Facebook Marketplace is the most complained-about online retail platform for selling counterfeit, poor-quality and potentially unsafe goods, Trading Standards has reported. The online giant, which enables third-party sellers to trade goods on the platform via the marketplace, was criticised for being slow to take action against problem sellers and for enabling misleading product descriptions, counterfeit goods and potentially harmful products to reappear on its platform after being taken down. A national survey by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) found the online giant causes its officers the most concern, as well as being unresponsive or unco-operative when contacted about problem sellers. More than half (53 per cent) of respondents representing about 50 local authorities across the UK identified Facebook as the most complained-about online marketplace – more than all of the others combined. If it wants to be seen as a proper online retailer where people can buy safe and legitimate goods, it needs to start acting like one CTSI chief executive John Herriman The CTSI’s survey, the first of its kind, also found that Trading Standards teams were unable to properly address problems with online marketplaces because of a “triple whammy” of recurring issues – unco-perative businesses, unsuitable legislation and limited resources. Just 10 per cent of Trading Standards officers said they had been able to take action against online marketplaces as a result of these three obstacles. The CTSI’s survey found that 45 per cent of officers cited a lack of co-operation from online marketplaces as a recurring problem, 63 per cent said the law as it stands is not fit for purpose and 57 per cent had received no response when attempting to contact sellers on online marketplaces. Some 59 per cent said they had been unable to locate details about where third-party sellers on online marketplaces were based and 29 per cent said they wee unable to deal with complaints about online marketplaces because of a lack of time and resources. CTSI chief executive John Herriman said: “Facebook Marketplace needs to up its game. At a time when more and more people are going online to buy things, there is a real urgency for online retailers to take their responsibilities to their customers more seriously. Currently, online marketplaces like eBay and Facebook Marketplace are operating with fewer safety regulations than traditional high street retailers, eroding fair competition and allowing the sale of unsafe goods to flood the market unabated Martyn Allen, Electrical Safety First “The fact that Facebook Marketplace is an offshoot of a social media platform rather than a service that was built as an online retailer from the ground up speaks volumes. If it wants to be seen as a proper online retailer where people can buy safe and legitimate goods, it needs to start acting like one. “Failing to take action against sellers who use their platform to mislead, rip off and potentially endanger consumers just isn’t good enough. “We are calling for all online marketplaces to take action against problem sellers, for the law to be tightened up so enforcers have more tools at their disposal to protect consumers, and for more resources that enable us to do that more effectively.” A Meta spokesman said: “We take these issues seriously and when we find listings that violate our rules, we remove them. “We also work closely with external partners and respond to valid legal requests from law enforcement and the Office for Product Safety and Standards, to prevent illegal activity on our platforms.” Phil Lewis, director general of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG), said: “Criminals rely on legal e-commerce platforms, social media, maritime freight companies, express couriers, airlines, postal services and internet hosting services to set up rogue shopping sites. “ACG is calling on government to recognise the growing international threats to our families, job-providing businesses and the economy. “Appropriate enforcement resources and a policy architecture are desperately needed to ensure the companies providing these services work alongside our enforcement authorities and businesses, to combat this intensifying threat.” Martyn Allen, technical director of the charity Electrical Safety First, said: “Sadly, the high number of complaints Trading Standards officers receive regarding online purchases comes as no surprise. Online retailers like Facebook Marketplace need to be held to account just like any other type of business, otherwise consumers and legitimate businesses lose out Yvonne Fovargue, APPG on Consumer Protection “Currently, online marketplaces like eBay and Facebook Marketplace are operating with fewer safety regulations than traditional high street retailers, eroding fair competition and allowing the sale of unsafe goods to flood the market unabated. This puts UK citizens at serious risk of injury and harm. “It’s been a year and a half since the UK Government promised publication of the Product Safety Review, which is expected to include proposals to protect British consumers when they shop online. “The time for waiting is over – the Government must prioritise publishing the Review without any further delay.” Yvonne Fovargue, chairwoman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Consumer Protection, said: “Since the pandemic and now, with the cost-of-living crisis, more people are buying products from online marketplaces. “These consumers deserve to be treated fairly and should be able to be confident that what they buy is safe and accurately described. “Online retailers like Facebook Marketplace need to be held to account just like any other type of business, otherwise consumers and legitimate businesses lose out.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live UKRI announces £50 million to develop trustworthy and secure AI ‘Last Beatles record’ was created using AI, says Paul McCartney Put ‘public good’ at heart of AI and new tech, Starmer to say

TikTok is “proactively and aggressively” removing posts seemingly glorifying Osama bin Laden, it has said. A series of videos that shared a letter from bin Laden justifying the 9/11 attacks were published across the platform, and TikTok said it was “investigating” how it had happened. But it also said that reports about the spread of the posts had been exaggerated, and that the number of videos was actually small. The controversy began in recent days after a host of videos were highlighted by journalist Yashar Ali, in a tweet. He said there were “thousands of TikToks (at least)” that shared the letter from bin Laden. “The TikToks are from people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Many of them say that reading the letter has opened their eyes, and they’ll never see geopolitical matters the same way again,” he said. “Many of them — and I have watched a lot — say it has made them reevaluate their perspective on how what is often labeled as terrorism can be a legitimate form of resistance to a hostile power.” The tweet led to criticism of TikTok as well as its users, including from the White House. “There is never a justification for spreading the repugnant, evil and antisemitic lies that the leader of Al Qaeda issued just after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history,” a spokesperson said. TikTok said however that the spread of the posts had been relatively limited and that it was not true that the videos were trending. “Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism,” the company wrote on its TikTok account. “We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform. “The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate. This is not unique to TikTok and has appeared across multiple platforms and the media.” TikTok does not provide readily accessible information about the spread of posts on its platform. Some of the videos had tens of thousands of likes and views. Many of the TikToks pointed to a copy of the letter that had been posted on The Guardian’s website. As it began to spread, the newspaper removed the page, replacing it with a note that it was lacking “the full context” and instead directed readers to a news article about the original letter. Read More TikTok launches feature to save songs to music apps like Spotify Elon Musk weighs in on the scooped bagel debate ICO seeks permission to appeal against Clearview AI tribunal ruling

For those of us who grew up just a short drive from the Ambassador Bridge

Google is set to begin deleting millions of Gmail, Drive and Photos accounts next month as part of a major update to the platform. The purge will impact all personal Google accounts that have been left dormant for at least two years, with emails, documents, spreadsheets, calendar appointments, photos and videos all permanently deleted. The policy was introduced earlier this year but is set to come into effect in December 2023. “We are updating our inactivity policy for Google Accounts to two years across our products,” Ruth Kricheli, Google’s vice president of product management, wrote in a blog post in May. “This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information.” The move is aimed at protecting active Google users from security threats like phishing scams and account hijacking. Old accounts that have not been used for years are typically at risk from hackers as they may use the same passwords that have been compromised in other security breaches, which are easily available on the dark web. Any account at risk of deletion will receive “multiple notifications” before any action is taken, Google said, including to any associated recovery email addresses. The tech giant has already begun sending emails to those affected, telling users it is “to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorised access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services”. Losing access to a Gmail account could also potentially prevent people from using other online platforms and services that are associated with that email address, even if they are not related to Google. In order to keep an account active and avoid being deleted, Google users are advised to open or send an email, use Google Drive, download an app on the Google Play Store, or simply make a Google Search while logged in to the account. Any account that has posted a video to YouTube will also not be impacted, regardless of when it was last active. Read More ‘Is AI dangerous?’ UK’s most Googled questions about artificial intelligence Big tech poses ‘existential threat’ to UK journalism, survey of editors finds Political ads on Instagram and Facebook can be deepfakes, Meta says

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 3, 2023--

Rising interest rates in the US and Europe are forcing environmentally focused investors to rethink a market long-considered

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023--

Tether, the digital token that underpins much of cryptocurrency world’s ecosystem, saw its market capitalization decline for the

An orcas diet consists of Chinook salmon and can eat up to two dozen fish a day - so why is it that the killer whales like to bully porpoises despite them not being part of their diet? That's the question which has left scientists scratching their heads, as the study published in Marine Mammal Science seeks to add further understanding to this subject. Around 78 cases of orcas targeting porpoises were noted by researchers from the UK, USA and Canada. It was said to be happening in the Salish Sea (located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington). Some of the orcas' bullying tactics include pushing the porpoise along with their nose, holding the porpoise in their mouth, balancing the porpoise above water, slapping the porpoise with their tail, and raking the porpoise with their teeth, according to Science Alert. Killer whales also use porpoises as playthings as they catch them before letting them and proceeding to chase them once more - and they even play toss them around in a 'pass the porpoise' game, say whale watchers. That's some textbook tormenting. Out of these sightings, 28 of them have ended in the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) or a Dall's porpoise being suspected to have been killed, though there's no record of the porpoises being eaten by the orcas. In terms of size, the porpoise is said to be fairly small being a similar size to a Chinook salmon - a large fish species that can grow up to 1.5 meters (5 feet). There are three theories that have been considered by the experts. Firstly, the bullying is all about creating coordination, and cohesion within the group of orcas, or alternatively that the orcas do this as a form of hunting practice. The final theory is that orcas could be trying to look after weak porpoises as if they were their own aka 'displaced epimeletic behaviour.' This mismothering behaviour – also known as 'displaced epimeletic behaviour' to scientists – might be due to their limited opportunities to look after youngsters as the stat shows. "Our research has shown that due to malnutrition, nearly 70 per cent of Southern Resident killer whale pregnancies have resulted in miscarriages or calves that died right away after birth." It seems that orcas are not the only bullies of the seas, as smaller dolphins e.g. bottlenose have similarly been seen harassing and killing for no clear reason. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Elon Musk may want to send “tweet” back to the birds, but the ubiquitous term for posting on the site he now calls X is here to stay — at least for now

Try these games if you're into Lethal Company.

US President Joe Biden voiced support for regulations that would require cable and satellite TV providers to give