Taiwan to block China’s RedNote app, Deepfake doctors spreading health misinformation

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Taiwan says it will block access to popular Chinese social media app RedNote or Xiaohongshu for one year following concerns over online shopping scams. The island’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said Thursday it detected more than 1,700 fraud cases on the app since last year, with total losses worth more than NT$247m (£5.9m; $7.9m), local media report. The app is a TikTok-like platform with built-in shopping features. Taiwan’s internet service providers have been ordered to block access to the app, affecting at least three million domestic users, according to local reports. BBC 

TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation. The factchecking organisation Full Fact has uncovered hundreds of such videos featuring impersonated versions of doctors and influencers directing viewers to Wellness Nest, a US-based supplements firm. All the deepfakes involve real footage of a health expert taken from the internet. However, the pictures and audio have been reworked. The Guardian 

Ever since Google first announced they were bringing the power of Gemini to the smart home, I’ve been impatiently checking my Google Home app, hoping to see that invite. While my phone and Chromebook have both had Gemini for a while, my Nest Hubs and Nest Audio speakers have been stuck flaky and aging Google Assistant. Well, it looks like my waiting might finally be coming to an end. Reports are coming in that a new wave of early access invites for Gemini for Home is rolling out to users right now, and it brings some seriously cool new capabilities along with it. Chrome Unboxed

The Volkswagen ID Cross will arrive next year as the second of Wolfsburg’s new wave of affordable compact EVs – and we’ve got hands-on with an early version of the electric crossover. Unlike the ID 3, ID 4 and ID 5 EVs, which all share a very similar form language and silhouette, the ID Cross and its ID Polo sibling will get more distinct visual identities from both each other and other VW Group EVs on the same platform. ID Cross exterior designer Thorben Kochs told Autocar that “the idea was to create something super stable and clean.” Autocar

Ofcom has announced today that it will continue to gather information about VPN use in the UK to help “guide thinking and decisions about whether there is a need for further action in this area.” In its first report on the state of online safety since the introduction of the Online Safety Act, the agency acknowledges that there has been “considerable public debate” about young people using VPNs to bypass age checks. Tech Radar 

The popular Twitch streamer QTCinderella says she would be a “happier person” if she could go back and tell her younger self to choose a different career. The 31-year-old, real name Blaire (she does not make her second name public), became famous for playing video games and cooking meals in live videos for her 1.2 million followers, external online. In 2021 she created the annual Streamer Awards, which will be streamed online on Saturday. BBC 

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