“From ‘Mail-Order Brides’ to ‘Passport Bros,’ the International Dating Industry Often Sells Traditional Gender Roles”
A weird glamorization of sexpattery as “international dating”.
Good news on the AI slop front in Social Media
The Indicator: “Two platform updates this week gave me a rare feeling of hope about AI slop. On Wednesday, TikTok announced it would pilot new controls to let users filter how much AI-generated content they see on their For You feeds.
The platform already allows users to dial up and down certain topics like current affairs, dance, or fitness. It’s now promising to test letting people decide how much synthetic video they want to see.
The move follows Pinterest’s lead; Bluesky users can also filter out AI content by subscribing to a third-party labeler. I would bet that more platforms will follow. (Our guide to AI labelsoutlines down how different platforms handle AI content, and gets continuously updated.)…”
See also CNET – AI Slop Has Turned Social Media Into an Antisocial Wasteland. Commentary: Platforms that once helped us stay in touch have become fractured and impersonal — and AI slop and deepfakes are making it so much worse.
“Parents ‘vindicated’ after police admit unlawful arrest over WhatsApp row”, the Guardian reports. The subheading is “Hertfordshire police agree to pay £20,000 to Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen, who were held for 11 hours after complaining about daughter’s school”.
I posted about this couple’s experience last April: Boiling frogs in Salem and Hertfordshire.
One aspect of the story that the Free Speech Union’s Frederick Attenborough highlighted at the time was that Hertfordshire Police didn’t just put the frighteners on Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen, they also threatened – in writing – their local county councillor, Michelle Vince, that if she continued to advocate on their behalf she too might find herself “liable to being recorded as a suspect in a harassment investigation”. And they told Michelle Vince to pass on that warning to the local MP, Sir Oliver Dowden.
As Sir Oliver said in the Times, “Police risk ‘curtailing democracy’ by stopping MPs doing their job”.
Today’s Guardian article continues,
Allen claimed he and Levine were not abusive and were never told which communications were criminal, saying it was “completely Kafkaesque”.
A Hertfordshire police spokesperson said: “Whilst there are no issues of misconduct involving any officer in relation to this matter, Hertfordshire Constabulary has accepted liability solely on the basis that the legal test around necessity of arrest was not met in this instance.
“Therefore Mr Haddow-Allen and Ms Levine were wrongfully arrested and detained in January 2025. It would be inappropriate to make further comment at this stage.”
You wish. Further comment is both appropriate and necessary. There bloody well are issues of misconduct involving at least one officer in relation to this matter: whichever officer tried to frighten off both a local councillor and an MP from representing their constituents.
Myanmar military demolishes 150 buildings in scam compound on the Thailand border
Password for the security camera system at the Louvre Museum was “louvre”
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards, free trial offer frauds, job scams, online shopping fraud, fake check fraud and crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
- Amazon blocked 10 billion listings of counterfeit goods in the last year
- San Diego: 19 people arrested in ring that laundered money for India-based tech support groups
- Illinois: Three from China indicted; part of gang that stole gift cards from grocery stores, altered them, and returned them to steal funds; at least one arrested
- ICE announces Project Red Hook to tackle gift card fraud by Chinese gangs
- Los Angeles: Nigerian and three others arrested; wanted for extradition to Germany, part of group that placed small charges on credit cards from nonexistent merchants; took in €30 million
- Europol releases report on how they tackle cybercrime
- Former FTC Chair Lina Khan picked to co-lead New York mayor Mandani’s transition team
- DOJ says the CFPB must get funding from Congress instead of the Federal Reserve or shut down
- Georgia: Letter carrier for Postal Service pleads guilty to PPP fraud and stealing Treasury checks from the mail
- Kansas City: VA employee indicted for PPP fraud
- St. Louis: Nightclub owner indicted for PPP fraud; got $400,000
- Los Angeles: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $3.2 million