What a TikTok Ban in the U.S. Could Mean for You

No, TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone. Nor will you go to jail if you continue using it after it is banned.

After years of attempts to ban the Chinese-owned app, including by former President Donald Trump, a measure to outlaw the popular video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Biden for his signature. The measure gives Beijing-based parent company ByteDance nine months to sell the company, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress. If it doesn’t, TikTok will be banned.

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So what does this mean for you, a TikTok user, or perhaps the parent of a TikTok user? Here are some key questions and answers.

When does the ban go into effect?

The original proposal gave ByteDance just six months to divest from its U.S. subsidiary, negotiations lengthened it to nine. Then, if the sale is already in progress, the company will get another three months to complete it.

So it would be at least a year before a ban goes into effect — but with likely court challenges, this could stretch even longer, perhaps years. TikTok has seen some success with court challenges in the past, but it has never sought to prevent federal legislation from going into effect.

What if I already downloaded it?

TikTok, which is used by more than 170 million Americans, most likely won’t disappear from your phone even if an eventual ban does take effect. But it would disappear from Apple and Google’s app stores, which means users won’t be able to download it. This would also mean that TikTok wouldn’t be able to send updates, security patches and bug fixes, and over time the app would likely become unusable — not to mention a security risk.

But surely there are workarounds?

Teenagers are known for circumventing parental controls and bans when it comes to social media, so dodging the U.S. government’s ban is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities. For instance, users could try to mask their location using a VPN, or virtual private network, use alternative app stores or even install a foreign SIM card into their phone.

But some tech savvy is required, and it’s not clear what will and won’t work. More likely, users will migrate to another platform — such as Instagram, which has a TikTok-like feature called Reels, or YouTube, which has incorporated vertical short videos in its feed to try to compete with TikTok. Often, such videos are taken directly from TikTok itself. And popular creators are likely to be found on other platforms as well, so you’ll probably be able to see the same stuff.

“The TikTok bill relies heavily on the control that Apple and Google maintain over their smartphone platforms because the bill’s primary mechanism is to direct Apple and Google to stop allowing the TikTok app on their respective app stores,” said Dean Ball, a research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “Such a mechanism might be much less effective in the world envisioned by many advocates of antitrust and aggressive regulation against the large tech firms.”

Should I be worried about using TikTok?

Lawmakers from both parties — as well as law enforcement and intelligence officials — have long expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over data on the 170 million Americans who use TikTok. The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering – which ByteDance would likely be subject to – and other far-reaching ways the country’s authoritarian government exercises control.

Data privacy experts say, though, that the Chinese government could easily get information on Americans in other ways, including through commercial data brokers that sell or rent personal information.

Lawmakers and some administration officials have also expressed concerns that China could – potentially – direct or influence ByteDance to suppress or boost TikTok content that are favorable to its interests. TikTok, for its part, has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government. The company has also said it has never shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and won’t do so if it’s asked.

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source https://time.com/6970385/what-us-tiktok-ban-means-for-you/

What to Do About Your Bunions

April Leonard likes to blame her bunions on her husband. In 2017, she accompanied him to a podiatrist appointment for calluses—and went home scheduled for surgery to correct her misaligned toe bone.

In retrospect, it was a good thing. “He said, ‘I’d really like you to have this done now, because it won’t get better,’” recalls Leonard, 56, of that unexpected first conversation with the doctor. She had painful bunions on both feet and had started to have trouble handling daily chores on her farm in Missouri. Plus, she didn’t like how they looked. “When I went to the pool or the beach and would look at my feet, it was like, ugh,” she says. So in 2017, Leonard had a Lapiplasty bunion correction procedure done on her left foot; four years later, she had it on her right foot.

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More than 25% of people worldwide have bunions—and the deformity, which is particularly prevalent among older people, is more likely to affect women than men. But you wouldn’t know how common bunions are based on the level of discourse surrounding them; they’re not exactly considered dinner-party conversation. That should change, experts say. “It’s not talked about a lot…but it is an insecurity that patients have,” says Dr. Dana Brems, a podiatric foot and ankle surgery specialist in Los Angeles. “People say they feel uncomfortable wearing open-toed shoes or sandals because of the appearance of the bunion.” More discussion about bunions, including how they affect quality of life and what to do about them, could help alleviate that stigma, she adds.

A genetic predisposition

If you have a bunion, your first metatarsal bone—which is just behind the big toe—will gradually shift sideways toward the other foot. “It’s not sitting straight on the mid-foot bone. It’s being kind of lazy and leaning towards the side,” says Dr. Ebonie Vincent, a podiatrist in Irvine, Calif., and star of My Feet Are Killing Me on TLC. Visually, you’ll notice a bump at the base of your big toe—and probably feel pain there, especially while exercising or if you wear narrow shoes. You might notice swelling or redness around your big toe, develop corns or calluses, and find that you have limited toe movement.

Read More: The Health Benefits of Wearing Shoes in the House

Bunions are typically caused by a genetic predisposition, says Vincent, who sees them on patients at least a few times a day. Most people who have them report that their mom or grandmother or great-grandmother did, too. Some are progressive and become bigger—and more painful—over time, especially with intensive activity or as a result of shoving your feet into ill-fitting shoes. Not everyone who has them, however, will experience pain. “There are people who have lived and died with bunions very happily,” Vincent says. In those cases, they’re little more than a cosmetic nuisance. But for others, they can make life a lot more annoying.

Unpleasant complications

When new patients arrive in Dr. Geoffrey Phillips’ office, they’re often focused on how their foot looks—but the orthopedic surgeon at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y., is more concerned with how it’s functioning. “We look at the profile, or as I like to say, the personality of the foot,” he says. “We like to make sure patients have happy feet: feet that function well and without associated pain.”

That includes figuring out if a bunion is leading to nefarious side effects. Once people have a symptomatic bunion, Phillips says, there’s a “fairly high frequency” of other problems involving the foot. Some patients, for example, will develop osteoarthritis over time as the result of an untreated bunion. Others might experience swollen nerves. Many have trouble with the adjacent toes and develop a hammertoe—in which the toe has an abnormal bend in the middle joint—or a crossover toe. “The second toe starts to cross over the first,” Phillips says. “You essentially have a crisscross, and you have the first deviating to the second, and the second deviating to the first.” When that happens, surgery is typically required for the toe to resume its normal position.

How to find relief

The main reason why people go to the doctor about their bunion is because they’re experiencing pain, Phillips says. Some can make lifestyle modifications that eliminate the need for surgery, especially if they start when their bunion is still in its early stages. Phillips’ first recommendation is to make footwear changes. “If they’re accustomed to wearing high heels, we try to change that reliance to more balanced shoewear,” he says. “That can include shoes with a wide toe box, so there’s less pressure on the foot.” It can also be helpful to seek out “rocker bottom shoes,” which have a curved sole that smoothes out the transition from heel-strike to landing on the front of the foot.

Read More: Put Your Shoes Back On. Here’s the Problem With Going Barefoot

When you’re considering footwear, look for a comfortable pair with good cushioning that fits; you don’t want your feet to be wedged in or slipping around, Phillips says. If you need to wear leather or dress shoes, ask a cobbler to stretch them out: “They have machines that can stretch out the toe box so there’s greater space for the toes,” he says. Custom orthotics, which are inserts based on scans of your foot, can also be helpful.

People with bunions are often enticed by quick-fixes on the internet, like toe slings and bunion splints. Some buy toe spacers, which are placed between the toes to reduce pressure on the joint. “They’ll relieve pain while you’re wearing it,” Vincent says. “You’re not fixing anything. You’re putting your bones in more of an aligned position so they function better while you’re walking.” When you remove the toe spacer or take off the sling, your bunion will still be there—painful as ever.

Podiatrists don’t tend to operate on bunions just for cosmetic reasons, but bunion correction surgery is the go-to treatment for people who experience continuous pain and find it difficult to walk. There are various types of surgery, most of which involve cutting and repositioning the bone at the base of the big toe. Lapiplasty—the procedure Leonard had in Missouri—is a newer technique approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016. In addition to returning the bone to its normal alignment, the unstable joint in the foot is secured with titanium plates.

Read More: Why Hiking Is the Perfect Mind-Body Workout

People can generally walk immediately after surgery, but they need to wear a special post-surgery shoe, like a boot, for at least a few weeks. “That’s just unavoidable—solid bone takes six to eight weeks to heal,” Brem says. “You’ll probably be back to full activity after around three months, running and jumping and that sort of thing.”

Five months after Leonard had her left bunion removed, she ran a 10K race. Within a year, she was running half marathons again. Now, she’s pain-free and happily wears running shoes, muck boots, and cowboy boots around the farm. “It’s been a really good thing—I wish I had done it earlier,” she says. “It’s not a debilitating surgery. I can see why people wait longer to do it, but six weeks [of recovery] is nothing compared to the rest of your life.”

source https://time.com/6970347/bunions-treatment-stigma/

Athens Blanketed by Orange Haze Due to Sahara Dust Storm

Dust clouds from the Sahara desert in North Africa have blown across the Mediterranean Sea and turned Greece’s sky orange on Tuesday. Historic landmarks in the country’s capital Athens, including the ancient citadel of Acropolis, were blanketed in orange dust.

One image, taken from the famous Tourkovounia hills that bisect the city of Athens, shows a man in a face mask taking a photo of the Mars-like view of the city. A second man on a bike can be seen nearby.

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Another image shows several people sitting on a cliff, having made the journey to the Tourkovounia hills by car and motorcycle to catch a glimpse of the unusual view. You can see the city’s ancient architecture covered under an orange glow.

While the orange-covered scenes might look striking, dust clouds from the Sahara do come with health risks, especially for people with asthma or underlying health conditions. The CDC recommends staying indoors as much as possible when Saharan dust is concerned, since exposure can increase your risk for respiratory disorders and cardiovascular events. 

“It’s one of the most serious episodes of dust and sand concentrations from the Sahara since March 21-22, 2018, when the clouds invaded the island of Crete in particular,” Kostas Lagouvardos, a weather research director at the Athens Observatory said, per The Guardian.

The winds that blew the Sahara dust to Greece also appear to be causing an increase in wildfires. There were 25 brush fires reported by the country’s national first responders, the Hellenic Fire Department, on Tuesday. The skies are expected to clear up later in the day on Wednesday, as winds blow the dust away.

source https://time.com/6970306/greece-athens-orange-sky-haze-sahara-dust-storm/

Regulation of Pelvic Exams Is Long Overdue

On April 1, the Department of Health and Human Services released a letter to the nation’s teaching hospitals and medical schools to “reiterate and provide clarity” about the need for written, informed consent before “sensitive and intimate examinations” such as breast, pelvic, prostate, and rectal examinations, as part of medical training. Any institutions that do not comply with such rules could lose Medicare funding.

Regulation of the pelvic exam is long overdue. How medical trainees learn to perform it is crucial, because of the intimacy of the procedure. Ever since the development of the speculum in the mid-19th century, doctors have expressed concern and discomfort over the implications of peering into a woman’s vagina, including the alleged “father of American gynecology,” James Marion Sims, who developed the “Sims speculum” while performing countless surgeries on enslaved women.

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Nonetheless, the speculum triumphed, ultimately giving men more medical power and authority over women patients, who frequently had little or no power to consent along the way. 

The rise of the pelvic exam coincided with the emergence of gynecology as a medical profession in the mid-19th century. Initially, figures like Sims used the speculum—which offered unprecedented medical insights into the female body—with hesitation. Indeed, Sims made it perfectly clear that he was not in any way enthused at the thought of peering into women’s vaginas. This would be scandalous. Significantly, he noted that “if there was anything I hated, it was investigating the organs of the pelvis,” in his memoir. Sims and other 19th-century doctors recognized that to convince respectable white middle-class women of the necessity of using the speculum, they had to tread carefully.

Read More: The New Pelvic Exam Guideline Gives Women More Tough Decisions

But by the end of the century, such hesitation was no longer necessary. Obstetricians and gynecologists now embraced the speculum, along with other gynecological instruments such as forceps, as tools of their trade and a way to differentiate medical men from midwives. For example, Dr. A.F.A. King, professor of obstetrics at Columbian University, pointed out in his 1895 obstetrics textbook that a vaginal exam, while rarely needed, was necessary to determine whether a woman was in labor. 

Notably, he assured male medical students that it was not necessary to “obtain verbal consent of the patient before instituting the examination.” Do not worry about explaining your actions, he urged. Consent was unnecessary, he claimed; it was the physician’s right and duty to penetrate a vagina just as it was to take a pulse. This dismissal of consent became cemented in 19th-century medical textbooks and proved difficult to dislodge. Perfecting a pelvic exam required practice without protest—which meant that unconscious patients became ideal candidates in the 20th century.

In the 1970s, women’s health activists first drew attention to this problem and directly linked it to sexism; 93% of all ob-gyns were male at the time, and were patronizing and dismissive of women’s complaints. One solution was to bring more women into medicine, as quotas were finally eliminated.

And yet, increasing the number of female students did not immediately transform medical education or training, nor did professional organizations recommend against the practice without consent. When a 1983 study found that 23% of U.S. and Canadian schools reported using anesthetized patients to teach the pelvic exam, the following year the Joint Committee on the Accreditation of Hospitals declared that patient participation in clinical training programs “should be voluntary.”

Despite this, the numbers of pelvic exams performed without consent, frequently on women under anesthesia, only increased; by 1990, that percentage was up to 37%.

By 2011, Shawn Barnes, a third-year medical student at the University of Hawaii medical school, was shocked after doing his ob-gyn rotation, where he was asked to perform pelvic exams on anesthetized women, without specific consent, “solely for the purpose of my education.” His attending physicians told him it was “considered standard procedure,” however.

Barnes joined a growing number of increasingly vocal medical students who were alarmed by the practice and the message it sent to medical students dismissing the importance of consent. 

Yet the practice, though decreasing, still continues, even though most regulatory institutions either recommend against it or explicitly forbid it. In 2022, the Hastings Center published the first national survey to determine the frequency of the practice in the U.S. 1.4% of respondents answered in the affirmative. This translates to as many as 3.6 million patients in the U.S. potentially receiving such exams; and of course, since the practice is done without patient knowledge or consent, the numbers could be much higher.

Read More: The Abortion Fight Isn’t a ‘War on Women.’ It’s a War on Poor Women

What is even more disturbing is the racial bias exposed by the survey; Black respondents were four times as likely to report having had an “unconsented intimate examination.” Given that this practice takes place in teaching hospitals, it “disproportionately impacts poor and ‘public’ patients, many of whom are uninsured or minorities.” Just as enslaved women were at James Marion Sims’ disposal in the mid-19th century, black women’s bodies today remain more vulnerable to medical exploitation.

As a result, assumptions about consent as unnecessary have persisted and are at the core of the sexual abuses that continue around the pelvic exam today. Without clear guidelines, such as those just issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, and without a common language to articulate what should be going on during a pelvic exam, it makes it harder to identify what shouldn’t.

Even patients lack an understanding of the purpose of the pelvic exam. In a 2017 study, for example, half of patients surveyed could not answer the question, “do you know why this examination is performed” directly after receiving one. This only adds to the confusion and misunderstanding when abuse occurs.

And abuse in recent years occurs all too frequently. The past decade has seen a staggering number of sex abuse cases involving physicians, many of whom abused students, athletes, and patients for decades.

Read More: What True Justice Looks Like for Sexual Violence Survivors

In 2013, for example, Dr. Nikita Levy, a gynecologist at Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Medical Center, was caught secretly photographing his patients’ vaginas while performing pelvic exams, sometimes without wearing gloves, in a case that involved over 8,000 patients. Dr. Larry Nassar, the former doctor for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in 2018 after 250 women accused him of sexual assault during alleged medical treatment. And as recently as 2023, 245 patients of Dr. Robert Hadden, a gynecologist employed by Columbia University Medical Center, allege that they were sexually assaulted by him during gynecological exams.

Of course, these cases are not representative of the medical professionals who routinely perform pelvic exams, but their stories serve as a warning of how easy it is for pelvic violence to happen under the façade of medical treatment.

When done carefully and respectfully, the pelvic exam remains a valuable, if contested, aspect of reproductive healthcare. The April 1 decision by HHS to require consent for a pelvic exam, particularly on unconscious women, for medical training purposes rather than for the patient’s benefit, makes it abundantly clear that this is not just a problem of the nineteenth century; it’s a problem right now.

Wendy Kline, Ph.D., is the Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine at Purdue University. Her most recent book, Exposed: The Hidden History of the Pelvic Exam, is due out with Polity Press in September 2024.

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

source https://time.com/6968695/pelvic-exam-history/

U.S. Agrees to $138.7M Settlement Over FBI’s Botching of Larry Nassar Assault Allegations

(DETROIT) — The U.S. Justice Department announced a $138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.

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When combined with other settlements, $1 billion now has been set aside by various organizations to compensate hundreds of women who said Nassar assaulted them under the guise of treatment for sports injuries.

Nassar worked at Michigan State University and also served as a team doctor at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics. He’s now serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts.

Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said Nassar betrayed the trust of those in his care for decades, and that the “allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset.”

“While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing,” Mizer said of the agreement to settle 139 claims.

The Justice Department has acknowledged that it failed to step in. For more than a year, FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles had knowledge of allegations against him but apparently took no action, an internal investigation found.

FBI Director Christopher Wray was contrite — and very blunt — when he spoke to survivors at a Senate hearing in 2021. The assault survivors include decorated Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.

“I’m sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again,” Wray said. “And I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed.”

After a search, investigators said in 2016 that they had found images of child sex abuse and followed up with federal charges against Nassar. Separately, the Michigan attorney general’s office handled the assault charges that ultimately shocked the sports world and led to an extraordinary dayslong sentencing hearing with gripping testimony about his crimes.

“I’m deeply grateful. Accountability with the Justice Department has been a long time in coming,” said Rachael Denhollander of Louisville, Kentucky, who is not part of the latest settlement but was the first person to publicly step forward and detail abuse at the hands of Nassar.

“The unfortunate reality is that what we are seeing today is something that most survivors never see,” Denhollander told The Associated Press. “Most survivors never see accountability. Most survivors never see justice. Most survivors never get restitution.”

Michigan State University, which was also accused of missing chances over many years to stop Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement.

Mick Grewal, an attorney who represented 44 people in claims against the government, said the $1 billion in overall settlements speaks to “the travesty that occurred.”

___

Associated Press reporters Mike Householder in Detroit; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.

source https://time.com/6970076/u-s-agrees-to-settlement-over-larry-nassar-assault-allegations-probe/

States Race To Counter AI Fakes Before the 2024 Election

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver was at a conference on election security last year when she had what she describes as an “oh crap, this is happening” moment. The potential for AI-generated disinformation and deepfakes to disrupt this year’s national elections was the “hottest topic among election administrators” at the event, Toulouse Oliver says, with one terrifying scenario unfolding after another in conversations. As her state’s top election official, she realized time was running out to set up New Mexico’s defenses ahead of this year’s vote. “That was really my wake-up call,” she says.

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Thanks in part to that epiphany, New Mexico enacted a new law last month requiring political campaigns to disclose whenever they use AI in their ads, and making it a crime to use AI-generated content to intentionally deceive voters. The focus on “malicious intent” was key, says Toulouse Oliver. “We’re cognizant of the First Amendment and we don’t want to unfairly penalize folks,” she says. These new measures will go hand-in-hand with a new public campaign to raise awareness about AI content targeting voters, which will incorporate TV, radio, billboards and a digital campaign.

Toulouse Oliver’s efforts are part of a larger trend. Skeptical that the federal government and social media companies will impose significant guardrails on AI content ahead of November’s election, state and local officials have moved quickly to take matters into their own hands. More than 100 bills have recently been introduced or passed in 39 state legislatures that contain provisions to restrict the potential for AI-altered or generated election disinformation, according to an analysis by the Voting Rights Lab, a group that tracks voting legislation.

“2024 is the first American presidential election year at the intersection of this heightened election-related mis- and disinformation, and the rapid growth of AI-generated content,” says Megan Bellamy, vice president of law and policy at Voting Rights Lab. This year’s elections, not only in the U.S., but across the world, will serve as a test case of the impact of widely available new generative AI tools, which have made it cheaper, faster and easier than ever before to mass produce altered content. Facing a potential avalanche of voting-related disinformation, state lawmakers have grappled with a variety of approaches to shield voters or penalize those who create and disseminate this content while balancing First Amendment and other legal protections. With regulation of AI content in its early stages, experts say some of the language in the new bills is legally ambiguous and may be hard to enforce.

Read More: Hackers Could Use ChatGPT to Target 2024 Elections

“AI-generated content…targeted strategically because of our election landscape could still do significant damage,” says Bellamy, noting some states may feel the impact more than others. “AI-generated content is created to grab voters’ attention, and that alone could lead to chaos and confusion even if there are efforts to try to mitigate the harm.”

Many of these laws, like New Mexico’s, focus on transparency by requiring disclosures about the use of AI in election-related content. The Florida legislature passed a similar bill in March, requiring a disclaimer on political ads noting that they were “created in whole or in part with the use of generative artificial intelligence.” This applies to all content, including audio, video, text, images or other graphics. (The bill is still awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature).

Many bills also seek to penalize those who use AI tools to intentionally spread misleading content. A bill signed by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers last month imposes a $1000 fine on any group affiliated with a political campaign that fails to add a disclaimer to AI-created or altered content, although it’s less restrictive as it does not address disinformation spread by groups that are not tied to campaigns. In Arizona, lawmakers have been debating several approaches, including a bill that would allow candidates for public office to sue the creators of “digital impersonations” created without their consent.

For many state officials, last year’s widespread adoption of ChatGPT and other popular AI tools was a wake-up call to the destructive potential the programs could have on the upcoming elections. “The big leap forward with ChatGPT really got people talking in a way they hadn’t before about the many applications of AI and what aspects of our national life are particularly vulnerable,” says Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. “AI is not a new and independent threat in and of itself, but it is a means to amplify existing threats in a way we wouldn’t even have thought seriously about five years ago.”

In the spring of 2023, Minnesota became one of the first states to ban the use of AI-generated content in election materials. The new statute prohibits the dissemination of such content if it is created with the intent of hurting a candidate within 90 days of an election. It also criminalizes the dissemination of AI-generated content like deepfakes without the consent of the person depicted. As part of his efforts, Simon has held election security trainings with officials from all of the state’s 50 counties, which includes a focus on combating and educating voters about AI-generated content.

“I’m cautiously optimistic about our ability to neutralize its effects,” says Simon. Minnesota’s new law “is serving notice not just to people who disseminate this, but to the public as well that this is something worth watching and paying attention to.”

While the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” have become heavily politicized since the 2020 election, with many conservative lawmakers reflexively opposing legislation seeking to curb the spread of false information related to voting, state officials say that bills related to AI-generated content have largely been met with bipartisan support. “Very interestingly, there was very little pushback to the legislation,” says Simon.

Despite the flurry of new bills, state officials say they know these efforts are a drop in the bucket. It can take a few clicks to create AI-generated content that reaches millions, and days or weeks to verify and track it down. Many officials say that in tandem with legislative efforts, they have been spending significant resources on public awareness campaigns meant to increase voters’ skepticism of and resilience to manipulated content, and to raise the visibility of accurate information about the voting process.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs says he has watched closely as AI-generated content has drastically improved in recent years—first with fascination, then with deepening alarm. There was the fake but convincing Richard Nixon created by MIT researchers admitting to a failed moon landing, a fake President Volodymyr Zelensky surrendering during the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022, and, more recently, a fake President Joe Biden telling New Hampshire voters not to vote in the primaries.

“I was looking at the feds going, ‘Man, I really hope they do something,’” Hobbs says. “But they weren’t. So we did it at the state level.” It took two years, but last May Washington’s state legislature passed a law that requires advertisers to disclose when election-related material is created or altered by AI, and allows candidates targeted by AI-altered content to sue for damages. Hobbs sees it as a small but necessary step, but notes that the law does little to protect against election manipulation by state actors or foreign entities: “I wanted to do more.”

His counterparts agree the challenges remain considerable. “I’m not going to pretend that regulating this is going to be easy, it’s a whole new area,” says Toulouse Oliver, the New Mexico Secretary of State, adding that she hopes at least the new measures will help catch the worst violators as the election season progresses. “We’re in a brave new world.”

source https://time.com/6969563/states-are-racing-to-pass-ai-bills-before-the-2024-election/

Moscow Court Rejects Evan Gershkovich’s Appeal, Keeping Him in Jail Until At Least June 30

(MOSCOW) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain jailed on espionage charges until at least late June, after a Moscow court on Tuesday rejected his appeal that sought to end his pretrial detention.

The 32-year-old U.S. citizen was detained in late March 2023 while on a reporting trip and has spent over a year in jail, with authorities routinely extending his time behind bars and rejecting his appeals. Last month, his pretrial detention was continued yet again — until June 30 — in a ruling that he and his lawyers later challenged. A Moscow appellate court rejected it Tuesday.

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In the courtroom on Tuesday, Gerhskovich, wearing a white T-shirt and an open checked shirt, looked relaxed, at times laughing and chatting with members of his legal team.

His arrest in the city of Yekaterinburg rattled journalists in Russia, where authorities have not detailed what, if any, evidence they have to support the espionage charges.

Gershkovich and his employer have denied the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

Read More: The Fight to Free Evan Gershkovich

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring U.S.-Russian tensions over the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine. At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years — including WNBA star Brittney Griner — have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.

In December, the U.S. State Department said it had made a significant offer to secure the release of Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, another American imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, which it said Moscow had rejected.

Officials did not describe the offer, although Russia has been said to be seeking the release of Vadim Krasikov, who was given a life sentence in Germany in 2021 for the killing in Berlin of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen descent who had fought Russian troops in Chechnya and later claimed asylum in Germany.

Read More: Why Evan Gershkovich Is on the Cover of TIME

Russian President Vladimir Putin, asked this year about releasing Gershkovich, appeared to refer to Krasikov by pointing to a man imprisoned by a U.S. ally for “liquidating a bandit” who had allegedly killed Russian soldiers during separatist fighting in Chechnya.

Beyond that hint, Russian officials have kept mum about the talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeatedly said that while “certain contacts” on swaps continue, “they must be carried out in absolute silence.”

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Daniloff was released without charge 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s U.N. mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.

source https://time.com/6970060/evan-gershkovich-appeal-rejected-moscow/