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The YouTube video starts with a popular British children's cartoon character, Peppa Pig , introducing herself and her family, but there are signs of trouble almost immediately. During the ninth second, Peppa's mother opens her mouth and shouts, "Smoke weed!" The video - a doctored version of a real Peppa episode - deteriorates from there. Over five minutes, there are explosions and racial and homophobic slurs, culminating with Peppa and her parents in dark sunglasses smoking marijuana as rapper Snoop Dogg dances nearby. Since it was uploaded in 2015, the altered video, which has no age restrictions, has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. After years of vowing to police inappropriate content, YouTube continues to deliver violent imagery, drug references, sexually-suggestive sequences and foul, racially-charged language in clips that reach children at a troubling pace, say researchers, parents and consumer groups. YouTube's recommendation algorithm, they say, … [Read more...] about Young children can easily see disturbing content on YouTube despite age restrictions

Emily Clarkson, daughter of Jeremy Clarkson , has said she gets “cyberflashed relentlessly” on Instagram and criticised the social media platform for not doing enough to stop the behaviour. The 27-year-podcast host revealed she was inspired by “women smarter than me” to respond to the men who send unsolicited sexual images with a fake automated message. Clarkson, who hosts the podcast Should I Delete That? , said her devised response says: “Our AI technology has recognised you have sent this. If you believe it was a mistake, please reply ‘Help’ or your account will be terminated by the end of the day.” She added: “It’s great to see all these men writing back, ‘Help!’.” Clarkson is one of a group of female social media influencers who have been calling for laws that apply to sexual harassment and flashing in real life to be applied online. Recommended MGK wrote an entire film when he thought Megan Fox was breaking up with him One in … [Read more...] about Emily Clarkson says she gets ‘cyberflashed relentlessly’ on Instagram

Scarcely a day seems to go by without some Tory MP making a fool of themselves by wading in and trying to be helpful to people struggling with the cost of living crisis. It’s getting to be like Wordle, a regular little tweet – you know it’s coming, even though you can’t say exactly what it will be – in this case, which particular backbencher or member of the government will come up with some outstandingly patronising piece of “advice”. Unlike Wordle, however, what the Tories say is an insult to intelligence. The latest one is somebody called Rachel Maclean, who is a junior minister in charge of safeguarding and partly responsible for that great public policy success – the Afghan refugee resettlement scheme. Her top tip for folks in poverty is to go out and get a better job , and if you can’t do that then beg your employer to let you work longer hours. In her words: “We have often heard in the past when people are facing problems with their budgets that one of the … [Read more...] about Struggling with the cost of living? The Tories think it’s all your own fault

Bette Midler has faced criticism for encouraging mothers to “try breastfeeding ,” during the current baby formula shortage in the United States. The 76-year-old actor discussed breastfeeding in a recent post on Twitter , responding to MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle’s tweet about a what she’s learned about the baby formula production market through the shortage. “The baby formula shortage reveals an amazing secret oligopoly: Three American companies control over 90 per cent of the market,” Ruhle wrote. “Hugely restrictive regulations (thanks to big 5 lobbying) prohibit foreign formulas.” “Name another industry/sector/product like this,” she added. In response, Midler tweeted: “TRY BREASTFEEEDING! It’s free and available on demand.” Recommended Hocus Pocus sequel, starring original cast, coming to Disney+ in 2022 Bette Midler apologises after ‘outburst’ in which she called West Virginia ‘poor, illiterate’ Bette Midler, Berry Gordy … [Read more...] about Bette Midler faces backlash for telling mothers to ‘try breastfeeding’ their babies amid formula shortage

Revenge porn victims could be granted anonymity as part of a review of the laws around online abuse. MPs and campaigners have been calling for victims to be protected from further harassment after the sharing of private or sexual images or videos of a person without their consent was made a criminal offence in 2015. Survivor Lena Chen previously told The Independent how she had to leave the US and change her name when she was harassed for years after her ex-boyfriend’s posted of intimate photos online. The Law Commission is to consider the case for granting revenge porn victims automatic anonymity, which is currently standard for sexual offences, as part of a wide-ranging review. The independent body will also look at whether current laws are sufficient to tackle the emerging offence of “cyberflashing ”, where victims are sent unsolicited sexual photos and “deepfake” pornography that sees victims’ faces added to explicit videos. UK news in pictures … [Read more...] about Revenge porn victims could be granted anonymity in review of online abuse laws

Starbucks on Monday became the latest major U.S. company to offer coverage for travel costs for employees seeking abortions out of state. The Seattle-based coffee giant follows the likes of Amazon , CitiGroup, Tesla , and Yelp, which have made similar pledges as numerous states work to roll back abortion rights or ban the practice outright. The coverage Starbucks plans to offer will be part of its benefits package for employees, and will therefore also be extended to dependents, according to U.S. News. "Regardless of what the Supreme Court ends up deciding, we will always ensure our partners have access to quality health care," Sara Kelly, Starbucks acting executive vice president of partner resources, said in a letter announcing the new coverage. In the letter, Kelly referred to the leaked Supreme Court opinion draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito , indicating that the court will soon overturn the landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade , which guaranteed access to … [Read more...] about Starbucks breaks silence on abortion issues, will pay employee travel costs

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said Monday that Ukraine is the only country that encourages "Nazism" at the state level, and some Russians are now accusing NATO hopeful Sweden of having a similar position. "But nowhere at the state level are the Nazis glorified. Nowhere," Putin said during a Moscow summit, according to Russian-state-owned news agency Ria Novosti. "And nowhere in civilized countries are thousands of neo-Nazi torchlight processions with neo-Nazi symbols encouraged by the authorities. This is not done anywhere. Unfortunately, this is happening in Ukraine." Putin has repeatedly declared that one of Russia's goals in invading Ukraine is the "denazification" of its neighbor , but Ukraine, whose president is Jewish, has strongly refuted the allegations that its government is led by Nazis. Meanwhile, as Putin has focused on purported Nazis in Ukraine, posters have reportedly emerged on Moscow's streets accusing some famous Swedish figures of supporting … [Read more...] about Putin keeps “Nazism” focus on Ukraine as Russians point to NATO hopeful

Author and former editor of Vanity Fair , Tina Brown, has said that Prince Andrew has "always been a dim bulb and something of an oaf," but that he has become "obsessed" with making a royal return to form after retiring from public life in the wake of a sexual assult allegations brought against him by accusor Virginia Giuffre . The prince has denied any allegation of wrongdoing and earlier this year settled out of court a lawsuit brought against him by Giuffre related to her claims. It was reported that the prince settled the lawsuit for an estimated $10 million before Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee so as not to detract from the national events. "Andrew has always been a dim bulb and something of an oaf, let's face it," Brown told 60 Minutes Australia in connection with her new book The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil. "Andrew has been canceled essentially," she added in regard to the negative public opinion of the royal … [Read more...] about Andrew ‘obsessed’ with making royal return, using queen to do it

Prince Charles' palace allies played an "unpleasant game of one-upmanship" with Queen Elizabeth II 's staff in the days after Princess Diana's death, according to a new biography. Andrew Morton caused a political storm in the 1990s when his book Diana: Her True Story revealed Charles' affair with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, for the first time. Now he has written a new book, The Queen , which details how courtiers loyal to the Prince of Wales attempted to shield the future king from the public's wrath. The book quotes an official present with the royals in the week after Diana's death, who reportedly said: "One of the most dangerous things which took place during those fraught days was that the two palaces were totally at odds with each other." Morton wrote: "In the early stages, the prince's spin doctors at St James's Palace tried to portray Charles as decisive and democratic while painting all the Queen's men as dithering, delaying and hiding behind precedent … [Read more...] about Prince Charles allies accused of briefing against Queen after Diana’s death

Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning Finland and Sweden about joining NATO , saying an expansion in membership could bring a heightened response from his own Russia-led military alliance. On Monday, Putin spoke alongside leaders from Russia's allies in Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at a Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Moscow. He called on the countries to streamline their operations and ensure that various law enforcement agencies and security services are working in coordination, adding that his administration will equip forces with the latest weaponry. "I'm positive that these measures will help to improve the level of coordination, combat readiness of our forces, and generally speaking, the peacekeeping potential of forces," Putin said, according to a translation from Russian state media RT. His remarks come after Finland confirmed last week that it will apply to join NATO after decades of military nonalignment. Sweden's … [Read more...] about Putin’s trying to ramp up allies’ military capabilities to counter NATO