Software tackling deepfakes to be piloted for Scottish and Welsh elections
Election officials are working “at speed” with the Home Office on a pilot project to combat the use of deepfakes to target candidates standing in this year’s Scottish and Welsh elections.Officials at the Electoral Commission in Scotland said they and the Home Office expected software capable of detecting AI-generated deepfake videos and images to be operational before election campaigns begin in late March.Sarah Mackie, the commission’s chief in Scotland, said that if the software detected a hoax video or image, officials would contact the police, the candidate concerned and inform the public, although she acknowledged it could not always provide 100% certainty.They would then urge the social media platform to take the content down, she said.However, because such action is currently voluntary, the commission also wants legally enforceable “takedown” powers that would require media platforms to remove hoax material.
She said the commission had urged the UK government to consider introducing such powers,“What we don’t have at the moment, and what we want, is called takedown powers – where we approach social media companies and demand something is taken down,” Mackie said,There are no known cases of deepfakes emerging during UK election campaigns, but their use has surged in elections abroad, a trend that has accelerated dramatically with the spread of free AI image-generation tools,British elections and referendums have repeatedly been targeted by often state-sponsored fake social media accounts from countries including Russia, Iran and North Korea, typically designed to spread dissent or amplify controversy,Speaking at a pre-election briefing for journalists in Edinburgh, Mackie said the commission was also working with the Scottish parliament and police on a “safety and confidence” project to support women and black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates who experience gender- or race-based abuse or harassment.
She said a study from 2022 found about half of all female election candidates had experienced abuse, with many saying they would not stand again.Candidates from minority-ethnic backgrounds also said the abuse made them too scared to stand again, undermining diversity at Holyrood.Mackie said the upsurge in AI-driven and pornographic “undressing” technology, particularly generated by Elon Musk’s Grok AI platform, would fall into that category if used during an election and would be reported to the police.Musk’s X and Grok platforms have been criticised for failing to remove fake, pornographic and harmful content, with senior politicians at Westminster calling for urgent action by the government and the media regulator Ofcom.Mackie said there was no clear legal role for the Electoral Commission or other agencies to regulate deepfakes during elections, but both the commission and Home Office needed to test what action they could take.
She said the pilot project could be rolled out for all UK elections if it proved successful.She said: “We don’t regulate campaigning but there is an empty space here where it’s a little bit like there’s lots of regulations surrounding the edge of the ring.“So what we are doing is just jumping into the centre of the ring by sort of saying, well, let’s see what we learn from this and then share it with the other people.”A Home Office spokesperson said the UK’s Online Safety Act required social media companies to remove unlawful content and to prevent the spread of false information that could cause psychological or physical harm.It said: “Protecting elections from the threat of sophisticated deepfakes is vital to maintaining public trust in our democratic system.
“This pilot will help to detect and tackle deepfake material and protect the public from the impact of disinformation.”
US hiring held firm in December capping weakest year of growth since pandemic
Hiring held firm in the US last month, official data showed, amid uncertainty over the strength and direction of the world’s largest economy.Employers added 50,000 jobs to the US labor force last month, capping the weakest year of growth since the pandemic, according to data released from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.The closely watched reading was slightly shy of the approximately 73,000 jobs economists expected to be added in the US economy in December.Previous readings for October and November were also revised lower, with the BLS now estimating that the US added 76,000 fewer jobs during those two months. In October, during the longest US government shutdown in history, the US economy shed 173,000 jobs
Glencore and Rio Tinto are at it again – and it seems the markets smell action
Here we go again. A combination of Rio Tinto and Glencore has been talked about for years and the duo held aborted negotiations at the end of 2024. With the global mining industry in deal-making mode – frenzies come along every 15 years or so – the idea of RioGlen or GlenTinto was due another whirl. On Friday, the two FTSE 100 companies said they were in “preliminary discussions” about a “possible combination of some or all of their businesses”. A full-blown tie-up would be worth about $260bn (£120bn), including debt
Robots that can do laundry and more, plus unrolling laptops: the standout tech from CES 2026
This year will be filled with robots that can fold your laundry, pick up objects and climb stairs, fridges that you can command to open by voice, laptops with screens that can follow you around the room on motorised hinges and the reimagining of the BlackBerry phone.Those are the predictions from the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas that took place this week. The sprawling event aims to showcase cutting-edge technology developed by startups and big brands.Many of these fancy developments will be available to actually buy, moving from outlandish concepts to production devices, although some are still limited to costly prototypes.The rise of the humanoid robot continues, with the show floor filled with myriad prototypes, some of which operated autonomously rather than being remotely controlled or performing set routines this year
No 10 condemns ‘insulting’ move by X to restrict Grok AI image tool
Downing Street has condemned the move by X to restrict its AI image creation tool to paying subscribers as insulting, saying it simply made the ability to generate explicit and unlawful images a premium service.There has been widespread anger after the image tool for Grok, the AI element of X, was used to manipulate thousands of images of women and sometimes children to remove their clothing or put them in sexual positions.Grok announced in a post on X, which is owned by Elon Musk, that the ability to generate and edit images would be “limited to paying subscribers”. Those who pay have to provide personal details, meaning they could be identified if the function was misused.Asked about the change, a Downing Street spokesperson said it was unacceptable
Racing holds its breath as deep freeze threatens weekend programme
The valuable meetings at Warwick and Kempton on Saturday are subject to inspections at 8am due to the threat of overnight frost as cold weather continues to threaten the racing programme.Kempton was initially declared fit for racing on Friday afternoon but a revised forecast for sub-zero temperatures overnight forced Barney Clifford, the clerk of the course, to adopt a more cautious approach.“We’re now forecast a -2C or possibly -3C [frost] tonight,” Clifford said, “so it’s prudent to call a precautionary inspection.”Nessie Chanter, the clerk of the course at Warwick, said that the course was “raceable at present” but the forecast was for a -2C frost between 4am and 8am overnight.A field of 17 runners is due to go to post for Kempton’s Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle at 3
Your Guardian sport weekend: FA Cup third round, NFL playoffs begin and the WSL returns
There’s no better way to ease into the football weekend than our essential rolling blog. Sarah Rendell and David Tindall buckle up to bring you breaking news and insights from around the grounds as the Premier League elite join the fray for the FA Cup’s third round. Saturday’s potential giantkillings see Macclesfield meet Crystal Palace, Manchester City host Exeter, Wolves face Shrewsbury Town, Charlton confront London rivals Chelsea and Burnley face off against Millwall, not forgetting the all-Premier League clash of Tottenham v Aston Villa. Why not join the conversation by emailing matchday.live@theguardian
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