News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Truth Social Post Prompts Jack Smith
to Ask Judge to Prevent Trump
from Releasing Discovery Evidence to Public

Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a judge to issue a protective order in the case against former President Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election after Trump made a post on Truth Social.

On Friday, Trump posted the following message to his Truth Social account: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.”

Now, Smith is using that post to argue Trump’s access to the discovery in his criminal case should be restricted. Smith’s proposed order seeks to prevent “improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public,” according to a four-page filing.

“Such a restriction is particularly important in this case because the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him,” Smith argued before referencing Trump’s Truth Social post. “And in recent days, regarding this case, the defendant has issued multiple posts either specifically or by implication including the following, which the defendant posted just hours ago.”
...
A Trump spokesperson defended the Truth Social post as “political speech” and denied it was in reference to the criminal case.

”The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth,” the spokesperson said.

Social media influencer Kai Cenat faces charges
of inciting riot after thousands cause mayhem in NYC

Social media influencer Kai Cenat is facing charges of inciting a riot and promoting an unlawful gathering in New York City, after the online streamer drew thousands of his followers, many of them teenagers, with promises of giving away electronics, including a new PlayStation.

The event produced chaos, with dozens of people arrested — some jumping atop vehicles, hurling bottles and throwing punches.

Cenat was released early Saturday from police custody after being issued a desk appearance ticket, which police issue to require a suspect to appear in court to answer charges. A police spokesperson said he is to appear in court on Aug. 18.

The mayhem in New York City’s Union Square Friday afternoon put further focus on the hold social media influencers have on the people who follow and fawn over them.

“Our children cannot be raised by social media,” Mayor Eric Adams said Saturday during a press briefing on an unrelated crime.

Police said they arrested 65 people, including 30 juveniles. Several people were injured, including some with bloodied faces. At least four people were taken away in ambulances.

Elon Musk: Japan issues rare warning over fake X account

Japan's finance ministry has called on X, formerly known as Twitter, to take down an account impersonating its top currency diplomat Masato Kanda.

"Please don't follow the impersonation account and/or comment on the post," the ministry said in a rare post in English on the social media platform.

Mr Kanda is a key figure in efforts by the world's third largest economy to stabilise the value of the yen.

The fake account now appears to have been suspended.
...
Mr Kanda is an influential voice amongst Japan's monetary policy makers. His public comments have the potential to move the yen's value against other major currencies.

The account, which was followed by around 550 users, had not made comments on the yen or financial markets, according to the Reuters news agency.

There had been five posts on the account, with the most recent appearing to impersonate Mr Kanda's trip to Ukraine earlier this week, the agency reported.

...the currency has fallen in value against the US dollar in recent months. This is because Japan's central bank has kept its main interest rate below zero, even as central banks around the world raised their interest rates sharply.

Higher interest rates tend to make a currency more attractive to investors.

Tech shares fall as China mulls child smartphone limits

Chinese technology shares fell after the country's cyberspace regulator recommended limiting smartphone usage of children under 18.

Shares of firms like Alibaba and video-sharing site Bilibili fell on Wednesday and saw more losses early on Thursday.

The proposed law would see children being only allowed to use their phones for a maximum of two hours a day.

It comes four years after children in the world's second-largest economy were subject to gaming restrictions.

The rules proposed by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), will also see children banned from accessing the internet on mobile devices from 22:00 to 06:00 local time.

The CAC's proposal requires industry players including mobile phone device makers, apps and app stores to develop a function called "minor mode" to set usage limits - which vary by age.

While children between the ages of 16 to 18 will be allowed two hours of screen time a day, those under the age of eight will only be allotted eight minutes.

The proposal is currently open to public feedback.

Worldcoin suspended in Kenya as thousands queue for free money

The Kenyan government has ordered cryptocurrency project Worldcoin to stop signing up new users, citing data privacy concerns.

Worldcoin, founded by US tech entrepreneur Sam Altman, offers free crypto tokens to people who agree to have their eyeballs scanned.

Thousands of Kenyans have been queuing up at registration centres this week to get the currency worth about $49 (£39).

Kenya warned citizens to be cautious giving their data to private companies.
...
The ministry of the interior has launched an investigation into Worldcoin and called on security services and data protection agencies to establish its authenticity and legality.

In a statement released on Thursday, Worldcoin says it is planning to implement crowd-control measures and collaborate with the government before resuming work. It added that Kenyan regulations are adhered to.

In one of the pop-up registration centres in the capital, Nairobi, where hundreds had been lining up for the registration, many had been locked out of the process on Wednesday after the large crowd was termed a "security risk".

Health board staff shared patient data on WhatsApp

Staff at NHS Lanarkshire shared the information of patients through an unauthorised WhatsApp group, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has found.

The ICO found that personal information such as the names, phone numbers and addresses of patients were shared by 26 staff members on over 500 occasions.

Images and videos, which included clinical information, were also shared.

The health board apologised to any patients affected.

...between April 2020 and April 2022.

A non-staff member was also added to the WhatsApp group by mistake, resulting in the disclosure of personal information to an unauthorised individual.

The social media platform was made available for staff to communicate during the pandemic, but only basic information was supposed to be shared. WhatsApp was not approved by NHS Lanarkshire for processing patient data and was adopted by staff without the organisation's knowledge.

Once NHS Lanarkshire became aware, it reported the incident to the ICO.

The health board's director of nursing, Trudi Marshall, said it had received a formal reprimand over the use of WhatsApp by one of its community teams.