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Australia is set to ban under 16s from social media services after the Senate passed a bill to that effect by 34 votes to 19. The legislation will return to the House of Representatives, which will need to approve amendments before it becomes law. That is all but a formality as the government holds a majority in that chamber. The bill, which has been fast-tracked, sailed through the lower house in a 102-13 vote earlier this week. The government has said that the likes of Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X will be subject to the new rules, which wont come into force for at least 12 months. However, officials still have to confirm which platforms the ban actually covers as they aren't detailed in the bill. The BBC notes that the countrys communications commissioner, Michelle Rowland, will determine that with help from a so-called eSafety Commissioner. The latter will be responsible for enforcing the law. The rules will not apply to health and education services, gaming platforms or messaging apps, nor those that dont require an account. So, the likes of Fortnite, Roblox and YouTube are likely to avoid any ban. Companies that are subject to the legislation could face fines of up to $49.5 million AUD ($32.1 million) if they fail to comply. They will have to employ age-verification tech, though the specifics of that have yet to be determined. The government plans to assess various options in the coming months, but Rowland confirmed this week that platforms won't be able to compel users to submit a personal document (such as passport or driver license) to verify their age. Researchers have claimed that mooted age-verification systems may not work in practice. Critics, meanwhile, have raised concerns over privacy protections. While there are certainly valid concerns about the harms of social media, such platforms can be a lifeline for younger people when theyre used responsibly. They can help vulnerable kids find resources and peers they can turn to for advice. Social media can also help those in rural areas forge authentic social connections with others who live elsewhere. Under 16s who continue to access banned platforms wont be punished. Resourceful teens may find it very easy to bypass restrictions using a VPN, which could make the law largely toothless. The online world also extends far beyond the reach of a small number of centralized social media platforms. There are other pockets of the internet that teens can turn to instead. For instance, there are still a large number of active forums for various interests. When the legislation becomes law, Australia will set the highest minimum age for social media of any jurisdiction. France has tabled legislation to block users under 15 from social media without parental consent and its now pushing for the European Union to move forward with a similar undertaking across the entire bloc. Norway plans to bring in legislation along those lines, while the UK's technology secretary recently indicated that it was an option for that country. Utah last year passed laws to limit minors' social media use. The state's governor repealed and replaced those earlier this year following legal challenges. However, in September, a judge blocked the most recent legislation just days before it was set to take effect. Other states have considered similar laws.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/australia-is-one-step-away-from-banning-social-media-for-under-16s-160454882.html?src=rss
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can now go after scammers posing as tech support providers even if it's the consumer who called them up. It has just approved amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule that expands its coverage to include "inbound" calls to companies pitching "technical support services through advertisements or direct mail solicitations." Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, explained that the new rule will allow the agency to hold these scammy businesses accountable and to get money back for the victims. "The Commission will not sit idle as older consumers continue to report tech support scams as a leading driver of fraud losses," Levine also said, because the rule's expansion would mostly help protect consumers 60 years and older. According to the agency, older adults reported losing $175 million to tech support scams in 2023 and were five times more likely to fall for them than younger consumers. Tech support scams typically trick potential victims into calling them by sending them emails or triggering pop-up alerts claiming that their computer has been infected with malware. Scammers then ask their targets to pay for their supposed services by wiring them money, by putting money in gift or prepaid cars or by sending them cryptocurrency coins, because those methods can be hard to trace and reverse. They've long been a problem in the US the agency shut down two massive Florida-based telemarketing operations that had scammed victims out of $120 million in total way back in 2014 but the issue has been growing worse over time. The $175 million victims reported losing in 2023 was 10 percent higher than the reported losses to tech support scams in 2022. As the FTC notes, the Telemarketing Sales Rule has been updated several times since the year 2000 before this latest amendment. The first amendment in 2003 led to the creation of the Do Not Call Registry for telemarketers, while subsequent changes were made to cover pre-recorded telemarketing calls and debt collection services.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/ftc-expands-rules-to-hold-tech-support-scammers-accountable-143051612.html?src=rss
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CRKDs Nitro Deck turned my OLED Switch into an OLED Switch Lite, in a way. The Nitro Decks lightweight frame added chunkier grips to both sides of the screen, a more logical USB-C charging passthrough and substantial triggers, it felt like a proper controller enveloping my favorite Nintendo games. And you could get it in Gamecube purple. The company has since followed it up (after some experiments with the Neo S) with a plus version of the deck. The Nitro Deck+ is largely the same premise, a handheld deck for your Switch slate, no detachable Joy-Cons (and thus no drift) programmable buttons and I hate to write this a better hand feel. The biggest visual change is a shift to symmetrical thumbsticks, which make the Nitro Deck + look more like a knock-off Steam Deck than a Switch peripheral. Both joysticks have Hall Effect sensors, which are contactless. This means youre much less likely to experience any drift and the sticks should last substantially longer too. And coming from Joy-Cons, yeah, its a good thing. The shift stick placement is going to be divisive especially if youve been playing mostly on a Switch, with Joy-Cons. The stick is now above the A, B, X and Y buttons, making it look like a lot of the gaming PC slates out there. The company said this change was based on user feedback, but there is a learning curve, coming from either the base hardware or the original Nitro Deck. Ill be honest: I still miss the traditional asymmetric layout. There are four remappable back buttons, now joined by unusually placed Sidekick buttons next to each analog stick. Thats six extra buttons to play with. I tested them out, mostly for weapon swap-outs, but the regular button layout worked completely fine for most of my Switch game catalog. Image by Mat Smith / Engadget If youre playing a competitive shooter that might need more button shortcuts or any game that demands fast reflexes youre probably not using your Switch undocked. Honestly, barring Smash Bros., youre probably playing on a different platform. In their defense, however, you arent going to tap these buttons unintentionally. Thats something Id often do with the mostly flush S custom buttons on the back of the original Nitro Deck. You can also adjust the sensitivity of the trigger buttons, something that wasnt on the Nitro Deck at launch but is now available through a firmware upgrade. This is all done on device, by holding down the ZL (for example) and plus buttons for three seconds. The LED will flash cyan and then you can increase the distance needed to push the trigger by pressing the plus button, or do the opposite with the minus button. The Nitro Deck+ will indicate your setting by vibrating up to three times. Its nice to have this level of customization in a handheld console. It also helps that the triggers are solid. If anything, the Deck+s triggers seem to offer a bit more travel compared to the first model. Image by Mat Smith / Engadget Another improvement on its predecessor is that the replaceable thumbstick tops grip a lot better. The Nitro Decks tops tended to pop off as Id slide the Switch into my bag. A few times, theyd fly across the train carriage I was sat in. On the Nitro Deck+, theyre a tighter fit. My colleagues asked about changes to the rumble function, which Id already switched off when I first started testing. CRKD says it improved the adjustable rumble with the Nitro Deck+ with upgraded motors and drivers, and while the improvement to how it feels is subtle, the difference in noise isnt. The original deck was a loud, grumbling controller, while the Deck+ feels a lot closer to the Switchs HD rumble experience. The major benefits of the Nitro Deck are still here, of course. A chunkier body to grip, more substantial buttons and triggers, and a smarter USB-C pass-through for power, still at the top of the device, with an extra USB-C port to charge peripherals as you play. I cant say I regularly used many of those six (six!) new custom buttons, but dedicated Switch gamers may gain more utility from them than I did. Whether you should get the Nitro Deck+ or its predecessor hinges on what stick arrangement feels most comfortable. Thats the biggest difference and, for some, might be the biggest draw here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/crkds-nitro-deck-plus-review-140047889.html?src=rss
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