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Privacy advocates raise concerns about US-built biometric system for Afghans
Privacy advocates raise concerns about a biometric system containing Afghans' information the Taliban could use to target individuals.
Taliban content is the latest issue for social media companies
While Facebook and Twitter are already struggling to handle vaccine misinformation and extremist content, there's an increased focus on how social networks are handling Taliban-related content, following America's sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Google pulls Taliban app after it was on Play for two days
A propaganda app from the Taliban that was initially accepted on the Play store Friday has now been pulled by Google over hate speech concerns. Called "Pashto Afghan News - Alemara," it reportedly features videos and statements from the group's main website. A Google spokesperson told The Telegraph that "we don't allow apps that advocate against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity."
America's drone strike program needs a low-tech fix
Last week, The Intercept released a trove of classified documents (provided by an unnamed source) relating to America's use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as weapons of assassination. These activities took place between 2011 and 2013, throughout both active combat areas in Iraq and Afghanistan and nations like Yemen and Pakistan. And while plenty of people are discussing the shortcomings of human-controlled UAVs, nobody's talking about how to fix them. Could the answer be more technology like the fully autonomous weapon and surveillance platforms that the Department of Defense (DoD) is developing? Or, when it comes to aerial assassinations, is less more?
DICE: Medal of Honor Taliban controversy affected reviews
We're not firm believers in the "any press is good press" maxim. Just ask the Xbox 360 and its Red Ring of Death which garnered many a headline -- headlines that reminded would-be consumers why they should hold off on purchasing the console. It would appear EA DICE, the developer behind the multiplayer component of Medal of Honor – the Afghanistan-based shooter in which the Taliban murders American troops – has now too learned this lesson. "The controversy did affect some reviews," DICE's Patrick Liu told Eurogamer. "It stirs a lot of feelings, just the setting. And that does affect people's judgment." While it may have affected some people's judgment, it didn't stop the reboot from moving two million units in just two weeks; not quite Call of Duty numbers, but a healthy start. But back to those reviews: "The game is better than today's reviews are indicating," EA' s Patrick Soderlund previously told Eurogamer. "We're also competing with ourselves," Liu continued, referring to DICE's own Battlefield series. "Obviously we're competing with Call of Duty. It's a very tricky situation to be squeezed in between those giants." He added that competing against Battlefield "can feel awkward sometimes" and, while plans aren't set for an MOH sequel, he replied both "yes and no" when asked if he'd want to work on one. "It would be cool to continue to develop the franchise. At the same time we have a lot of exciting stuff going on in DICE as well that we have been working on in parallel." We're guessing that would be: Battlefield 3, another installment in the Battlefield: Bad Company series, and Mirror's Edge 2. You are working on Mirror's Edge 2, right, DICE?
Medal of Honor marketing director explains 'Taliban' removal
In writing about the "controversy" surrounding Medal of Honor's multiplayer and the subsequent name change of one faction from "Taliban" to "Opposing Force," we've heard from two sides, primarily -- EA corporate and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. But we've never heard directly from the folks developing MOH -- Danger Close Games. Earlier this week at an EA event in New York City, we talked with Danger Close marketing director Craig Owens. Owens spoke to why he believes the name change occurred, what it will accomplish, and how internal reactions have been at Danger Close. In his eyes, it wasn't a result of AAFES-based GameStop stores not carrying Medal of Honor -- as he points out, the change hasn't affected the AAFES' sale embargo of MOH. "The objection was, kind of from an older generation that doesn't understand games, that the soundbyte was 'Play as the Taliban and kill US soldiers,'" though he admitted "There still is, it seems, a group that's still a little bit leery of a game taking place around an active conflict." Owens further clarified, adding that "Really the big thing was playing as a Taliban killing US troops. So we basically just changed it to 'Opfor' -- which is a term they [the US Armed Forces] use, some of our competitors use -- more out of respect." The AAFES, he contends, didn't factor into the decision whatsoever. He also pointed out that during the beta earlier this year, there were "about 500,000 people playing it, as the Taliban, killing US troops," without a single complaint. He further lamented the nefarious "soundbyte" that lead to the seemingly inevitable controversy, adding "Later that soundbyte kinda caught wind and got taken out of context, really."%Gallery-103178%
Medal of Honor devs rename 'Taliban' to 'Opposing Force' in multiplayer mode
In a reaction to outcry from friends and families of fallen soldiers, Medal of Honor developer Danger Close and publisher EA have decided to rename the multiplayer faction in their game from "Taliban" to "Opposing Force." Executive producer Greg Goodrich announced as much on the MOH blog this morning, explaining the alteration by saying, "We are making this change for the men and women serving in the military and for the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice -- this franchise will never willfully disrespect, intentionally or otherwise, your memory and service." This isn't the first such predicament Medal of Honor has faced in its development -- early last month it was revealed that GameStop stores within Army and Air Force bases wouldn't carry the game, with GameStop's internal memo naming the playable Taliban as its reasoning. Unfortunately, we're not sure we see a solution here -- considering combatant casualties in any war are "opposing forces," won't considerably more people be offended this way?
EA won't bow to Medal of Honor controversy
Allow gamers to take up the mantle of the Taliban in your game and you're bound to receive some ire. EA is learning all about that with Medal of Honor, as the mainstream media and the British government have vocalized concerns. British Defence Secretary Liam Fox has actually called for a countrywide ban of the game outright, stating that it's "shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban against British soldiers," even though you don't actually kill any British troops in the game. Still, EA Games president Frank Gibeau isn't sweating the bad press. "We respect the media's views," Gibeau replied, "but at the same time [these reports] don't compromise our creative vision and what we want to do. The development teams care very much about what they're building, and of course a bit of criticism from the media causes some to get demoralised, but at the end of the day we're proud of what we're doing." Gibeau even compared the flak to the same types of reports that went on about Modern Warfare 2's infamous airport sequence -- one of many comparisons the two games have received. Gibeau is of the mind that the collaboration between EA and the US Military and Congressional Medal of Honor Society is what will win people over in the end, not just because of the accurate depiction of the ongoing conflict, but because it has allowed EA to produce "the best story for the game." Plus, we all know the world has a natural affinity for whiskered gentlemen -- just look at the popularity of Grizzly Adams! [Thanks, fais]
If you throw away your console, the terrorists have won
In one of those fun, yet uncomfortable, instances where real life and video games interact, Fox News has uncovered a dusty (and old, very old) PlayStation controller during a raid of an Afghanistani farmhouse, which doubled up as a munitions depository. Lying there, in among rockets, grenades, plastic explosives and tank shells, was this humble blue-hued PlayStation appendage, which we're told can be rewired to act as a remote detonator. Should you question just how seriously the US government is taking this growing tide of console-aided terrorism, below you'll find a press release (seriously, a state-issued press release) detailing the detainment of four men in connection with the illegal transportation of digital cameras and PlayStation 2s to a "terrorist entity" in Paraguay. If convicted of the most egregious charge, they face 20 years in prison... for contraband consoles. Face, meet palm.
Taliban pressures Afghan cell networks into 5PM curfew
After a series of attacks on mobile phone towers, it appears life in Afghanistan has gotten even harder: the four privately-owned Afghan cell companies have all cowed to the Taliban's demands and begun shutting off their networks between 5PM and 7AM every night. The Taliban claims that the companies are aiding Afghan and NATO troops by leaving the networks operational, and has attacked 10 towers in the past few weeks, completely destroying six. We're not sure how big an impact the shutoff has on troops, but there's no denying the effect on Afghan citizens, many of whom rely on mobile phones to contact loved ones and summon medical services. The Afghan government has said it's encouraging the phone companies to resist the Taliban tactics, and that it will "persuade the companies to turn the signals back on again," but it's not clear when that might happen.[Via Textually.org; Image courtesy of Talking Proud]
Having a cell phone in Afghanistan may kill you
You thought dropped calls were bad, what about dropping a person, Sopranos-style, over a phone call? Seriously, apparently the situation in southwestern Afghanistan is getting so bad that the Taliban has started a resurgence in some areas, reports the British newspaper, The Independent in an article dated August 20. Nelofer Pazira, the Canadian journalist who starred in the film "Kandahar," quotes an Afghan man named Besmillah, who says that at Taliban checkpoints, the big angry extremists are checking everyone's cell phone. He goes on to say that if these bearded thugs find a number that "looks suspicous" they will call it immediately and furthermore, if the voice on the other end answers in English, they'll kill the owner of that cell phone on the spot. So let's review: next time you're in southern Afghanistan, change all the numbers on your phone to read Mullah Omar -- or better yet, just leave your phone at home.
