In the United States, some Facebook (FB) users are receiving a prompt asking if they are concerned that someone they know is becoming radical. Others are being alerted about the possibility of being exposed to extremist information.
It’s all part of a test that Facebook is conducting as part of its Redirect Initiative, which tries to tackle violent extremism.

This experiment is part of a wider project to see how we can provide tools and help to people on Facebook who have interacted with or been exposed to extremist content, or who know someone who is.

“Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” one of the notifications reads, a screen grab of which went viral on social media Thursday.

According to a screenshot shared on social media, the alert stated, “We care about avoiding extremism on Facebook.” “Others in your situation have gotten discreet help,” she says.
The user is then directed to a support page by the alert.

Another alert reads, “Violent groups try to use your anger and disillusionment.” “You have the ability to protect yourself and others right now.”
The user is also redirected to a help page as a result of the notice.

Facebook is sending users to a range of resources, including Life After Hate, an advocacy group that helps people quit violent far-right movements.

Over the last few years, Facebook has been blasted by detractors for failing to take sufficient steps to combat extremist content on its platform. For example, in 2020, the firm was chastised for failing to take down a militia group’s Facebook page, which encouraged armed residents to go to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The company has also committed to do a better job of preventing the spread of false information and conspiracy theories. In May, Facebook’s independent oversight board encouraged the corporation to look into the role of its platform in the January 6 uprising.

The COVID-19 situation has shaped the global education system. Technology has affected our lives in almost every way. One of the most important revolutionary changes technology has made is with education. Classrooms now have smart-boards, students have tablets accessible as learning tools, and technology today makes distance learning and acquiring a degree easier than ever.

Universities like NC IUL is one of the few among many offering online degree acquisitions that are equally as accredited as the traditional, offline ones. Technology continuously improves the way we learn and the speed at which we can access huge amounts of information. Here is a quick overview of how technology has affected education and how it might be in the nearest future.

One of the most important aspects of technology in education has been its ability to create a global platform. Education with the help of technology has crossed borders globally and with a seamless transition. Online courses can be accessed by students across the world and people are able to have video conferences to offer a personalized teaching experience. Assessments are now all electronic and web based, making it easier for online students to receive results fast and effectively.

Remember carrying stacks of textbooks from class to class? Well, you can forget that now because textbooks are becoming digital. Students can have access to all of their learning materials in PDF files or online through their educational institutions. These eBooks make studying more affordable and accessible to students, increasing their ability to actually use the materials. This has been a huge shift from the reliance on paper-based books and will continue to revolutionize the way we learn.

You may not think of video games as a learning tool at first, but many of them have been designed to help students in many instances. Video games can help stimulate the mind to help with problem-solving skills by developing them to be more educationally goal-oriented. Even video games that are not educational on the surface may help us learn and gather information. This also goes along with mobile games. Many students have access to a smart device and can solve puzzles or learn on the go. Multimedia tools are also being used to enhance the educational experience. Videos and animation have created learning tools for the more visually oriented students making it more fun and engaging for those who can learn better this way.

Students are definitely becoming more engaged with technology tools because it is what they have grown up with. If you think about how most students in universities have been raised surrounded by video games, new gadgets, and the Internet, then you can understand how important technology has become for education. Students can access more information quicker from anywhere they might be with the aid of technological tools. What this shows is that the progression will be positive and help globalize education by creating a common language: new technology. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for our educational systems and how it will adapt to this encouraging trend.

With pressure on land and food resources set to increase, the Internet of Things (IoT) will play an increasingly important role in helping the agriculture sector become more efficient, productive and sustainable. This is according to new independent research commissioned by global mobile satellite company Inmarsat (ISAT.L) which found that spend on, and interest in, IoT is set to rocket over the next five years within agritech.

Market research specialist Vanson Bourne interviewed respondents from 100 large agritech companies across the globe for Inmarsat’s ‘The Future of IoT in Enterprise – 2017’ report, and found that the sector is rapidly taking to IoT technologies. 62 per cent had already fully or partially deployed IoT-based solutions, far outweighing the adoption levels seen in the mining, transport and energy sectors, and a further 27 per cent had plans to do so within the next six months.

Moreover, the spend on IoT-based solutions is set to increase dramatically over the next few years. Today, about five per cent of agritech businesses’ IT budgets are spent on the technology; a figure that is expected to more than double to around 12 per cent by 2022, indicating how important IoT will be for the sector going forward.

Commenting on the findings, Ayan Jobse-Alkemade, Director of Sector Development Agriculture, Inmarsat Enterprise, said: “With the planet estimated to reach a population of 10 billion people by 2050, humanity will face challenges with sustainable water sources, food production, and the best use of land to get the maximum yield from crops. Additionally, using the most efficient method to deliver the resources will increasingly feature on the global agenda. In short, farmers, with the help of the agritech sector, need to get smarter, leaner and faster from field to fork.

“The only way to really do this is with the clever application of new technologies like IoT, and our research demonstrates how quickly agritech businesses are embracing this technology. IoT will fuel a revolution in the farming sector and bring gains that completely eclipse those made in the first Green Revolution in the 1970s, continued Ayan Jobse-Alkemade” 

Working with its partners, Inmarsat is at the forefront of this movement, delivering effective solutions for agritech businesses globally. By combining its heritage in critical connectivity with LoRaWAN technology and data analytics platforms that allow for the free-flow of data across organisations, Inmarsat are helping to ensure agritech businesses get ahead of the competition and meet the food production needs of tomorrow.

Many of the locations that would benefit most from IoT technologies are remote and are situated where terrestrial networks do not reach, or do not work well, all of the time. Inmarsat’s L-band network provides global satellite connectivity with up to 99.9% uptime, allowing IoT projects to thrive, even in the most remote and hostile environments.

To view and download the full report – ‘The Future of IoT in Enterprise – 2017’ – visit: http://research.inmarsat.com/