How Vladimir Putin can open a new lethal front against Ukraine
You're forgiven if you haven't spent a lot of time thinking about Moldova's parliamentary elections coming in September. Moldova's not a member of Nato or the European Union, and unless there's a bottle of Moldovan wine on the table, most Americans don't give the small south-eastern European nation much thought. It is the least visited country in Europe.
But Moldovan prime minister Dorin Recean has told the Financial Times that Russia was meddling in the country's election, working to put in office a more friendly government that would allow Moscow to deploy more soldiers to Transnistria.
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The Irish Sun
10 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘The exact number of minutes needed for children to become TikTok addicts' & the hidden dangers posed by ‘filter bubble'
IT'S an attention economy and social media companies will do anything they can to keep your eyes on the screen. Now, US President 2 It takes around 35 minutes for a kid to get addicted to TikTok Credit: Getty Images - Getty 2 Olga Cronin wants Dail reps to back a motion to force social media companies to stop using algorithms on children Credit: PR Handout The app has been ordered to find a This is due to concerns that Americans' data could be passed on to the Chinese government. But where is the concern about what these We all know the horror stories of worrying content about eating disorders, violence or misogyny being pushed the way of our So, campaign group People Before Profit has tabled a Here, Olga Cronin, senior policy advisor at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, tells Irish Sun readers why she believes it is important for all JUST 35 minutes – that's all it allegedly takes for a child to become hooked on Not only that — should a child appear interested in an unhealthy type of content, TikTok's algorithm feeds the child similar unhealthy content in a 'filter bubble'. TikTok users are placed in filter bubbles after just 30 minutes of use in one sitting. These disturbing details were revealed in confidential company documentation disclosed and referenced in a US Trump says he has 'very wealthy people' to buy TikTok after pushing back app ban Why? Because an opportunity has arisen for Irish politicians to support a new bill which could help end this predatory nature of manipulative, harmful and profit-driven social-media algorithms which push content concerning self-loathing, self-harm and ALGORITHMIC PROFILING As the recent Online Safety Monitor from the Children's Rights Alliance called for regulations to require algorithmic profiling to be disabled by default for child and young users, a bill has been put forward by People Before Profit providing for the same. The bill also states that any algorithms based on profiling or sensitive personal data should have to be actively turned on by adult users. The aforementioned US court filing is crucial to understanding why we must demand that these algorithms are turned off by default. TikTok's The court document, from a case taken by the state of "While this may seem substantial, TikTok videos can be as short as eight seconds, and are played for viewers in rapid-fire succession, automatically. Thus, in under 35 minutes, an average user is likely to become addicted to the platform.' THREE STAGES The filing notes how in an internal presentation devoted to increasing user retention rates, TikTok identified three 'moments' when forming a TikTok habit. First there is the Set-up Moment when a young user watches their first video. Next is the Aha Moment when TikTok's algorithm has begun to discern what content a user will respond to, after a child has watched 20 videos or more on their first day on the platform. And finally, there is what they call the Habit Moment in which 'new users start to form a habit of coming to TikTok regularly' which occurs if a youth has watched 260 videos or more during the first week of having a TikTok account. TikTok is aware of negative impacts on its users. The court filing notes how internal reports observed 'compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conver-sational depth and emp-athy, and increased anxiety' — and that 'compulsive usage interferes with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/ And yet, the lawsuit alleges TikTok has failed to disclose these harms and continues to mislead the public. The document outlines how the platform's design exploits psychological triggers that cause compulsive usage, such as low-friction variable rewards (where users are randomly rewarded with engaging content), social manipulation (where users are encouraged to interact and engage with the content), and ephemeral content (which creates urgency by presenting time-sensitive material). CYCLE OF ADDICTION These features make it difficult for users to control their time on the platform, creating a cycle of addiction. But this is not just about TikTok. All Big Tackling this problem is long overdue and, if 35 minutes is all it takes to addict a young child to TikTok, time is not on our side. Politicians of all hues should get on board with this bill and have these manipulation machines turned off.
The Journal
12 hours ago
- The Journal
Browne: it will be 'difficult to prevent' hitting point where 5,000 children are homeless
HOUSING MINISTER JAMES Browne has said it will be 'difficult to prevent' reaching the point where 5,000 children in Ireland are homeless. The latest homelessness figures, released last week, showed a record number of 15,747 people living in homelessness in the State. Included among these are 4,844 children — 69 more than last month. Asked today by The Journal when we will see a drop in the number of people entering homelessness and if he expects to surpass the 5,000 threshold for child homelessness, Minister Browne said we're very close to it. 'The sense of direction, unfortunately, has been growing upwards, and we're very close to that 5,000. I don't want to see that threshold crossed, but it's going to be very difficult to prevent crossing over that 5,000, considering how close we are,' Browne said. 'No poor countries in the EU' The Housing Minister also elaborated on reports that the government is planning to tighten up rules around who can access homelessness services in the State. As reported by the Sunday Times at the weekend , the clampdown will impact migrants' access to social housing, prioritising people with 'strong, long-term connections to Ireland'. Access to emergency homeless accommodation will also be restricted. Advertisement Asked about this today, Minister Browne confirmed that he will be bringing forward measures to prioritise people who are 'actually living in the country' and who are 'habitually resident'. EU citizens who are homeless in Ireland will be asked to return to their home country, Browne said. Browne said this is already done on an administrative basis, but that this is not a 'sound way' to manage our housing services. He said the changes will give certainty to local authorities in relation to how they allocate services and that he thinks this is 'the right thing to do'. 'If somebody comes to Ireland from the European Union, there's no poor countries in the European Union, we would be asking people to return back to their own country if they are not in a position to meet the requirements under EU law to be able to sustain themselves,' Browne said. 'We would facilitate them to return to their own country if they're not here on a legally backed basis in terms of being able to financially support themselves.' When it was put to him that this is a way to massage the homelessness figures by drastically reducing them, the Minister denied this charge. Last month's figures show that 51% of the 5,609 adults in emergency accommodation were Irish, while 21% (2,263 people) were from the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK. Some 3,031 people, 28%, were from outside the EEA. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
14 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
EU proposals to allow member states buy carbon credits from developing countries angers climate activists
EU member states may be allowed to count controversial carbon credits from developing countries towards their climate targets, the European climate commissioner has said, as states meet for a crucial decision on the issue. The EU will discuss on Wednesday its target for slashing carbon dioxide by 2040, with an expected cut of 90% compared with 1990 levels, in line with the bloc's overarching target of reaching net zero by mid-century. If agreed by member states, and passed by the EU parliament, that goal is then supposed to be translated into an international target — known as a nationally determined contribution (NDC) — pegged to 2035, under the Paris agreement. But green groups are furious over proposals that would allow part of the target to be made up from buying carbon offsets from overseas. They argue the EU should meet its targets domestically. More than 130 groups wrote to express 'extreme concern' over the proposals last month. Gareth Redmond-King, the international lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think tank, said: 'There is no need for them to use credits. If such a major emitter is not going as far as they demonstrably could with emissions cuts, then the overall global ambition is lower than it could be. This would risk undermining the EU's reputation for climate leadership at a time when that leadership is most needed.' Wopke Hoekstra, the EU climate commissioner, said developing countries were keen to gain EU financing through carbon credits, for projects such as tree-planting or forest restoration, and it was possible to ensure such offsets resulted in genuine emissions reductions. He said the possibility of allowing this was 'potentially very attractive'. 'The planet doesn't care about where we take emissions out of the air,' he said. 'You need to take action everywhere, but it certainly also helps to do that both here and elsewhere.' But such projects would have to be in addition to actions developing countries are already taking to meet their own emissions targets, rather than replacing them. Hoekstra acknowledged there had been problems in the past with carbon credits that were found to be worthless. 'It all stands or falls with the integrity of such a system, where certification, verification [of carbon credits], is absolutely essential,' he said. 'But humanity has solved more difficult problems.' Wednesday's talks on a 2040 emissions target could also be derailed by a small number of member states, led by France, mooting 'decoupling' the domestic target from the NDC. They argue the NDC, with its 2035 emissions target, could be delivered in September without the 2040 figure being agreed, implying a less ambitious 2040 goal could be agreed at a later date. Hoekstra was firm. 'We will come up this Wednesday with our 2040 climate target, and from that we will derive an ambitious NDC. And I am confident that we will deliver that exact number by September, as we were asked for by the secretary general of the UN.' The Guardian Read More Time to get creative on climate action for the generation most affected
