As a part of its “next generation propaganda aspirations,” the U.S. government plans to use deepfake videos, according to a recent report. While it’s warning employees of deepfake job applications and developing tools to detect it, it appears that the government doesn’t have an issue with using deepfake videos for its own agenda.
The US Department of Defense has formally blacklisted DJI as a “Chinese military company”
It seems that DJI is facing even more struggles in the US as the Department of Defense (DoD) adds the companies to the list of Chinese companies on its official blacklist classifying them as a “Chinese military company”. DJI’s been facing problems with the US government since at least 2017 when the US Army banned the use of DJI drones over perceived cyber vulnerabilities. DJI was then added to the US Economic Blacklist in 2020.
Being added to various blacklists doesn’t seem to have stopped the sale of DJI products in the USA but this latest addition to the DoD alleges that DJI is a Chinese military company, something which DJI has disputed many times now. The DoD announcement adds DJI along with a dozen other Chinese companies to the list, joining the 28 others previously included.
End of DJI? Company goes under United States blacklist
Chinese drone manufacturer DJI has been added to the US economic blacklist. According to the US Government’s Commerce Department, DJI is one of four companies that “enabled wide-scale human rights abuses within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-technology surveillance.”
UK Government decides to pay artists: Hiring photographer for $78K a year
The UK Government has just announced that they’re hiring an official photographer. If you need a job and miss travels in these crazy times, it may be a good opportunity for you. The yearly salary is £60,000, and you’ll get to travel and take photos of the UK Government and its ministers.
Photographer speaks up after her photo was used in disgraceful UK Government ad: “I was devastated”
Earlier this week, the UK Government came under fire over a “crass” campaign photo. It shows a young ballet dancer and a caption reading: “Fatima’s next job could be in cyber (she just doesn’t know it yet). Rethink. Reskill. Reboot.” Atlanta-based photographer Krys Alex shot the original image, and she spoke up about the incident. She says that she was “devastated” when she found out how her photo was used, and that she would have never allowed it.
UK Government marketing campaign devalues artists while using free images from Unsplash
Coronavirus has hit all of us, but artists and creators are among those who were hit really hard. UK Government decided to hit them even harder in a marketing campaign that completely devaluates their jobs. Not only does it mock artists, but it also uses free photos found on Unsplash, So, it’s no wonder that it faced a strong backlash and it was soon taken down.
Are your social media photos ending up in a law enforcement database?
Facial recognition is an incredibly useful consumer tool for organizing our burgeoning photo albums. Companies like Google and Apple have slowly integrated machine learning algorithms into their consumer photo products, which allow you to search by keywords without the need for manual tagging, or to simply click on a face to see more photos of that person.
“Racist” Government passport system rejects black man’s photo despite meeting all criteria
Although facial recognition technology uses artificial intelligence, it’s not always very intelligent. The Government’s facial detection system recently rejected a perfectly appropriate passport photo of a young black man because it thought his mouth was open.
DJI may be next on the US blacklist after “cyberespionage” warning
According to the BBC, the US government has issued an alert warning that Chinese-made drones may pose potential cyberespionage risks to American businesses. They say that the warning does not specifically name DJI, however, in September last year, Skylogic Research’s 2018 Drone Market Sector Report lists DJI as having an estimated 74% market share.
This isn’t the first time the US government has aired concerns over DJI products. The US Army dropped DJI drone use citing “cyber vulnerabilities” in September 2017. And they were accused of spying for the Chinese government just a couple of months later.
Homeland Security hires full-time photographer, paying $100,000 a year
The Department of Homeland Security has recently listed an ad searching for a photographer. The position is open to the public, and they’re looking for a full-time employee. The salary ranges from $79,720 to $103,639 per year and includes government benefits.
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