Snapchat releases mental health support tool for Saudi users

Snapchat releases mental health support tool for Saudi users
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Updated 11 October 2022

Snapchat releases mental health support tool for Saudi users

Snapchat releases mental health support tool for Saudi users
  • Here For You in-app portal launched in partnership with IT ministry
  • Service provides resources to help users deal with emotional crises

RIYADH: Snapchat has partnered with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to make its mental health support service available to users in the Kingdom.

The Here For You in-app portal was launched in some regions of the world in 2020 and in the UAE last year. Its release in Saudi Arabia coincides with World Mental Health Day.

The portal provides support to Snapchat users experiencing mental health or emotional crises, as well as those who want to learn more about the issues and how they can help their friends deal with them.

The portal is activated by user searches for terms associated with mental health, such as bullying, stress, anxiety and depression, and provides vetted resources from mental health partners.

It also features six animated videos from the MCIT bullying prevention squad on related issues.

Nasser Al-Nasser, assistant deputy minister at the MCIT, said: “At MCIT, we have strived to create engaging platforms that enhance the digital well-being of KSA citizens and educate them about the purposeful use of technology.

“With this partnership, we are giving Snapchatters access to an innovative tool, which will enable them to address mental health challenges and subsequently encourages Snapchatters to have a positive lifestyle.”

The resources and tools provided by the ministry through the portal are designed to be shareable in order to build a supportive environment.

Abdulla Alhammadi, regional business lead at Snap Inc., said the portal would reach over 90 percent of 13- to 34-year-olds in the Kingdom, “providing support and education for young people through an in-app experience.”

The company said it had collaborated with leading nonprofit and safety organizations to provide users with in-app mental health and well-being resources.


OSN signs partnership with Mintroute to expand streaming app’s reach

Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute. (Supplied)
Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute. (Supplied)
Updated 29 May 2023

OSN signs partnership with Mintroute to expand streaming app’s reach

Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute. (Supplied)
  • Mintroute is an e-voucher distribution platform with over 250,000 retailers across the MENA region

DUBAI: Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute to expand the reach of its streaming app, OSN+, in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The partnership will allow OSN to access Mintroute’s network of more than 250,000 retailers across MENA, including Virgin Megastores in Bahrain and Kuwait, Sadad and Zain Cash in Iraq and Jordan, and Smartbuy in Jordan.

Customers will be able to purchase OSN+ subscriptions from these retailers through an e-code delivered via email, text message, or an e-receipt.

“This alliance will enable us to reach and increase awareness of our service offering through Mintroute’s impressive network of retailers providing more people with access to our leading entertainment platform,” said Ryan Restell, vice president of growth and strategy for OSN+.

Last year, Mintroute also partnered with TikTok allowing users to purchase digital vouchers at 50,000 points of sale across Saudi Arabia including STC, Jarir Bookstore and Virgin Megastore, which could be used to make purchases on TikTok instead of using a credit card.

“As a leading electronic voucher distribution platform with an unrivaled network of retailers in the region, we are excited to partner with OSN to provide our clients access to a comprehensive entertainment experience,” said Samar Mushainesh, chief commercial officer at Mintroute.


Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI

Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI
Updated 29 May 2023

Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI

Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI
  • Mo Gawdat expressed concerns about scarcity of rich online content and AI ability to provide valuable insights into the Arab world

LONDON: Artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT should be trained with more high-quality Arabic content, Egyptian writer and entrepreneur Mo Gawdat said.

Speaking during the International Congress for Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries event in Abu Dhabi, Gawdat expressed concern about the scarcity of rich Arabic discourse online.

The author of “Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy” and former chief business officer of Google X, the company’s experimental arm, argued that without deeper Arabic content, AI applications may struggle to provide valuable insights into the Arab world.

“A lot of megabytes of Arabic language online are very empty,” Gawdat explained. “The initial versions of AI will reflect whatever it is that we put out there.”

Even though he believes that future AI iterations will become smart enough to discern between “real information and fluff,” he said the lack of quality content should be tackled as soon as possible.

Gawdat called on Arabic content creators, publishers, and educational institutions to produce more insightful material for AI tools to analyze.

“The problem we are facing is that we are creating an impression that knowledge of the Arab world is shallow, in comparison to the incredible wisdom that is really coming from the region,” he said.

“We need to create content with depth and with more intellectual value.”

Gawdat added that as future AI systems increasingly rely on authoritative sources, educational institutions should make more Arabic research accessible online.

“With AI utilizing the Arabic content that we put in, it is our responsibility to put the right kind of content out there,” he emphasized.

“This will ultimately determine the quality of Arabic artificial intelligence-driven content.”

Gawdat compared this responsibility to parenting, describing the process as being aware of how children learn to interact with the world.

He also urged researchers and content creators to reconsider their strategies, as the ChatGPT-led revolution in information access and content creation has the potential to threaten human authors.

However, Gawdat also recognized the opportunities that AI brings.

“As an author, I have learned to no longer define myself as someone who is supposed to write words on paper,” he said.

“My job definition now is to provide interesting human perspectives and inspiration regarding certain topics.

“Through whatever knowledge is available to me and in whatever form, I am trying to find a way to connect with other humans and communicate what I believe needs to be communicated.”


Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders
Updated 29 May 2023

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders
  • Iran has been targeted by a series of embarrassing hacks amid the rising tensions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program

DUBAI: A series of websites linked to Iran’s presidency bore the images of two leaders of an exiled opposition group Monday, with others showing the pictures of Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and president crossed out.
An Internet account describing itself as a group of hackers claimed responsibility for allegedly taking down websites. The account GhyamSarnegouni, whose name in Farsi means “Rise to Overthrow,” previously claimed hacking websites associated with Iran’s Foreign Ministry earlier this month.
Iranian state media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the apparent hack. However, Associated Press journalists accessing the sites found them defaced with images of Massoud Rajavi, the long-missing leader of the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, and his wife Maryam, who is now the public face of the group.
One site bore the slogan: “Death to Khamenei Raisi- Hail to Rajavi.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi both were targeted similarly in the previously claimed hacked in May.
Iran has been targeted by a series of embarrassing hacks amid the rising tensions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. That’s included the signal of Iranian state television being targeted, gasoline pumps that provide subsidized fuel being targeted in a cyberattack and government surveillance camera imagery being released, including from a notorious prison.
The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, known by the acronym MEK, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The MEK had angrily condemned a prisoner swap Belgium conducted with Iran on Friday to free an aid worker that saw an Iranian diplomat convicted of being behind a bomb plot targeting the group released.
The MEK began as a Marxist group opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It claimed and was suspected in a series of attacks against US officials in Iran in the 1970s, something the group now denies.
It supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but soon had a falling out with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and turned against the cleric. It carried out a series of assassinations and bombings targeting the young Islamic Republic.
The MEK later fled into Iraq and backed dictator Saddam Hussein during his bloody eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s. That saw many oppose the group in Iran. Although largely based in Albania, the group claims to operate a network inside Iran.


Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif

Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif
Updated 29 May 2023

Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif

Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif
  • Since childhood, Munif developed an interest in writing and believed “the mission of literature is to increase awareness”

DUBAI: Google Doodle on Monday celebrated what would have been the 90th birthday of Saudi novelist, journalist and cultural critic Abdelrahman Munif. 

Munif was born on May 29, 1933 in Amman, Jordan. In 1952, he moved to Iraq to study law at the University of Baghdad.

Years later he graduated from Cairo University in Egypt before earning his PhD in petroleum economics at the University of Belgrade in 1961.  

Munif had a career in the oil industry as an economist in Iraq, and later for the Oil Ministry in Syria and OPEC. 

Since childhood, Munif developed an interest in writing and believed “the mission of literature is to increase awareness”.

While living in Baghdad, he worked as an editor at the monthly periodical Al-Naft wa Al-Tanmiyya (Oil and Development). 

He published short stories and eventually his first book during his time as an editor. 

His first novel, Al Ashjar wa-ightiyal Marzuq (Trees and the Assasination of Marzooq) was published in 1973. 

His best known work is the quintet, Mudan al-Milh (Cities of Salt) which describes the Arab world during the oil era.

Other notable works by Munif included Al-Nihayat (Endings), Sharq al-Mutawassit (East of the Mediterranean) and historical novel trilogy Ard Al-Sawad (Land of Darkness).

In 1989, Munif was awarded the Al-Owaist Cultural Award for his distinction in writing and the Award of Cairo Gathering for Arab Creativity in Novel Writing in 1998. 

“Thank you for your contributions to Arab literature and your analysis of sociopolitical issues,” read Google’s description of the novelist.  

The doodle was seen across the Middle East on Monday.


China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crack down on ‘self-media’ accounts

China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crack down on ‘self-media’ accounts
Updated 27 May 2023

China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crack down on ‘self-media’ accounts

China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crack down on ‘self-media’ accounts
  • About 67,000 social media accounts closed and hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22 deleted
  • Beijing frequently arrests citizens and censors accounts for publishing or sharing factual information considered sensitive or critical

BEIJING: China’s cyberspace regulator said 1.4 million social media posts have been deleted following a two-month probe into alleged misinformation, illegal profiteering, and impersonation of state officials, among other “pronounced problems.”
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on Friday it had closed 67,000 social media accounts and deleted hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22 as part of a broader “rectification” campaign.
Since 2021, China has targeted billions of social media accounts in a bid to “clean” its cyberspace and make it easier for authorities to control.
The latest crackdown targeted accounts on popular Chinese social media apps including WeChat, Douyin, and Weibo that fall under the category of “self media,” a term that broadly refers to accounts that publish news and information but are not government-run or state-approved.
Beijing frequently arrests citizens and censors accounts for publishing or sharing factual information considered sensitive or critical of the Communist Party, the government or the military, especially when such information goes viral.
Of the 67,000 accounts that were permanently closed, almost 8,000 were taken down for “spreading fake news, rumors, and harmful information,” according to CAC.
Around 930,000 other accounts received less severe punishments, from being removed of all followers to the suspension or cancelation of profit-making privileges.
In a separate campaign, the regulator recently closed over 100,000 accounts that allegedly misrepresented news anchors and media agencies to counter the rise of online fake news coverage aided by AI technologies.
The CAC on Friday said its latest campaign had targeted almost 13,000 counterfeit military accounts, with names such as “Chinese Red Army Command,” “Chinese Anti-terrorist Force” and “Strategic Missile Force.”
Some 25,000 other accounts were targeted for impersonating public institutions, such as disease and prevention control centers and state-run research institutes.
Almost 187,000 were punished for impersonating news media businesses, while over 430,000 allegedly offered professional advice or educational services without having relevant professional qualifications.
Around 45,000 accounts were closed for “hyping hot issues, clout-chasing and illegal monetization.”
The regulator said it had “actively coordinated with public security, market supervision and other departments, to deliver a heavy blow and rectify illegal ‘self-media’.”
“At the same time, (we) also call on the majority of netizens to actively participate in monitoring and reporting (illegal ‘self-media’), provide clues ... and jointly maintain a clean cyberspace,” it added.