when they were in the middle of creating a new issue. “A frustrating turn of events (especially considering we were about 70 percent done with the next issue and it was going to have a GREAT cover),” Hilliard wrote on X.

The magazine launched in August of 1991 under the FuncoLand game store brand with Sonic the Hedgehog sprinting across its cover. The cover headlines promised “sizzling hot pre-release reviews inside!” on games like Decap Attack, Micro Machines and NHL Hockey. GameStop acquired the FuncoLand brand in 2000 and the gaming magazine. Game Informer amassed a peak readership of 6 million, according to its official website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/game-informer-magazine-is-shutting-down-after-33-years-181549995.html?src=rss

The Cybertruck caused Fortnite players to get Cyberstuck

Admit it. You kind of knew this was coming. Late last month, a new DLC pack called the Summer Road Trip bundle offered players a chance to drive the Tesla Cybertruck in games like Fortnite and Rocket League. Now a week later, several Fortnite players have posted videos of a glitch that occured when they used the Cybertruck during a match.

Posts about the Cybertruck glitch appeared on Reddit and YouTube. The glitch happens when you morph a truck into Elon Musk’s boxy behemoth. On exiting the vehicle, a bug rendered your Nitro Fists, the melee weapon that’s pretty much exactly how it sounds, completely useless.

YouTube creator Tabor Hill tested out the glitch when he morphed a truck into the Cybertruck and drove it around for a few seconds. Instead of gently gliding forward into an opponent’s soft face with the Nitro Fists, the gelignite gauntlets caused his character to go into a loud, repetitive twitch.

Of course, this glitch wouldn’t be deliciously ironic if Tesla’s real world Cybertruck didn’t have more glitches than a Max Headroom monologue. Right now, Tesla’s truck is under its latest recall because of issues with a windshield wiper that could reduce the driver’s visibility. That’s on top of the infamous stuck accelerator pedal recall that happened back in April.

We reached out to an Epic Games representative by email for a chance to comment, and they informed us that the bug was identified and fixed at around 1PM ET today.

Update, July 31, 7:28PM ET: This story and its headline was updated after publish to include information from Epic Games about the fix that was pushed out earlier today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-cybertruck-is-causing-fortnite-players-to-get-cyberstuck-224015466.html?src=rss

The Cybertruck caused Fortnite players to get Cyberstuck

Admit it. You kind of knew this was coming. Late last month, a new DLC pack called the Summer Road Trip bundle offered players a chance to drive the Tesla Cybertruck in games like Fortnite and Rocket League. Now a week later, several Fortnite players have posted videos of a glitch that occured when they used the Cybertruck during a match.

Posts about the Cybertruck glitch appeared on Reddit and YouTube. The glitch happens when you morph a truck into Elon Musk’s boxy behemoth. On exiting the vehicle, a bug rendered your Nitro Fists, the melee weapon that’s pretty much exactly how it sounds, completely useless.

YouTube creator Tabor Hill tested out the glitch when he morphed a truck into the Cybertruck and drove it around for a few seconds. Instead of gently gliding forward into an opponent’s soft face with the Nitro Fists, the gelignite gauntlets caused his character to go into a loud, repetitive twitch.

Of course, this glitch wouldn’t be deliciously ironic if Tesla’s real world Cybertruck didn’t have more glitches than a Max Headroom monologue. Right now, Tesla’s truck is under its latest recall because of issues with a windshield wiper that could reduce the driver’s visibility. That’s on top of the infamous stuck accelerator pedal recall that happened back in April.

We reached out to an Epic Games representative by email for a chance to comment, and they informed us that the bug was identified and fixed at around 1PM ET today.

Update, July 31, 7:28PM ET: This story and its headline was updated after publish to include information from Epic Games about the fix that was pushed out earlier today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-cybertruck-is-causing-fortnite-players-to-get-cyberstuck-224015466.html?src=rss

Ohio becomes the fifth US state to recognize IDs in Apple Wallet

If you live in Ohio and constantly forget your wallet when you head out for a drive, we’ve got some good news for you: The state of Ohio became the fifth US state to accept driver’s licenses and official state IDs in the iPhone’s Apple Wallet app.

Digital identification in Apple’s wallet app can now be used across Ohio at Traffic Safety Administration (TSA) airport security checkpoints and select businesses and apps. The state is also working on implementing a free age verification app for businesses that require checking customers’ ID, according to WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has also created an instructional video that shows you how to add your license or state ID to your Apple Wallet if you’re a resident of the Buckeye State.

Ohio now joins Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Maryland as states that accept and recognize digital licenses and IDs in the iPhone wallet app. If you’re not in one of those states, you may be joining that list soon since 24 other states and Washington DC and Puerto Rico are exploring or in the process of implementing mobile digital license regulations. Seven of those states are currently committed to implementing digital wallet access, according to 9to5Mac.

Google Wallet is also accepted in four states including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Maryland. Phone users with Android 8 or high can save their IDs to Google Wallet. This feature is not yet available for foldable devices, according to Google’s help section.

Apple added the ability to store driver’s licenses in the digital wallet app with iOS 15 in 2021. Apple Wallet is also recognized as an accepted form of identification or access in other societal sectors. Residents of the UK received an update last year that allows them to see their bank account totals from the Apple Wallet App. The Apple Wallet also allows hotel guests to store their room key cards in the app starting in 2021 with the Hyatt hotel chain.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ohio-becomes-the-fifth-us-state-to-recognize-ids-in-apple-wallet-211807995.html?src=rss