News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Sonic the Hedgehog creator sentenced to 2.5 years in prison

The creator of one of gaming's most iconic characters has found himself behind bars. Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, was arrested in Japan last November after being accused of insider trading at Square Enix, where he was working since 2018.

Back in March 2023, Naka pled guilty and this week, he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, along with a fine of 172 million yen (or $1,230,066).

Naka bought 2.8 million yen worth of shares in game development company Aiming before its involvement with Square Enix was made known to the public. However, at this time, Aiming was working on a new mobile game for the Dragon Quest franchise, considered to be one of Japan's most popular and successful RPG franchises.

Two former Square Enix employees also being investigated under the same suspicions were the ones who eventually led to Naka's arrest, with the three of them having used insider information for equity and illegally trading shares.

Meta Introduces Broadcast Tool Channels on WhatsApp

Meta Platforms on Thursday introduced WhatsApp Channels, a feature that the social media giant said would help make the app a “private broadcast messaging product.”

Users in Colombia and Singapore will be the first to receive access to Channels. Over the coming months, Meta will expand the availability of the tool for users in more countries, it said.

The company said users will be able to follow content on their hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials, and others.

Profile photos and contact information of the channel admin would not be visible to followers. Similarly, followers will not have their phone numbers revealed.

Ella Irwin, Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter, Resigns

Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, has resigned from the social media company nearly a year after she joined in June 2022.

Irwin confirmed her departure to Reuters but did not provide a reason for the move.

The former Amazon director joined Twitter last summer just a few months before Musk acquired the platform for $43 billion; taking over as head of the trust and safety team in November after previous head Yoel Roth resigned.

She oversaw content moderation, including hate speech on the platform, in her former role. It is unclear who will replace her.

Irwin had previously defended both Twitter and Musk, who has faced criticism amid concerns that the platform’s content moderation policies would be weakened under the billionaire businessman.

Tucker Carlson Starts New Twitter Show Weeks After Leaving Fox

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on June 6, delving into the mysterious destruction of a dam in Ukraine.

“As of today, we have come to Twitter, which we hope will be the short wave radio under the blankets,” Carlson stated toward the end of the video. “We’re told there are no gatekeepers here. If that turns out to be false, we’ll leave.
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He signed off the show, dubbed “Tucker on Twitter,” saying that he will be back on the platform with “much more, very soon.”
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“The Kakhovka dam was effectively Russian,” Carlson said. “It was built by the Russian government. It currently sits in Russian-controlled territory. The dam’s reservoir supplies water to Crimea, which has been for the last 240 years home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

“Blowing up the dam may be bad for Ukraine, but it hurts Russia more, and for precisely that reason, the Ukrainian government has considered destroying it.
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Much of his Twitter broadcast was spent attacking news organizations for always assuming that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “evil.” Carlson instead criticized Zelenskyy, describing him as a “sweaty and rat-like comedian-turned-oligarch” who is a “persecutor of Christians” and “a friend of BlackRock.”
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The first episode of Carlson’s Twitter show lasted a little more than 10 minutes and had more than 10.5 million views after about two hours.

Reddit to Lay Off About 5 Percent of Its Workforce

Reddit said on Tuesday it is laying off about 5 percent of its workforce, or 90 employees, joining a list of technology companies that have been cutting jobs across corporate America.
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Reddit, which was spun off from magazine conglomerate Conde Nast in 2011, saw a recent surge in appeal due to the popularity of WallStreetBets and other forums on its platform that have become a venue for retail investors to speculate on stocks.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Reddit’s move on Tuesday, citing an email sent to employees from Chief Executive Steve Huffman.

Huffman said the company would also reduce its hiring for the rest of the year to about 100 people from an early plan of 300, according to the WSJ report.