Tag - social

 
 

SOCIAL

Lee Kyoung-hyun, a popular YouTuber shaman, at her shaman parlor in Seoul on May 13
WORLD / Society
Jun 10, 2024
South Korea's young shamans revive ancient tradition with social media
Google Trends shows that searches on YouTube for "shaman" and "fortune-telling" in Korean have nearly doubled over the past five years.
Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024
Alphabet taps Eli Lilly executive as new CFO replacing Porat
Anat Ashkenazi will replace Ruth Porat who announced last year she planned to step down.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit seeking to break up the social networking giant Meta.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024
Meta withheld information on Instagram and WhatsApp deals, FTC says
The company formerly known as Facebook bought photo-sharing app Instagram in 2012 and the messaging app WhatsApp in 2014.
A new report by international campaign group Global Witness alleges that TikTok approved adverts containing political disinformation ahead of European polls.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024
TikTok fails 'disinformation test' before EU vote, study shows
The Chinese ByteDance-owned app said its systems correctly identified the breach, but the ads were approved due to "human error" by a moderator.
Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has seen threat actors rely on artificial intelligence to produce fake images, videos and text to try influencing users on its sites.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2024
Meta removes AI-generated influence campaigns from China and Israel
Social media companies such as Facebook, ByteDance’s TikTok and Elon Musk’s X have struggled with the influx of fake and misleading AI-generated content on their sites.
The Telegram app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2024
Too small to police, too big to ignore: Telegram is the app dividing Europe
The messaging app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
The health ministry says it will conduct its first survey on how much foreign residents are paying in health insurance and pension premiums.
JAPAN / Society
May 28, 2024
Health ministry to collect data on insurance premium payments by foreign residents
The ministry currently has no data on how much foreign nationals are paying in terms of health insurance payments and pension premiums.
Entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa (second from right) and Takafumi Horie (third from right) attend a study session on fake social media ads and investment scams at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 16, 2024
Japanese billionaire sues Meta over investment scams using his image
Yusaku Maezawa is suing Meta for its negligence in regulating the use of his name and image in investment scams on its social media platforms.
Boys watch smoke billowing during Israeli strikes east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2024
Celebrities face digital backlash over Gaza silence
For months, activists have flooded the comments sections of social media sites, urging stars to join calls for a cease-fire in the war.
LY said in November that there had been unauthorized access of its systems by a third party via Naver's cloud system, causing the leak of the personal data records of more than 300,000 Line users and others.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024
Naver exploring options including stake sale in Line operator
Naver apologized for a recent security breach that led the Japanese government to issue administrative guidance.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo helicopter carrier is docked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
May 10, 2024
Japan says viral video of MSDF ship likely real, not fabricated
The Defense Ministry said it has determined that the footage was not AI-generated because details matched that of the actual Izumo helicopter carrier.
A host promotes lipstick on TikTok Shop
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 10, 2024
Livestream shopping foils high-tech tools from stopping counterfeits
The sheer volume of violations means e-commerce infringement enforcement can feel like a game of "whack-a-mole" for those who monitor the internet.
Japanese people are exposed to less online disinformation compared to other countries, partly due to language barriers and inherent skepticism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 9, 2024
Japan’s accidental resilience in the disinformation age
The Japanese are exposed to less online disinformation compared to other countries, partly due to language barriers and inherent skepticism.
With a rise in the number of single elderly people in Japan, local governments are offering support for their end-of-life preparations.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2024
Japan local governments offering support for end-of-life preparations
According to a health ministry survey, the number of single-person households with members aged 65 or older came to 8.73 million in 2022.
A social welfare office in Tokyo sets up a counter for special COVID loans in June 2020.
JAPAN
May 7, 2024
Only 37% of COVID-19 special loans were repaid in Japan
Some special loan recipients had been facing financial difficulties even before the pandemic
A man films with a smartphone in front a placard for the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during a campaign event for the upcoming European Parliament elections, and ahead of Saxony's municipal and state elections, in Dresden, eastern Germany, on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024
German far right's TikTok success sparks rush to platform
Germany's political heavyweights have been spooked by the successes in reaching youth voters ahead of June's European elections.
The smartphone screen of a man in his 70s from the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture shows exchanges with a person claiming to be a woman from Taiwan discussing investment in gold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Regional Voices: Fukushima
May 6, 2024
Online predators seduce elderly victims into investment scams
Cases of people being swindled out of money show working-age people are also falling victim.
Strong family ties act as an insurance against economic and other shocks and can be strengthened by government policies that promote intergenerational solidarity.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2024
As families change, so must safety nets
Intergenerational family ties act as a form of insurance. Governments like Singapore's are supporting such arrangements and others should follow suit.
Manahel al-Otaibi wears western clothes in the Saudi capital Riyadh in September 2019. Human rights groups have denounced an 11-year prison term recently handed down by a counterterrorism court to the Saudi fitness instructor and women's rights activist.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024
Saudi Arabia cracks down on online speech, jailing critics for decades
Fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison after criticizing male guardianship laws and women's dress requirements.
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests are said to reflect a desire by authorities to deter the making of online statements about the war in Gaza that might impact national security.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals