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Video-streaming platforms such as TikTok, Snap and OnlyFans must verify the age of users and take down harmful, illegal content including hate speech and terrorism or face huge fines, media regulator Ofcom has warned. The UK regulator's guidelines, published today, offer clarity on the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations which came into effect last November, and allow Ofcom to levy penalties of up to 5 per cent of relevant turnover, or £250,000.
The regulator said that over the next 12 months it would focus on regulating highly sensitive areas such as child abuse, online hate and terror, under-18 protections on adult sites and processes around user reporting of harmful content on platforms. It will not adjudicate individual pieces of problematic content, but ensure that the companies themselves were transparent and consistent in how they dealt with illegal content on their platforms.
The guidance comes ahead of the UK's Online Safety bill, which aims to crack down on hate speech and bullying, currently being debated in parliament. Ofcom pointed out it was hiring staff across its technology and policy teams to cope with its new responsibilities. “Online videos play a huge role in our lives now, particularly for children. But many people see hateful, violent or inappropriate material while using them,” said Melanie Dawes, Ofcom chief executive. “The platforms where these videos are shared now have a legal duty to take steps to protect their users. So we're stepping up our oversight of these tech companies, while also gearing up for the task of tackling a much wider range of online harms in future.”
The guidance does not put pressure on video platforms to roll out any major product changes, such as new age verification technology, as Ofcom admits consumers could just switch to services with headquarters outside the UK. The regulator said it hoped to co-ordinate these requirements with counterparts in Europe and elsewhere, so there is a globally consistent regulatory framework.
But the guidance will only apply to video-streaming services platforms with a regional headquarters in the UK, and thus excludes YouTube, Netflix and Disney Plus. Regulation of YouTube content, for instance, falls to the Irish authorities, where its European headquarters are based. Analysts said the regulation and Ofcom guidelines were not “meaningful” and were “inherently set up to fail” as they did not address YouTube, the biggest video-streaming sector player.
“One thing we know about how national governments manage the digital environment is they are invariably late to the party, they are trying to solve yesterday's problems. But regulation needs to be fit for purpose,” said Tim Mulligan, video analyst at digital media researcher Midia Research. “All those players are acutely aware of the negative impacts of illegal content and a lot of work is already being done to regulate this.” He added: “The bigger question is how much time young people should be spending on these platforms and what is an ethical way to make profits.”
[A] fine some media platforms on their violations
[B] verify the identity information of media users
[C] offer clarity on the newly issued guidelines
[D] check illegal content on video-streaming platforms
[A] set up a team of online supervisors
[B] protect people from harmful content
[C] require the platforms to take a legal duty
[D] delete violent and hateful online videos
[A] offer consumers more choices
[B] improve the current framework
[C] promote technological progress
[D] achieve international recognition
[A] harm the interests of other countries
[B] don't make major changes
[C] are geographically limited
[D] lack technical verification
[A] inefficient
[B] irrational
[C] negative
[D] outdated
The British economy appeared to be gathering speed. The Bank of England raised interest rates to 7.25%. But how resilient was the consumer? The bigger puzzle was the property market. House-price inflation on the Halifax measure was in the mid-single digits. The Nationwide index had it rising into the teens. It was unclear which of these measurement indexes was right. Measuring house prices is trickier than measuring the price of shares or a basket of consumer goods. Getting a good handle on total returns is harder still. Long-run ground-level data on rental income and maintenance costs are rather scarce.
A new paper deals with these difficulties by drawing on the archives of the endowment funds of four Oxbridge (the universities of Oxford and Cambridge together) colleges, which for centuries have been big investors in property. The study finds that after-cost returns to housing were considerably lower in the 20th century than previously thought. Property is a far less attractive investment than you might expect.
Only a small fraction of houses change hands each year. They may not be representative of the overall stock, and thus of changes in housing wealth. The Oxbridge archives are rich enough to allow for the construction of something like an ideal property index, however. The study's authors dredged for detailed data on sales and purchases and on rents and maintenance costs over the period from 1901 to 1983. They used these ingredients to derive a consistent measure of long-run returns.
The results are fascinating. The net annual real return on residential property was 2.3%. That is surprisingly low. By comparison, “The Rate of Return on Everything”, an oft-cited study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics in 2019, puts the net returns on British housing at 4.7% over the same period.
What explains the discrepancy? Perhaps the Oxbridge sample is not representative of the returns that could have been achieved. Put bluntly, the colleges might have had unsuccessful portfolios (a range of investments held by a person or organization). The evidence on whether college endowments are good investors is mixed. But the study is clear that portfolios were well diversified by region and type, and were managed with a strong eye to long-term returns. Another explanation is that the bottom-up Oxbridge-based study is closer to the truth, because it has a better handle on the more distant past. Top-down housing data in Britain before around 1970 adjusts for neither mix nor quality. What looks like price appreciation or rising real rents may simply be quality improvement.
Look ahead, and there are big challenges for property investors. The COVID-19 pandemic will change how people live and work, and thus where they live and work. Understanding the past is scarcely any easier. In the current circumstances it is not only the British who might be wallowing in nostalgia. But it would be a mistake to exaggerate how good the past was.
[A] Because it's hard to predict consumer demand.
[B] Because there is no uniform pricing standard.
[C] Because estimating prices and returns is complicated.
[D] Because income and cost cannot be correctly compared.
[A] Because the colleges donate some relevant archives.
[B] Because there are rich and detailed data about them.
[C] Because there are an ideal index in the Oxbridge files.
[D] Because their properties have been traded many times.
[A] rational
[B] limited
[C] biased
[D] impractical
[A] The real estate market will turn worse.
[B] Property investment may face new risks.
[C] The British are more nostalgic than people in other countries.
[D] Returns on investment are getting lower.
[A] What Is the Right Way to Measure House Prices?
[B] Which Path to Follow: the Puzzling Property Market
[C] An Oxbridge-based Study Overthrows Traditional Academic Theory
[D] Returns on Housing Investment Are Lower than Expected
Georgia has no mandates requiring power companies to add renewable energy and hasn't made climate change a political priority. Solar power is booming there anyway. The state went from having virtually no solar industry a decade ago to ranking ninth nationwide in installed solar capacity this year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Solar has flourished in Georgia as tech companies such as Facebook look to locate facilities near cheap renewable-energy sources and rural communities turn to solar farms to create tax revenues and jobs.
Much of the initial build-out of solar and wind power in the US in the past three decades was driven by mandates in states such as Iowa, California, Colorado and New York that required utilities to source a certain amount of renewables. But wind and solar are now gaining market share even in states with no such requirements, as Georgia's experience shows.
Republican regulators have pushed the state's major utility, Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power, to invest in solar energy, saying that economic factors make it an attractive energy source beyond its carbon-free characteristics. Solar installation prices in Georgia have fallen 43% over the past five years. Similar declines in price are behind the solar-industry growth in states across the Southeast, many of which also lack renewable-energy mandates.
While Georgia Power has led the state in solar additions, rural Georgia's smaller electric membership cooperatives, or EMCs, have leaned into solar power as well, catching the eye of large companies like Facebook. The tech giant has partnered with Walton EMC in northern Georgia, which will buy energy on Facebook's behalf through a long-term power purchase agreement with a solar developer, Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch Corp. The bump in investment from the solar-power projects ends up having a significant impact on the local communities where the projects are sited, said Jeff Pratt, president of Green Power EMC.
While solar projects can add jobs, a lot of the new employment growth can be temporary, with opportunities petering out after construction is completed, said John Howard, mayor of Monroe in Walton County. The projects can be unpopular with farmers, since plots of agricultural land usually need to be cleared for the installation of solar panels. Integrating the solar projects with agricultural practices has helped ease some of those concerns, said Matt Beasley, Silicon Ranch's chief commercial officer.
Mr. Beasley has started to see the growth of solar power changing the politics of renewable energy in the state. People are beginning to associate solar plants with energy resiliency, job creation and economic growth without much disturbance to the rural landscape, he said. “The pendulum is swinging back, and climate change is starting to become a part of the discussion now,” Mr. Beasley said. “The economics are such that you can have your cake and eat it too.”
[A] was reluctant to promote solar energy
[B] gained more attention than other states
[C] promoted the development of tech companies
[D] achieved rapid growth of solar industry
[A] supporting examples
[B] opposite examples
[C] irrelevant information
[D] supplementary knowledge
[A] Low costs.
[B] Profit growth.
[C] Official mandates.
[D] Technological progress.
[A] can effectively reduce unemployment
[B] may pose threats to the rural ecology
[C] need to be integrated with agricultural practices
[D] are welcome by the local communities
[A] the decisive role of economic factors
[B] the political influence on green energy
[C] the social concern about climate change
[D] the cyclical pattern of a certain situation
Teenagers with happy childhood memories are likely to drink less, take fewer drugs and enjoy learning, according to research published in the peer-reviewed journal Addiction Research＆Theory . The findings, based on data from nearly 2,000 US high school students, show a link between how pupils feel about the past, present and future and their classroom behavior. This in turn influences their grades and risk of substance misuse, according to the study.
The authors say action is needed now because COVID-19 has left many teenagers struggling with online study, suffering mentally and turning to drink and drugs. They are calling on teachers-and parents-to help students develop more positive mindsets and become motivated to learn so they are less likely to binge drink or use marijuana. Teenagers with a balanced attitude towards their childhoods and other time periods have already been shown by studies to be more likely to abstain from drink and drugs and achieve academically. This is compared to those with a pessimistic outlook.
The aim of this study was to establish how substance misuse and behaviors towards learning are affected by students' feelings about the past, present and future. The data was based on assessments and questionnaires completed by 1,961 students at a high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. More than half (53%) of the pupils included in the study were female.
The study authors looked at responses from pupils where they rated how nostalgic they were towards their childhood, current happiness levels in life and how much they look forward to future happiness. They also analysed marijuana and alcohol habits over the past 30 days including binge drinking, and average academic grades. They analysed motivation levels, and behavior in lessons such as how much teenagers paid attention and listened. Statistical techniques were used by the researchers to assess the associations between all these different factors and establish the key predictors for alcohol and marijuana misuse.
In general, the study found that positive attitudes towards the past, present and future put adolescents at lower risk for alcohol use, binge drinking, and marijuana. The opposite was true for those displaying pessimistic or negative ways of thinking or feeling about their life in the past, now or ahead of them. The reason for this was that a content and optimistic outlook increased the likelihood that they would be motivated and behave in a focused way on the chance to learn. Other findings include girls having stronger levels of behavioral engagement than boys, and students who drank being most likely to use marijuana.
The study did not examine the long term relationship between positive attitudes, levels of student engagement and their substance misuse. The authors say this is an area for future research.
[A] face with higher risk of alcohol and drug abuse
[B] tend to have a pessimistic outlook towards life
[C] need more assistance from teachers in learning
[D] experience more influence of the pandemic
[A] indulge in
[B] refrain from
[C] feel curious about
[D] get disgusted with
[A] economic conditions
[B] criminal records
[C] unhealthy habits
[D] academic performance
[A] Teenagers with negative emotions need more motivation.
[B] Alcohol and marijuana abuse often occur simultaneously.
[C] Optimistic children are less likely to drink too much.
[D] Boys tend to behave worse than girls in school.
[A] The effects of a long-term project.
[B] The findings of a social study.
[C] The process of a new survey.
[D] The analysis of some data.