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Metas Oversight Board has weighed in on its first Threads case and reversed the companys initial decision and first appeal. Regarding a post about the outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, using a phrase that translates to drop dead / die in English, the board determined the phrase was used figuratively and not as a literal threat or call to violence. The case was sparked by a Threads post showing a news article about Kishida and his reaction to his political partys (ahem) fundraising irregularities. The caption criticized the Prime Minister, accusing him of tax evasion. The users reply demanded an explanation from the government leader and, calling him a tax evader, used the phrase , or drop dead / die. The post also included hah and derogatory language about people who wear glasses. (Watch yourself there, partner!) The post went largely unnoticed, with no likes. But someone reported it under Metas Bullying and Harassment rules. After three weeks, one of Metas reviewers determined it instead broke the Violence and Incitement rules. The user appealed, and another reviewer agreed with the first that it violated the policy. One more appeal teed up the issue for the board, which accepted the case and overruled the two human reviewers who removed it. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio KishidaThe Government of Japan In this case, the threat against a political leader was intended as non-literal political criticism calling attention to alleged corruption, using strong language, which is not unusual on Japanese social media, Metas Oversight Board wrote in its explanation. It was unlikely to cause harm. The board considered the posters use of hah to help determine its figurative sense. The board said that, despite speaking Japanese and understanding local content, the moderators who removed the post were in error. It recommends Meta clarify its internal guidelines and offer more guidance for reviewers on how to evaluate language and local content. Metas Oversight Board added that the Violence and Incitement policy includes a rule prohibiting the phrase death to against high-risk persons isnt clear enough. It said that while the companys policy rationale suggests context matters in threat evaluation, its reviewers arent empowered to assess cases involving the death to phrase. The board echoed its 2022 recommendation for Meta to explain that rhetorical threats using the phrase are generally allowed, except when directed at high-risk individuals, and to provide criteria on when threatening statements directed at heads of state are permitted to protect rhetorical political speech. Further, the board recommended that Meta clarify how the policy differs for public figures vs. high-risk persons. It calls out the confusion over why threats against public figures are only removed when credible. In contrast, those against others are axed regardless of credibility. The Oversight Board has had a busy September after deciding on only 53 cases last year. Last week, it ruled that the phrase From the River to the Sea shouldnt be banned and, in a case with some parallels to this one, it separated death threats from aspirational statements in Venezuela.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/in-its-first-threads-case-metas-oversight-board-asked-for-clarity-on-death-threats-170630647.html?src=rss
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Amazons Fire HD 8 tablet is more than half off, bringing the cost down to just $55. The original asking price is a whopping $130, so this is quite a bargain. As a matter of fact, its just $5 shy of the Amazon Prime Day price. This is a decent tablet, even at the original sum. It boasts a hexa-core processor, 13 hours of battery life per charge, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a microSD slot for up to 1TB of additional storage. Its fairly thin and light, making it a budget-friendly option for a kick around the house tablet. Just plop it on the nightstand and use it for emergency Netflix sessions. We recommended the tablet in our official review, calling it a great communal device. Its not going to win any design awards, but it gets the job done. There are two caveats. First of all, this is an ad-supported model. There are ads on the lockscreen. I hate advertisements with the heat of 1,000 suns, but this never bothered me. The whole thing is fairly innocuous. The other potential downside involves the app store. This tablet can only access the Amazon Appstore and not Google Play. Youll be able to find all of the big apps and games, but the more niche titles may not be available. Amazon is also selling the slightly beefier Fire HD 10 tablet for $90, which is close to its Prime Day price. This one boasts a 10.1 FHD screen, an octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM. October Prime Day 2024 is around the corner, serving as Amazons (un)official kickoff to the holiday shopping season. If youre eager to snag some early holiday deals for those on your list (or yourself), heres what we know so far about the next Prime Day shopping event. When is October Prime Day 2024? Amazon has not announced the dates of fall Prime Day 2024 yet, but we do know it will be returning sometime in October. What is October Prime Day? October Prime Day is an extension of the regular Prime Day sale held annually in July. It features exclusive deals on Amazon for Prime members, although not quite on as big of a scale as the main summer Prime Day. How long is October Prime Day? In years past, October Prime Day has been two days long, just like Prime Day in July.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-fire-hd-8-tablet-is-more-than-half-off-and-close-to-its-prime-day-price-164258054.html?src=rss
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The headline feature of the AirPods 4 may be active noise cancellation (ANC), but Apple has done well to improve the overall audio quality in addition to blocking environmental sounds. For the first time on the "regular" AirPods ANC is on the spec sheet, at least for one model, and there are a few key components that allow the earbuds to effectively cancel noise. And that's despite the fact that your ears aren't completely sealed off with a flexible tip. There are also specific changes to the AirPods 4 that improve overall sound quality, a feat that's impressive in its own right for open design earbuds. When it comes to the ANC setup on AirPods 4, the combination of a refined earbud shape, the power of the H2 chip and upgraded microphones work in unison for useful noise cancellation. Apple isn't the first to offer ANC on open-type earbuds. I've reviewed dozens of sets of earbuds over the years, and after a few minutes with the AirPods 4, I would argue the company is the first to actually employ noise cancelling in a way that's actually helpful while not fully sealing off your ears. The ANC setup here obviously blocks noise, which isn't always the case with this type of buds. Apple has amassed a database of thousands of ear scans and 50 million data points, both of which contributed to the tapered design and reduced proportions of the AirPods 4. Those changes mean the earbuds fit better in more people's ears. A better fit means the ANC tech is less reliant on a complete seal to do its thing, but also it means that the earbuds should be more comfortable to wear. The updated microphones have both a lower noise floor and higher frequency bandwidth. This means that the system can detect a wider range of sounds that it may need to block out. Plus, there's advanced computational audio at work for the ANC here, powered by the H2 chip. This component also enables the features from AirPods Pro to be available on AirPods 4, from Voice Isolation to Siri Interactions and more. Billy Steele for Engadget The addition of ANC arrives alongside transparency mode on the regular AirPods for the first time. I want to note that while I did observe less than ideal performance in a brief trial in the busy hands-on area after the event, the sound quality here should be just as natural as what's on the AirPods Pro. There could be a number of reasons why I couldn't hear my voice come through as clearly on this new model, including the fact that the demo room was wall-to-wall with journalists all raucously vying for the same limited real estate. Apple also sought to drastically improve the overall sound quality on the AirPods 4, and a key way it did so is really quite simple. Rather than having the driver pointed towards the side of your ear, the company repositioned it so that the audio is pointed directly into your ear canal. That change also reduced the number of audio reflections inside the AirPods housing, which allowed the company to enhance performance at higher frequencies. The result is increased overall clarity. There's also new acoustic architecture, a new low-distortion 11 millimeter driver and a new high dynamic range amp. The result of all of those sonic changes on the AirPods 4 is an obvious boost in overall sound quality. After a brief listening session, I can vouch for the increased clarity the company described in its announcement, as well as a deeper, fuller effect on the audio. You'll notice a big difference between these and the third-gen AirPods, even if you don't spring for the ANC version. Catch up on all the news from Apples iPhone 16 event!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/the-key-updates-that-make-airpods-4-block-sound-better--and-just-sound-better-160744010.html?src=rss
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