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    EU beefs up disinformation code to prevent digital ad profit

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1148 Views
    European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova addresses a media conference on the guidance for strengthening the code of practice on disinformation at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP)
    LONDON (AP) --

    European Union officials unveiled plans Wednesday to beef up the bloc's code of practice on online disinformation, with the aim of preventing digital ad companies from profiting off of "fake news." 

    EU officials said they were strengthening the three-year-old voluntary code to make it more effective at fighting the false information flooding tech platforms. 

    "We want to cut the systemic producers of disinformation off the money," Vera Jourova, a vice president of the European Commission whose brief includes rule of law issues and disinformation, said in Brussels during a media briefing. "Disinformation still is something that sells well, so we want to also engage the advertising industry not to place ads next to disinformation."

    The EU plan includes encouraging digital ad companies to sign up to the code. It calls for digital platforms and ad companies to share information on advertisements that any of them reject for promoting disinformation. It also calls for better ad transparency and banning people or groups systematically spreading debunked content. 

    Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, TikTok and Mozilla are among the tech and social media platforms that so far have signed on to the code of practice, which the EU's executive commission launched in 2018 to counter the rise of online manipulation and disinformation ahead of European Parliament elections the following year. 

    Tags:digital advertisingEuropean Unionfake news



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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