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The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are working with gaming community platforms to track ‘extremist content’.”
Thanks to a new government report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), it’s been revealed that the FBI and the DHS are working with gaming companies like Roblox, Discord, Reddit, and others. These platforms share the ability for members to interact with one another and create group chats or discussion threads at will.
“The FBI and DHS have some tools for sharing information with and receiving information from social media and gaming companies on threats related to domestic terrorism,” reads the report. “But neither agency has developed strategies and goals related to such information-sharing efforts.”
The GAO recommended in January 2024 that the two organizations develop stronger strategies in this area as part of wider efforts to counter ‘violent extremism.’ While gaming companies often have mechanisms to track and prevent extremism within their communities, the GAO reports recommend that this should also lie with national security agencies.
Even after the earlier recommendation, the GAO report highlights that the two agencies have further to go.
“The FBI and DHS have been taking steps to engage with social media and gaming companies to share information on threats related to domestic violent extremism,” the conclusion reads. “However, the FBI and DHS have not developed goals and strategies related to these information-sharing efforts.
“By establishing program goals and strategies, the FBI and DHS can help ensure that the mechanisms align with and serve the agencies’ overall missions.”
What counts as extremist content?
Within the report, the impact of ‘violent extremism’ in gaming communities is highlighted, reading: “Domestic violent extremists have used online platforms to recruit followers, plan and rally support for in-person actions, and disseminate materials that contribute to radicalization and mobilization to violence, among other purposes.”
Both the FBI and the DHS have teams dedicated to tracking activities of both “lone offenders and small groups of individuals” who the report states are “often radicalized online and “motivated by a mix of ideological, socio-political, and personal grievances.” The GAO reports describes such circumstances as “one of the most significant terrorism threats.”
In essence, it seems the national security agencies are looking for anyone with radicalized views on any topic that could expand into violence, either online or in real life.
Featured image: Pexels
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The European Commission’s use of Microsoft software is in breach of data protection laws.
Following a probe by the European Union’s (EU) privacy regulator, the bloc’s executive body was also made aware that it had failed to put in place adequate safeguards for the transfer of personal data to non-EU states.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) announced its findings after the investigation began in May 2021. The infringements relate to several data protection rules.
“In particular, the Commission has failed to provide appropriate safeguards to ensure that personal data transferred outside the EU/EEA are afforded an essentially equivalent level of protection as guaranteed in the EU/EEA,” wrote the EDPS.
“Furthermore, in its contract with Microsoft, the Commission did not sufficiently specify what types of personal data are to be collected and for which explicit and specified purposes when using Microsoft 365.”
The EEA, or European Economic Area, consists of the 27 EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. The EU has data accords in place with 16 countries, including Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the US.

In its investigation, the #EDPS @W_Wiewiorowski has found that the @EU_Commission has infringed several key data protection rules when using Microsoft 365. In its decision, the EDPS imposes corrective measures on the Commission. Read Press Release:https://t.co/XsMDnsfSGk pic.twitter.com/shvufa3KUx
— EDPS (@EU_EDPS) March 11, 2024

European Commission response to EDPS censure
The European Commission has been instructed to cease all data flows through its use of Microsoft 365 to the tech giant parent company and any of its associated firms that may be located outside the EU or any jurisdiction where there is no data agreement in place.
A deadline of 9 December 2024 has been set for the EC to comply with the order.
Wojciech Wiewiórowski, the European Data Protection Supervisor, spoke on what EU bodies expect to have the relevant protections in place.
“It is the responsibility of the EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies (EUIs) to ensure that any processing of personal data outside and inside the EU/EEA, including in the context of cloud-based services, is accompanied by robust data protection safeguards and measures, he stressed.
“This is imperative to ensure that individuals’ information is protected.”
Image credit: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels
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Reddit is seeking a valuation of up to $6.4 billion in its upcoming flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.
The social media platform’s IPO is inching closer. The launch, under the ticker RDDT, is expected by the end of this month, making it one of the most-anticipated listings in recent times.
Reddit is a San Francisco-based mega-website that combines elements of social media, message boards, and news aggregation. It was founded in June 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, who sold the platform to Condé Nast the following year. Huffman left the company in 2009 before returning as CEO in 2015.
The company wants to sell around 22 million shares, priced between $31 and $34 each, raising up to $748 million in the process, as detailed in a corporate filing posted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
Background to Reddit IPO
A March IPO launch was mooted back in January, and now that is coming to fruition. The offering has been in the making for two years and is considered a major test of the market for new listings.
Reddit plans to invite users and moderators to the party, with 1.76m shares set aside (8% of the IPO) for those who have built up the platform to this point, as well as board members and their family and friends.
The mega-site is said to have 100,000 active communities, with 500 million unique visitors hosted in December 2023 alone.
Its recent prospectus detailed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s holding of 8.7% of the company’s share stock, making him the third-largest shareholder of Reddit. This puts him in a position to profit significantly from the IPO. Still, further to that, it questions the platform’s future direction with such a prominent link to one of the leading figures in artificial intelligence (AI).
The prospectus included Reddit’s plans to utilize opportunities presented by AI. Still, some have questioned at what cost with a general user expressing fears on the future direction of travel for the site, with concerns going public will irrevocably change the platform.
“When the most important customers shift from (users) to shareholders, the product always (suffers).
“It becomes ‘what can we do this quarter to squeak out an additional point of revenue,’ instead of ‘how can we make this product better’.”
 
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Ready Player One author Ernest Cline is heading up his latest project, a multiverse game that involves Web3.
The product of game studios Walker Labs and Readyverse (of which Cline is one of the co-founders), the game is called Open and has been revealed in the form of a short trailer. It’s unclear whether the clip is of actual gameplay or more to give a flavor of the style, but it depicts a silver-haired person walking through a grungy warehouse. They get to an old computer screen that reads, ‘Are you ready?’ before it lights up in a colorful, gas-like portal.
Complete with “nostalgia-infused biomes”
The game is described as an “immersive multiverse filled with nostalgia-infused biomes featuring characters and cultural legends across iconic franchises.” So far, Rock Paper Shotgun reports that the only IPs confirmed amongst those “iconic franchises” are Reebok, the DeLorean car, and Ready Player One.
The idea of incorporating content and characters from multiple franchises in one game is not all that new. Indeed, Fortnite has been doing it since 2018, the first time it teamed up with the MCU in its season 4 collaboration. Since then, Fortnite has a seemingly endlessly expanding library of collaborations that spawn skins, builds, and weapons pulled from dozens of other IPs — even expanding to ancient topics like the Greek Gods.
What is relatively unusual, however, is that Open is described as involving Web3 in some way, a new version of the web that involves decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics. The main appeal for many tends to be its decentralized nature, meaning individuals can identify themselves without a governing authentication system.
How to try out the game for yourself
While there’s no release date yet confirmed for Open, you can already sign up to the waitlist if it sounds up your street. Otherwise, the details for the upcoming game are thin on the ground, with a website dotted with stars on an all-black background.
Featured image: Walker Labs / Readyverse
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During the Asian trading session on Monday, Bitcoin (BTC) soared past $71,000 for the first time in history.
This surge comes on the heels of the U.S.’s approval of spot Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) back in January, propelling the cryptocurrency to breach the $70,000 mark last week for the first time. Similarly, Ethereum (ETH) surpassed the $4,000 milestone on Monday. Now companies are looking to do the same with Ethereum.
The rally resulted in the three-month futures premium on leading exchanges, such as Binance, climbing above 25%. This premium increase could entice cash-and-carry traders, potentially enhancing market liquidity.
What’s causing the Bitcoin price to rise?
The surge in prices closely followed the London Stock Exchange’s recent openness to Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded notes (ETNs) applications and the low liquidity of the Asian markets.
In the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on Monday that it would start accepting institutional investors’ applications for crypto asset-backed ETNs, with the London Stock Exchange confirming its readiness to process applications for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs in the coming quarter.
FCA’s approval of crypto ETNs represents a significant development in the financial and cryptocurrency markets. This approval implies that these financial instruments, which track the performance of cryptocurrencies, can be traded on regulated exchanges and offered to retail and institutional investors in the UK.
As a direct consequence, it could lead to an increase in the accessibility of cryptocurrencies to a broader range of investors who prefer or are required to invest through regulated venues. This could enhance the legitimacy and acceptance of cryptocurrencies as an investable asset class, potentially leading to increased investment flows into the crypto market as time goes on.
Additionally, the regulatory oversight associated with FCA approval may help to improve investor confidence by ensuring that crypto ETNs adhere to specific standards of transparency, reporting, and consumer protection. This step might also pave the way for further regulatory clarity and the development of additional crypto-related financial products in the UK market.
Featured image: Ideogram
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