Why you should keep your kids off the internet as much as possible: Roblox predators, pro-Nazi content, and other online monsters
With the abundance of destructive and harmful content, it’s about time we saw regulatory efforts to address the problem.
By Cybernews
We are neither private nor secure online. With so many predators targeting both ourselves and our children, as well as the abundance of destructive and harmful content, it’s about time we saw regulatory efforts to address the problem.
The UK’s age verification legislation is driving VPN sales as people attempt to circumvent the requirements by logging in from servers located in other countries. However, experts believe that age verification laws will soon become the new normal.
These laws are aimed at protecting minors, and many believe it will become more difficult for children to access harmful material online. According to information gathered by our senior journalist, Gintaras Radauskas, these measures enjoy widespread public support.
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Still, VPNs may not prove effective in many instances. People are seeking free or affordable VPN alternatives, but allegedly, about 90% of the most popular free and commercial VPN services can be fingerprinted and are likely to be blocked by adult-content providers.
But God helps those who help themselves. You don’t need to cease using the internet altogether, but being aware of the dangers that exist is crucial. That’s where Cybernews comes in. Here are some of the threats that caught our attention this past week.
[I intentionally chose Labubu for the featured picture. It perfectly illustrates what’s wrong with modern algorithms and how they can be harmful to us.]
Substack under fire for promoting radical content
A number of Substack users have received a push notification from the platform encouraging them to check a Nazi blog, which included a swastika icon. It soon apologized for the error. However, Substack has long been criticized for promoting content via alerts, and that included some extremist content.
Unfortunately, the problem is not confined to a single platform. Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, and others have all been criticized for turning a blind eye to pro-Nazi content, as their algorithms tend to amplify already popular material to please users. This often results in the spread of radical content, such as AI-translated Hitler speeches.
Why is no one talking about Meta’s unskippable ads on Instagram and Facebook?
If you use Meta platforms such as Instagram or Facebook in Europe, you may have noticed an annoying new update to your feed – unskippable ads. The platform is making its users watch ads for at least three seconds before scrolling through content.
My colleague, Niamh Ancell, recently chose to use Instagram “free of charge with ads” instead of subscribing to an ad-free experience.
“Because I’m cheap and seem to have learned nothing, I chose the 'free of charge' option. But now, I’m being presented with unskippable and deeply annoying ads,” she said.
Interestingly, if you opt in for personalized ads, you might not see ad breaks. However, you could end up accidentally purchasing something you don’t need.
Private ChatGPT conversations showing up on Google, leaving internet users shocked
Internet sleuths discovered that private conversations between users and ChatGPT were being indexed by search engines.
“I found some dude's conversation about building a resume. It has his full legal name, phone number, email, location, and comprehensive work history,” one Redditor said.
Thousands of conversations appeared from a simple Google search, revealing that what people believed to be private was, in fact, accessible to the entire world.
While users clicked the “share” button to share their chats with ChatGPT and were warned not to enter sensitive information, this turned into a privacy nightmare, leading OpenAI to eventually remove the feature.
Roblox is a predator's paradise, lawyers reveal
Roblox, a popular gaming site, is currently being sued by a young girl and her mother. They claim that the girl met a predator online and was lured into engaging in sexual acts in person. This is not the only harrowing experience that Roblox has reportedly facilitated.
Do you see why you should probably keep your kids away from the internet as much as possible?
