WhatsApp being used to target Palestinians through Israel’s Lavender AI system
Targets’ selection based on membership to some WhatsApp groups, new report reveals
Accusation raises questions about app’s privacy and encryption claims
Updated 20 April 2024
Arab News
LONDON: WhatsApp is allegedly being used to target Palestinians through Israel’s contentious artificial intelligence system, Lavender, which has been linked to the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, recent reports have revealed.
Earlier this month, Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call published a report by journalist Yuval Abraham, exposing the Israeli army’s use of an AI system capable of identifying targets associated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
This revelation, corroborated by six Israeli intelligence officers involved in the project, has sparked international outrage, as it suggested Lavender has been used by the military to target and eliminate suspected militants, often resulting in civilian casualties.
In a recent blog post, software engineer and activist Paul Biggar highlighted Lavender’s reliance on WhatsApp.
He pointed out how membership in a WhatsApp group containing a suspected militant can influence Lavender’s identification process, highlighting the pivotal role messaging platforms play in supporting AI targeting systems like Lavender.
“A little-discussed detail in the Lavender AI article is that Israel is killing people based on being in the same WhatsApp group as a suspected militant,” Bigger wrote. “There’s a lot wrong with this.”
He explained that users often find themselves in groups with strangers or acquaintances.
A lot of difficult questions for Meta before that trust can be rebuilt, and I don't honestly believe that Meta can or will answer them pic.twitter.com/vaeLbg9hx3
Biggar also suggested that WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, may be complicit, whether knowingly or unknowingly, in these operations.
He accused Meta of potentially violating international humanitarian law and its own commitments to human rights, raising questions about the privacy and encryption claims of WhatsApp’s messaging service.
The revelation is just the latest of Meta’s perceived attempts to silence pro-Palestinian voices.
Since before the beginning of the conflict, the Menlo Park giant has faced accusations of double standards favoring Israel.
In February, the Guardian revealed that Meta was considering the expansion of its hate speech policy to the term “Zionist.”
More recently, Meta quietly introduced a new feature on Instagram that automatically limits users’ exposure to what it deems “political” content, a decision criticized by experts as a means of systematically censoring pro-Palestinian content.
Responding to requests for comment, a WhatsApp spokesperson said that the company could not verify the accuracy of the report but assured that “WhatsApp has no backdoors and does not provide bulk information to any government.”
Event in London asks whether advanced technology might be key to longer life
ATOM Conference explores ways in which advances in AI, quantum computing and biomedical sciences might revolutionize healthcare and extend lifespans
‘We have spent a lot of money on ... things to understand the non-living universe but … we don’t understand our bodies,’ says Armen Sarkissian, former president of Armenia
Updated 23 November 2024
Arab News
LONDON: Experts in the fields of healthcare and technology gathered for the ATOM Conference at London’s National Science Museum to explore the ways in which advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biomedical sciences might revolutionize healthcare and extend human life.
They focused in particular on how best to leverage cutting-edge technologies to aid understanding of the “living universe” with the aim of improving health so that 100-year lifespans become the norm.
“Life matters. At the end of the day, whatever is happening on our planet, for us it’s about life,” Armen Sarkissian, the former president of Armenia, said during his opening remarks to delegates.
“We have spent a lot of money on our accelerators, our space stations, observation telescopes and many other things to understand the non-living universe but I realized that I don’t understand my body; we don’t understand our bodies.”
Sarkissian, who trained as a physicist and computer scientist before becoming a politician, was joined at the conference by an array of prominent expert speakers, including: Irene Tracey, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford; physicist Konstantin Novoselov, a Nobel prize-winner for his work on graphene; and Eric Xing, the president of Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi.
King Charles, a friend of Sarkissian, was scheduled to attend the conference but his speech was instead delivered by a spokesperson. In it, the monarch emphasized the royal family’s commitment to medical innovation, noting in particular his own interest in cancer research and treatment.
“Many of you will know that earlier this year (the king) was diagnosed with cancer, and (he is) very keen that other people should gain some benefit from his diagnosis,” said Dr. Michael Dixon, head of the Royal Medical Household.
“Perhaps he is more aware than any of us of the extraordinary potential to unleash a healthier future for us all.”
The conference was organized by the ATOM Institute, which was founded by Sarkissian and his son Vardan, the Science Museum and Singapore University.
Speakers highlighted the fact that our limited understanding of the living universe contrasts sharply with our advanced knowledge of many aspects of the non-living one. The discussions also considered the effects of conflicts and climate change on global health.
“We are living a time where there are devastating wars worldwide; in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Armenia and elsewhere in the world, hundreds of thousands of lives are being lost,” Sarkissian said.
“You can restore a bridge, you can restore a house, you can restore many things (but) how on earth do you restore lives that are destroyed? How on earth do you (restore) the millions of people who are wounded? How do you restore the mental problems and depression of tens of millions of people (resulting from) our activity?”
Other panel discussions considered pressing health-related challenges such antimicrobial resistance, which was recently highlighted at the UN General Assembly, and the resilience of healthcare systems during pandemics and natural disasters.
Specialist sessions focused on the growing global crisis in mental health; the transformative potential of AI in the health sector, including its implications for patient care, diagnostics and longevity; and ethical challenges relating to data security and privacy.
The ATOM Institute, the name of which stands for “Advanced Tomorrow,” seeks to foster collaborations on issues spanning geopolitics, medical innovation and technological breakthroughs with the aim of revolutionizing healthcare and extending the human lifespan.
OpenAI considers taking on Google with browser, the Information reports
OpenAI has already entered the search market with SearchGPT
Google commands the lion’s share of the browser and search market
Updated 22 November 2024
Reuters
ChatGPT-owner OpenAI has recently considered developing a web browser that would combine with its chatbot and has separately discussed or struck deals to power search features, the Information reported on Thursday.
OpenAI has spoken about the search product with website and app developers such as Conde Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite and Priceline, the report said, citing people who have seen prototypes or designs of the products.
Google and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The move could pit the Sam Altman-led company against search giant Google, which commands the lion’s share of the browser and search market. OpenAI has already entered the search market with SearchGPT.
Alphabet shares were down 1 percent after the bell, after falling nearly 5 percent in regular trading on Thursday.
Snap launches new office, first hub for creators in Saudi Arabia
Diriyah’s JAX District is location for platform
Move will support partnership with Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture
Updated 22 November 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Snap is expanding its presence in Saudi Arabia with the launch of a new office and the Kingdom’s first creator hub, named Majlis Snap for Content Creators, in Diriyah’s JAX District, near Riyadh.
Majlis Snap for Content Creators will serve as a platform to grow and support the local creator community through training, educational programs and opportunities for collaboration.
The opening ceremony of the new office was attended by Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc.; Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih; and Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha.
The event featured a conversation between Spiegel and Jomana Al-Rashid, the CEO of the Saudi Research and Media Group, about Snap’s growth and popularity in the Kingdom.
Spiegel also hosted exclusive sessions with content creators to commemorate the launch of Majlis Snap for Content Creators.
The establishment of the new office will support Snap’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture by upskilling local talent.
Abdulla Alhammadi, managing director of Snap Inc. in Saudi Arabia, said that the Kingdom was one of the company’s “most dynamic growth markets” and the investment would “enhance the experience” of both Snapchat users and advertisers.
Hussein Freijeh, the vice president of Snap Inc. in the Middle East and North Africa region, said that the company’s expansion in Saudi Arabia “symbolizes more than just a physical presence,” and represented “a deeper commitment to enhancing Saudi Arabia’s digital ecosystem.”
He added: “This marks a huge milestone in our journey in KSA, and we look forward to strengthening our connection with Saudi partners and clients, in line with the country’s digital transformation agenda.”
Snapchat has 25 million active monthly users in the Kingdom, reaching 90 percent of those aged between 13 and 34, with users opening it 50 times a day on average.
An AI-powered tool aims to combat fake news in the Arab world and beyond
Developed jointly with EU academic institutions, FRAPPE is the brainchild of Preslav Nakov of Abu Dhabi’s MBZUAI
System trained with 23 different linguistic techniques, can identify specific persuasion and propaganda techniques
Updated 22 November 2024
Sulafa Alkhunaizi
RIYADH: Rising concern over disinformation’s role in manipulating public opinion has motivated Preslav Nakov, a professor at the UAE’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, to develop an AI-powered tool for detecting propaganda.
FRAPPE, short for Framing, Persuasion and Propaganda Explorer, is designed to assess news framing techniques and identify potential instances of information manipulation.
Nakov, chair of the natural language processing department and professor of natural language processing at the Abu Dhabi-based MBZUAI, said that AI plays a central role in FRAPPE by analyzing, categorizing and detecting complex patterns that influence readers’ opinions and emotions.
The tool offers real-time, on-the-fly analysis of individual articles while enabling a comprehensive comparison of framing and persuasion strategies across a wide range of media outlets, he told Arab News.
The UN defines disinformation as inaccurate information deliberately created and disseminated with the intent to deceive the public and cause serious harm. It can be spread by both state and non-state actors and can affect human rights, fuel armed conflict and undermine public policy responses.
The Global Risks Report 2024 by the World Economic Forum identifies misinformation and disinformation as a top short-term global risk. These forms of deceptive communication not only mislead the public but also erode trust, deepen societal divisions and threaten fundamental human rights.
Nevertheless, the WEF highlighted in an article in June that while AI technologies are being used in the production of both misinformation and disinformation, they can be harnessed to combat this risk by analyzing patterns, language and context.
Prof. Preslav Nakov, developer of an AI-powered tool for detecting propaganda. (Supplied)
Nakov said that FRAPPE, trained with 23 different linguistic techniques, “uses AI to identify specific persuasion and propaganda techniques, such as name-calling, loaded language, appeals to fear, exaggeration and repetition.”
“FRAPPE further uses AI to perform framing analysis,” he said, adding that the tool distinguishes “the main perspectives from which an issue is being discussed: Morality, fairness, equality, political, and cultural identity.”
With a database of in excess of 2.5 million articles from more than 8,000 sources, the multilingual system enables users to explore and compare how different countries and outlets frame and present information.
DID YOUKNOW?
• Disinformation is the intentional spread of false information to sway public opinion.
• Propaganda often employs loaded language to elicit emotional reactions.
• A WEF report identifies disinformation and misinformation as a top short-term risk.
Moreover, to build the training data for the system, more than 40 journalists from several European countries contributed to the manual analysis of news content in 13 languages.
This manual analysis, according to Nakov, allows FRAPPE to discern the underlying frames that shape how stories are told and perceived. By identifying the dominant frames within an article, FRAPPE compares these across media sources, countries and languages, providing valuable insights into how framing varies globally.
FRAPPE is designed for a broad audience, including the general public, journalists, researchers, and even policymakers.
With an extensive database, FRAPPE's multilingual system enables users to explore and compare how different countries and outlets frame and present information. (Supplied)
“For the general user, FRAPPE serves as an educational tool to explore how news content is framed, enabling them to identify propaganda techniques like name-calling, flag-waving, loaded language and appeals to fear,” Nakov said.
“For journalists and policymakers, FRAPPE offers a powerful tool to examine and compare framing and persuasion strategies across different countries, languages and outlets,” he added.
The system relies on annotations from journalists who manually identified persuasion and propaganda techniques across a wide range of articles. This minimizes the risk of overly subjective or one-sided interpretations.
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
Transparency and unbiased analysis were fundamental in the development of FRAPPE. Nakov said: “Users should be aware that our models use neural networks and, as such, they lack explainability.”
He also warned that “despite our intent, due to potential unintended article selection biases, FRAPPE might be favoring some political or social standpoints.”
On the positive side, however, “FRAPPE has the potential to influence the way news articles are perceived and consumed, and journalists may become more aware of the language they use and its potential impact on readers.”
FRAPPE has the ability to spot persuasive or manipulative techniques in news content. (Supplied)
To spot persuasive or manipulative techniques in news content, Nakov advises readers and viewers to “watch out for emotional language designed to provoke strong reactions like fear or anger, and be mindful of loaded words, such as ‘radical’ and ‘heroic, which carry emotional weight.”
He urged readers to critically assess articles that rely too heavily on a single expert or selective quotes, stressing the importance of considering how different outlets might report the same event in contrasting ways.
To gain a clearer perspective, Nakov advises cross-checking sources and comparing how different media outlets cover the same story. This approach helps reveal varying angles, biases or framing techniques.
He also stressed that oversimplified “us versus them” narratives “often indicate manipulation, as do articles that frame an issue with a particular angle, leaving out important details.
FRAPPE has been featured in numerous EU workshops focused on combating fake news. (Supplied)
“False dilemmas, where only extreme choices are presented and repetitive phrases meant to reinforce a point are also red flags,” he said.
“FRAPPE envisions empowering individuals and institutions to make more informed decisions by revealing the framing and persuasion techniques embedded in media content. Its aim is to enhance transparency in journalism, promote trust in media and contribute to a more informed, media-literate public.”
Developed in collaboration with the European Commission’s Joint Research Center and several academic institutions across Europe, FRAPPE was launched ahead of the 2024 European Parliament election, held in the EU between June 6-9 this year.
The tool, integrated into the Europe Media Monitor, has been featured in numerous EU workshops focused on combating fake news.
Israel faces backlash for defacing Lebanese war memorials
At least 2 memorials honoring victims of Hula massacre targeted
Incidents are latest in series of alleged attacks on cultural, religious heritage sites
Updated 21 November 2024
Arab News
LONDON: Israel’s reported defacing of war memorials in Lebanon has ignited widespread outrage online, with critics accusing Tel Aviv of yet another “immoral” act during its ongoing conflict.
“A memorial in the village of Hula, commemorating the massacre committed by the Israeli army in 1948, defaced & desecrated with the above Hebrew graffiti, by Israel’s most immoral army in the world,” said Lebanese-British journalist and author Hala Jaber on X.
“A good Shi'ite is a dead Shi'ite", "Golani" -
A memorial in the village of Hula, commemorating the massacre committed by the Israeli army in 1948, defaced & desecrated with the above Hebrew graffiti, by Israel’s most immoral army in the world. pic.twitter.com/IH9RjHMvUc
According to online reports, which Arab News could not independently verify, Israel’s Golani Brigade allegedly vandalized a memorial in Hula — a southern Lebanese village — dedicated to victims of a 1948 massacre. Graffiti sprayed on the memorial reportedly read: “A good Shiite is a dead Shiite.”
The desecration has drawn sharp criticism, with users on social media highlighting the act as emblematic of broader issues within Israeli society.
A user said: “Netanyahu represents a large part of Israelis … no, the war and the atrocities committed by Israel are not only the work of Netanyahu … the evil of Israeli society is much deeper.”
Netanyahu représente bien une large partie des israéliens… non la guerre et les atrocités commises par Israël ne sont pas que l’œuvre de Netanyahu……… le mal de la société israélienne est beaucoup plus profond !!
L’Orient-Le Jour quoted Hula City Council Chairman Chakib Koteich confirming the vandalism, as well as the destruction of a monument commemorating the same massacre.
Funded by Lebanon’s Southern Council, the memorial was unveiled in 2002 in a ceremony led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
The memorial honored victims of the Oct. 31, 1948, Hula massacre, in which members of the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group, disguised as Arab Relief Army soldiers, surrounded and attacked the village.
Over two days, 80 residents — men, women, children, and the elderly — were killed and the village’s 250 homes destroyed.
The incidents are the latest in a series of alleged attacks on cultural and religious heritage sites in Lebanon and Gaza since October 2023.
Local media reported in November that Israeli forces had destroyed cemeteries and historic burial sites in southern Lebanon, including the ancient shrine of Prophet Benjamin in the village of Mhaibib.
Israeli forces were earlier accused of demolishing a memorial to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at the entrance to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
UNESCO recently placed 34 Lebanese heritage sites under “enhanced protection,” citing targeted strikes near World Heritage landmarks in Baalbek and Tyre. These areas, both Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds, are home to ancient Roman ruins of global cultural significance.
The outrage comes as the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza.
While the suspects are unlikely to face trial, the announcement could alter the dynamics of the current conflict, although its broader implications remain uncertain.
