News About Cyber Warfare

Copenhagen (AFP) Dec 18, 2025 – Denmark on Thursday accused two hacker groups linked to the Russian state of carrying out two cyberattacks, one on a Danish water treatment plant in 2024 and one on local elections last month. The government said it would summon the Russian ambassador over the matter, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference. Water pipes were exploded in the 2024 incident — attributed to pro-Russian group Z-Pentest — in which household water supply was briefly affected, he said. The country’s environmental agency at the time said the attack was quickly detected, but “underscored that cyberattacks can affect security of supply”. The second attack occurred on the eve of Denmark’s municipal and regional elections in November, when the websites of several political parties, municipalities, public institutions and a defence company were inaccessible due to a cyberattack claimed by the Russian hacker group NoName057. “We are very confident that these are pro-Russian groups linked to the Russian state,” said the head of Denmark’s military intelligence agency (FE), Thomas Ahrenkiel. FE said in a statement that the Russian state uses both NoName057 and Z-Pentest “as instruments of its hybrid war against the West”. “The aim is to create insecurity in the targeted countries and to punish those that support Ukraine,” it said. “Russia’s cyber operations form part of a broader influence campaign intended to undermine Western support for Ukraine.” Both attacks caused limited damage, but highlighted vulnerabilities, according to Denmark’s Minister for Resilience and Preparedness, Torsten Schack Pedersen. “This shows that there are forces capable of bringing essential services in our society to a halt.” – ‘Very serious’ – Denmark is one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters, as illustrated earlier this month with a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Ukrainian arms factory on Danish soil. In late September, unidentified drones flew over several Danish airports and the Skrydstrup air base — where Ukrainian pilots are trained on F-16 fighter jets. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pointed the finger at Moscow for the overflights, saying Russia posed “a threat to Europe’s security”. The government said Thursday it intended to beef up measures to protect the country. “We have taken numerous initiatives and we will take more, because Russia’s way of acting is profoundly unacceptable,” Lund Poulsen said. He said the government would set up a new cyber-surveillance network and an online operations centre to quickly respond to threats, among other things. “It’s very serious to be able to attribute the attacks to the Russian state. That it’s not just sympathisers, but a group directly linked to the Russian state. This underscores that the situation is particularly grave,” Schack Pedersen told public broadcaster DR. “We are not in a state of war, we are not in a state of peace, but we are in hybrid warfare,” he said. Cyberattacks were expected to continue despite the government’s best efforts, he warned. “You’d have to be incredibly naive to believe we’ve achieved our cybersecurity goal.”

New York (AFP) Dec 25, 2025 – The chief of a prominent anti-disinformation watchdog has sued President Donald Trump’s administration over a US visa ban, calling it an “unconstitutional” attempt to expel the permanent American resident, court filings show. Imran Ahmed, a British national who heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), was among five European figures involved in tech regulation whom the US State Department said this week would be denied visas. The department accused them of attempting to “coerce” US-based social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the move and vowed to defend Europe’s regulatory autonomy. The campaigner filed his complaint Wednesday in a New York district court against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Ahmed, a critic of billionaire Elon Musk, holds US permanent residency, commonly known as a “green card.” “I am proud to call the United States my home,” he said in a statement. “My wife and daughter are American, and instead of spending Christmas with them, I am fighting to prevent my unlawful deportation from my home country.” Ahmed faces the “imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest, punitive detention, and expulsion” from the United States, the court filing said. However, a district judge granted a temporary restraining order barring Ahmed’s arrest or detention, with a further hearing scheduled for Monday. When reached for comment Thursday, the State Department expressed defiance. “The Supreme Court and Congress have repeatedly made clear: the United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country or reside here,” a spokesperson said. Rogers said earlier that Ahmed was sanctioned because he was a “key collaborator” in efforts by former president Joe Biden’s administration to “weaponize the government” against US citizens. – ‘Not be bullied’ – “My life’s work is to protect children from the dangers of unregulated social media and AI and fight the spread of antisemitism online. That mission has pitted me against big tech executives — and Elon Musk in particular — multiple times,” Ahmed said. “I will not be bullied away from my life’s work.” The crackdown also targeted former European commissioner Thierry Breton, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German nonprofit HateAid, and Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index. Condemning the move, the European Commission said it was seeking clarification from Washington, and if needed “will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.” Breton, the EC’s former top tech regulator, often clashed with tycoons including Musk — a Trump ally — over their obligations to follow EU rules. The State Department has described him as the “mastermind” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe. The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content. But the act has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies. Ahmed’s CCDH also frequently clashed with Musk, reporting a spike in misinformation and hate speech on X since the billionaire’s 2022 takeover. The European laws curbing big tech… and irking TrumpBrussels, Belgium (AFP) Dec 24, 2025 – The European Union is back in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over its tech rules, which Washington denounced as an attempt to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. The US State Department said Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, saying they “have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies”. Trump has vowed to punish countries that seek to curb US big tech firms. Brussels has adopted a powerful legal arsenal aimed at reining in tech giants — namely through its Digital Markets Act (DMA) which covers competition and the Digital Services Act (DSA) on content moderation. The EU has already slapped heavy fines on US behemoths including Apple, Meta and X under the new rules. Here is a look at the EU rules drawing Trump’s ire: – Digital Services Act – Rolled out in stages since 2023, the mammoth Digital Services Act forces online firms to aggressively police content in the 27 countries of the European Union — or face major fines. Aimed at protecting consumers from disinformation and hate speech as well as counterfeit or dangerous goods, it obliges platforms to swiftly remove illegal content or make it inaccessible. The law instructs platforms to suspend users who frequently share illegal content such as hate speech — a provision framed as “censorship” by detractors across the Atlantic. Tougher rules apply to a designated list of “very large” platforms that include US giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, Snapchat and X. These giants must assess dangers linked to their services regarding illegal content and privacy, set up internal risk mitigation systems, and give regulators access to their data to verify compliance. Violators can face fines of up to six percent of global turnover, and the EU has the power to ban offending platforms from Europe for repeated non-compliance. Elon Musk’s X was hit with the first fine under the DSA on December 5, a 120-million-euro ($140 million) penalty for a lack of transparency over what the EU calls the deceptive design of its “blue checkmark” for supposedly verified accounts, and its failure to provide access to public data for researchers. – Digital Markets Act – Since March 2024, the world’s biggest digital companies have faced strict EU rules intended to limit abuses linked to market dominance, favour the emergence of start-ups in Europe and improve options for consumers. Brussels has so far named seven so-called gatekeepers covered by the Digital Markets Act: Google’s Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Microsoft and travel giant Booking. Gatekeepers can be fined for locking in customers to use pre-installed services, such as a web browser, mapping or weather information. The DMA has forced Google to overhaul its search display to avoid favouring its own services — such as Google flights or shopping. It requires that users be able to choose what app stores they use — without going via the dominant two players, Apple’s App Store and Google Play. And it has forced Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment options directly to consumers — outside of the App Store, hitting it with a fine of 500 million euros in April. The DMA has also imposed interoperability between messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger and competitors who request it. The EU fined Meta 200 million euros in April over its “pay or consent” system after it violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram. Failure to comply with the DMA can carry fines in the billions of dollars, reaching 20 percent of global turnover for repeat offenders. – RGPD and AI – The EU’s data protection rules (RGPD) have also tripped up US tech giants, with Brussels issuing numerous fines since they came into force in 2018. The rules require firms to seek the consent of users to collect personal data and to explain what it will be used for, and gives users the right to ask firms to delete personal data. Fines for violations can go as high as 20 million euros, or four percent of a company’s global turnover. The EU has also adopted its AI act which will gradually bring in guardrails on using artificial intelligence in high-risk areas such as security, health and civic rights. In the face of pressure from the industry, the EU is considering weakening the measures and delaying their implementation. US denies visas to EU ex-commissioner, four others over tech rulesWashington, United States (AFP) Dec 24, 2025 – The US State Department said Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, accusing them of seeking to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. “These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” the department said in a statement announcing the sanctions. The measure targeted Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, who often clashed with tech tycoons such as Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules. Breton was described by the State Department as the “mastermind” of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a major piece of legislation that imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X his country “strongly condemns” the visa restrictions, adding that Europe “cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them”. The DSA has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies. “The Digital Services Act (DSA) was democratically adopted in Europe… it has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States,” Barrot said. The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content. Breton, who left the European Commission in 2024, on X slammed the ban as a “witch hunt,” comparing the situation to the US McCarthy era when officials were chased out of government for alleged ties to communism. “To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is,” he added. – ‘Extraterritorial overreach’ – Washington has scaled up its attacks on EU regulations after Brussels earlier this month fined Musk’s X for violating DSA rules on transparency in advertising and its methods for ensuring users were verified and actual people. Last week the US government signaled that key European businesses could be targeted in response, listing Accenture, DHL, Mistral, Siemens and Spotify among others. The visa ban also targeted Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that fights online hate, misinformation, and disinformation that also fell in the crosshairs of Musk after his takeover of Twitter, later renamed X. Also subject to the ban were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organization that the State Department said functions as a trusted flagger for enforcing the DSA. Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), rounded out the group. Washington is also attacking the UK’s Online Safety Act, Britain’s equivalent of the DSA that seeks to impose content moderation requirements on major social media platforms. The White House last week suspended implementation of a tech cooperation deal with Britain, saying it was in opposition to the UK’s tech rules. “President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception,” he added.

London, UK (SPX) Dec 19, 2025 – University of Leicester engineers have outlined a design concept for a device that can shield sensitive components from external magnetic fields by making them effectively invisible to magnetic detection. A magnetic cloak redirects magnetic field lines so that they flow around an object and behave as if the object is not present. In work reported in Science Advances, the team shows that practical cloaks can be engineered using combinations of superconductors and soft ferromagnetic materials in forms that can be manufactured. The study moves the concept beyond idealized designs toward devices that could operate in real environments. The researchers used computational and theoretical methods, including advanced mathematical modelling and high-performance simulations based on real material parameters, to create a physics-informed framework for designing magnetic cloaks for objects of arbitrary shape. Previous approaches largely focused on simple geometries such as cylinders, but the new framework accommodates irregular forms more typical of real components. The designs are intended to maintain cloaking performance over a broad range of magnetic field strengths and frequencies. Magnetic interference can disrupt precision instruments, sensors, and electronic components, causing signal distortion, data errors, or equipment failures. Such issues are increasingly important in settings like hospitals, power networks, aerospace systems, and scientific laboratories, where highly sensitive technologies operate in complex electromagnetic environments. The proposed cloaks and related magnetic guides are meant to be tailored to specific devices using materials that are already commercially available. Potential uses include shielding parts of fusion reactors from stray magnetic fields, protecting medical imaging equipment such as MRI systems, and isolating quantum sensors used in navigation or communications. By shaping the local magnetic environment around these devices, the cloaks could help preserve measurement accuracy and operational stability. Dr Harold Ruiz of the University of Leicester School of Engineering said: “Magnetic cloaking is no longer a futuristic concept tied to perfect analytical conditions. This study shows that practical, manufacturable cloaks for complex geometries are within reach, enabling next-generation shielding solutions for science, medicine, and industry.” He added: “Our next step is the fabrication and experimental testing of these magnetic cloaks using high-temperature superconducting tapes and soft magnetic composites. We are already planning follow-up studies and collaborations to bring these designs into real-world settings.” Research Report:Designing Functional Magnetic Cloaks for Real-World Geometries

Vilnius (AFP) Jan 5, 2026 – Lithuanian experts are studying the damage to an undersea fibre-optic cable in the Baltic Sea linking the country to Latvia, the country’s NKVC crisis management centre said Monday. The damage was first reported by Latvian authorities on Sunday. The NKVC said it was too early to say whether Russia was involved. “We are assessing what the possible consequences of this entire incident,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the centre head, told reporters. The damage was first detected on January 2, said the NKVC. Latvian authorities announced their investigation on Sunday. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said Sunday that “the incident has not affected Latvian communication users”. Latvian police had suspected that a vessel, which later docked in a Baltic port, may have damaged the cable. However, they stated in a press release Monday that their findings do “not indicate the connection of the ship in question with the damage”. There have been a series of sea incidents in the Baltic Sea since 2023, when undersea cables and power lines have been damaged and Russia blamed. Martin Sjogren, press officer for Arelion, the company that owns the cable, told AFP that repair work was underway. “We are cooperating with authorities across the Baltic Sea region to investigate the cause of these incidents,” he added.

Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 2, 2026 – British tech campaigner Imran Ahmed on Friday decried a US visa ban as “punishment” for his organization’s work combating disinformation and holding major online platforms accountable, telling AFP that Washington’s actions amounted to “tyrannical behavior.” Ahmed, a US permanent resident, heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit watchdog that researches the harmful effects of online disinformation. He was among five European figures whom the State Department recently said would be denied visas. The department accused the group of attempting to “coerce” tech platforms into censoring Americans’ viewpoints, a charge they reject. The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the US sanctions. The US announcement came after the International Fact-Checking Network said last month it was “deeply concerned” by reports the State Department had instructed staff to deny visas to people engaged in fact-checking and content moderation. AFP spoke with Ahmed after he sued President Donald Trump’s administration in a New York court. The interview was edited for length and clarity. QUESTION: How do you interpret the US visa restrictions over “censorship” concerns? ANSWER: This appears to be a punishment for my advocacy and for the research that CCDH does, looking into social media platforms, looking into AI platforms, identifying harms, informing the public, and then urging lawmakers and regulators, both in the US and globally, to take action. Governments are the only entity that can censor people with the threat of overwhelming force. A nonprofit speaking — that’s the opposite of censorship. That’s what the First Amendment is there to protect — our ability to speak, without fear or favor. However, in this instance, it does appear that I’m being punished precisely for my speech, which would be an act of censorship. QUESTION: How do you seek to challenge the visa ban? ANSWER: What we’ve done initially is take up a restraining order against the government to prevent them from taking any action against me, detaining me or arresting me, and that’s important, because previously, when the Trump administration has sought to cancel green cards for legal permanent residents, it has arrested them through ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). It has sent them hundreds or thousands of miles away from their friends, family and support networks. And we wanted to make sure that did not happen in this instance. The first Trump administration was under no obligation to award me an extraordinary ability visa, and it did. My green card (permanent residency) has been given to me because I’m married to a US citizen and I have American children now, and they have to abide by both the law and the constitution in how they treat me as a legal permanent resident, and that’s precisely why we’ve gone to court. QUESTION: Why has disinformation research emerged as a political lightning rod? ANSWER: We do vital research that shows the potential harms of online platforms, and we know that that puts the noses out of joint for some very powerful people. In the past, we’ve been sued, for example, by Elon Musk, which was unsuccessful for him. And so we expect this kind of scrutiny from big tech. What we didn’t expect was that the combination of big tech and big money means that the government itself is now seeking to punish us for our speech. QUESTION: Musk, who owns the platform X, has praised the US sanctions, saying: “This is so great.” What personal toll have the sanctions taken on you? ANSWER: I think it takes a sick mind to celebrate a father being taken away from their children, or to call it great. Organizations like CCDH have done studies showing that the hate speech after Elon Musk took over that platform soared. That kind of research is vital. It’s a crucial part of American discourse. Advertisers have the right to know where their content is appearing next to and they have a right to take decisions as to where they place their adverts. That is fundamentally the freedom of association. I have two jobs. I have one which is to continue to ensure that the watchdog brief of CCDH continues, and the second job is to make sure that we do not accept governments behaving in this sort of way. This is tyrannical behavior, and we need to ensure that we’re standing up against it. ac/aha X

Jerusalem (AFP) Jan 5, 2026 – Israel’s government has told the Supreme Court that a ban on international media access to Gaza should remain in place due to security risks in the Palestinian territory, according to a court submission. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israeli authorities have barred foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory. Instead, Israel has allowed only a limited number of reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis, embedded with its military forces inside the blockaded territory. The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists working in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition with the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking immediate and unrestricted access for international media to the Gaza Strip. Since then, the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with a plan, but at a hearing last month it set January 4 as a final deadline. Late on Sunday, the Israeli government filed its response with the court, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. In the submission, the government said the ban on media access to Gaza should continue, citing security risks in the territory. “Even at this time, entry of journalists into the Gaza Strip without escort, as requested in the petition, should not be permitted,” said the government submission. “This is for security reasons, based on the position of the defence establishment, which maintains that a security risk associated with such entry still exists.” The government said the ceasefire in Gaza, which came into effect on October 10, continues to face regular threats. At least 420 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military said three of its soldiers have also been killed by militants during the same period. Last month, Defence Minister Israel Katz told parliament that the military’s swift responses to ceasefire violations by Hamas could endanger journalists, according to Israeli media reports. The government said in its submission that the search for the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza is ongoing, suggesting that allowing journalists into the Palestinian territory at this stage could hinder the operation. The remains of Ran Gvili, whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, have still not been recovered despite the ceasefire. All of the other 250 hostages seized on that day — both the living and the deceased — have been returned to Israel. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter, though it is unclear when a decision will be handed down. An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.

Beijing (AFP) Jan 6, 2026 – China said Tuesday it had tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, raising the stakes in a simmering row between Beijing and Tokyo. Relations between the countries have been strained since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in early November that a potential attack on Taiwan could warrant military intervention by Tokyo. Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its own territory and has not ruled out seizing it by force. The Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement Tuesday that authorities have “hereby decided to strengthen export controls on dual-use items to Japan”, noting that the new measures take effect immediately. Exports of “all dual-use items to Japanese military users, for military purposes, as well as for any other end users that would help enhance Japan’s military capabilities, is prohibited”, it added. While the statement did not mention specific goods, Beijing classifies various products across sensitive fields including biotechnology, aerospace and telecommunications as dual-use goods that are subject to export controls. In another statement Tuesday related to the new measures, a commerce ministry spokesperson slammed Japan’s recent “erroneous remarks concerning Taiwan, implying the possibility of military intervention in the Taiwan Strait”. The tightened export controls are “to safeguard national security and interests”, the spokesperson said.

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jan 11, 2026 – Malaysia suspended access to Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok over AI-generated pornographic content, the country’s tech regulator said on Sunday. The decision follows global backlash after it emerged that Grok’s image creation feature allowed users to sexualise pictures of women and children using simple text prompts. On Saturday Indonesia became the first country to deny all access to the tool, which has been restricted to paying subscribers elsewhere. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said in a statement it had “directed a temporary restriction on access to the Grok artificial intelligence for users in Malaysia” with immediate effect. When an AFP reporter in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur fed Grok prompts on Sunday, there was no response. “This action follows repeated misuse of Grok to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive and non-consensual manipulated images,” the regulator said. The statement cited “content involving women and minors, despite prior regulatory engagement and formal notices” issued to Musk’s X Corp. and xAI startup which developed Grok. The AI tool is integrated into social media platform X. The Malaysian regulator said it deemed the platform’s safeguards inadequate, adding that access would resume only after the required changes are verified. X Corp. had “failed to address the inherent risks posed by the design and operation of the AI tool”, relying “primarily on user-initiated reporting mechanisms”, the regulator said. European officials and tech campaigners on Friday slammed Grok after its controversial image creation feature was restricted to paying subscribers, saying the change failed to address concerns about sexualised deepfakes. Grok had appeared to deflect the criticism with a new monetisation policy, posting on X on Thursday that image generation and editing were now “limited to paying subscribers”, alongside a link to a premium subscription. Indonesia suspends Musk’s Grok AI over pornographic content: ministerJakarta (AFP) Jan 10, 2026 – Indonesia suspended Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok on Saturday over concerns about AI-generated pornographic content, the country’s communication and digital affairs minister said. Grok has faced a global backlash after it emerged that its image creation feature allowed users to sexualise pictures of women and children using simple text prompts. Indonesia is the first country to deny all access to the tool, which has been restricted to paying subscribers elsewhere following the backlash. “In order to protect women, children, and the public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using the artificial intelligence technology, the government… has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application,” Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement. “The government views non-consensual deepfake practices as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.” The ministry has also summoned representatives from social media platform X to seek clarification on the issue. According to AFP journalists in Jakarta, the Grok X account was still active and replying to queries, including in Bahasa Indonesia, on Saturday evening. Musk-owned startup xAI, which developed Grok, was not immediately available for comment in person. European officials and tech campaigners slammed the move to limit Grok’s features to paying subscribers, saying it failed to address concerns about sexually explicit deepfake content. Musk said last week in response to a post about the explicit images that anyone using Grok to “make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”.

Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 13, 2026 – A federal judge sentenced a former US Navy sailor on Monday to more than 16 years in prison for selling military secrets to China in return for $12,000, the US Justice Department said. Jinchao Wei, a machinist’s mate on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, sent photographs and videos of US Navy vessels, ship movement information, technical manuals and weapons capabilities to a Chinese intelligence officer between 2022 and 2023, according to US officials. He was arrested in August 2023 and found guilty on espionage charges by a federal jury in California last August. A judge on Monday sentenced him to 200 months in prison. “This active-duty US Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “The Justice Department will not tolerate this behavior.” US officials said Wei was recruited via social media by a Chinese intelligence officer “who at first portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast” working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Wei reportedly told a friend that he thought he was “on the radar of a China intelligence organization” and that he was in contact with an “extremely suspicious” person. Officials said Wei after his arrest admitted to giving the Chinese officer “thousands of pages of technical and operating manuals and export-controlled data about US Navy surface warfare ships.” He was paid $12,000 for the information. Another sailor arrested alongside Wei, Wenheng Zhao, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and bribery charges and was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Paris, France (AFP) Jan 13, 2026 – Elon Musk’s company xAI has faced global backlash in recent days over sexualised “deepfake” images of women and children created by its Grok chatbot. Here are the essential facts about the scandal, how governments have responded and the company’s attempts to cool the controversy. – ‘Put her in a bikini’ – Grok — Musk’s version of the chatbots also offered by OpenAI and other generative AI companies — has its own account on the X social network allowing users to interact with it. Until last week, users could tag the bot in posts to request image generation and editing, receiving the image in a reply from Grok. Many took advantage of the service by sending Grok photos of women or tagging the bot in replies to women’s photo posts. They would ask it to “put her in a bikini” or “take her clothes off” — receiving photorealistic altered images in response. Such AI-powered nonconsensual “nudifying” services had previously been available on niche websites, but Grok became the first to take it mainstream with social media integration and offer it for free. Outrage grew as some users were discovered generating sexualised images of children and minors. Still others used the tool to generate bikini images of women killed in the deadly New Year fire at Swiss ski resort Crans-Montana, as well as the woman shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis. Last week, an analysis of more than 20,000 Grok-generated images by Paris non-profit AI Forensics found that more than half depicted “individuals in minimal attire” — most of them women, and two percent appearing to be under-18s. – How have countries reacted? Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with neighbouring Malaysia following on Sunday. India said Sunday that X had removed thousands of posts and hundreds of user accounts in response to its complaints. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a government source told AFP 3,500 posts and 600 accounts had been removed. Britain’s Ofcom media regulator — which can fine companies up to 10 percent of global revenue — said Monday it was opening a probe into whether X failed to comply with UK law over the sexual images. “If X cannot control Grok, we will — and we’ll do it fast,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told MPs from his Labour Party. France’s commissioner for children Sarah El Hairy said Tuesday she had referred Grok’s generated images to French prosecutors, the Arcom media regulator and the European Union. Digital affairs minister Anne Le Henanff had earlier called the restriction of image creation to paying users “insufficient and hypocritical”. And the European Commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, has ordered X to retain all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026 in response to the uproar. The bloc has already been investigating X over potential breaches of its digital content rules since 2023. “We will not be outsourcing child protection and consent to Silicon Valley,” Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday. “If they don’t act, we will.” – How did the company respond? “We take action against illegal content… including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement,” X’s safety team posted on January 4. Musk himself said last week that anyone using Grok to “make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”. But he made light of the controversy in a separate post, adding laughing emojis as he reshared to his 232 million followers on X a post featuring a toaster wrapped in a bikini. By January 9, Grok began responding to all requests for image generation or editing by saying the service was restricted to paying subscribers. Musk has also fired back at politicians demanding action. Critics of X and Grok “just want to suppress free speech” Musk posted on January 10. tgb/jxb X GOOGLE