DUBAI: Google celebrated the life of Egyptian author, Notaila Rashed, on Sunday, marking what would have been her 86th birthday.
Affectionately known as “mama Lobna,” Notaila Ibrahim Rashed actively worked for the promotion of children’s and young adult’s literature in Egypt until her death in 2012.
Rashed contributed to children’s literature in the Arab world by writing books and short stories for magazines, as well as radio and television shows. She founded a children’s book section at the publishing house Darel-Hilal in Cairo and worked for children’s magazine ‘Samir’ from its first release in 1956 and until 2002.
Egyptian National Council of Culture’s first children’s film was based on her story ‘The Doll,’ part of a bigger book called the ‘The Diary of Yasser Family.’
She started writing when she was still a student at the Cairo University, and her first works were broadcast on radio in 1953.
Rashed’s writings blend literary traditions of ancient and modern Egypt to help kids from across the world learn more about contemporary life in her home country.
Mama Lobna also translated a number of classics into Arabic, including ‘Black Beauty,’ ‘The Happy Prince’ and ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’
During her lifetime, Rashed received numerous awards, including the State Award for Children’s Literature in 1978, the State Award for Children’s Journalism in 1995 and the Medal of the Council of the Ministry of Culture in 2002.
Google Doodle celebrates Egyptian author Notaila Rashed’s 86th birthday
https://arab.news/jmzcz
Google Doodle celebrates Egyptian author Notaila Rashed’s 86th birthday
- She is affectionately known as “mama Lobna”
- She founded a children’s book section at the publishing house Darel-Hilal in Cairo
Grok faces more scrutiny over deepfakes as Irish regulator opens EU privacy investigation
- The regulator says Grok has created and shared sexualized images of real people, including children. Researchers say some examples appear to involve minors
- X also faces other probes in Europe over illegal content and user safety
LONDON: Elon Musk’s social media platform X faces a European Union privacy investigation after its Grok AI chatbot started spitting out nonconsensual deepfake images, Ireland’s data privacy regulator said Tuesday.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said it notified X on Monday that it was opening the inquiry under the 27-nation EU’s strict data privacy regulations, adding to the scrutiny X is facing in Europe and other parts of the world over Grok’s behavior.
Grok sparked a global backlash last month after it started granting requests from X users to undress people with its AI image generation and editing capabilities, including putting females in transparent bikinis or revealing clothing. Researchers said some images appeared to include children. The company later introduced some restrictions on Grok, though authorities in Europe weren’t satisfied.
The Irish watchdog said its investigation focuses on the apparent creation and posting on X of “potentially harmful” nonconsensual intimate or sexualized images containing or involving personal data from Europeans, including children.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
Grok was built by Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI and is available through X, where its responses to user requests are publicly visible.
The watchdog said the investigation will seek to determine whether X complied with the EU data privacy rules known as GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation. Under the rules, the Irish regulator takes the lead on enforcing the bloc’s privacy rules because X’s European headquarters is in Dublin. Violations can result in hefty fines.
The regulator “has been engaging” with X since media reports started circulating weeks earlier about “the alleged ability of X users to prompt the @Grok account on X to generate sexualized images of real people, including children,” Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a press statement.
Spain’s government has ordered prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok for alleged crimes related to the creation and proliferation of AI-generated child sex abuse material on their platforms, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday.
“These platforms are attacking the mental health, dignity and rights of our sons and daughters,” Sánchez wrote on X.
Spain announced earlier this month that it was pursuing a ban on access to social media platforms for under-16s.
Earlier this month, French prosecutors raided X’s Paris offices and summoned Musk for questioning. Meanwhile, the data privacy and media regulators in Britain, which has left the EU, have opened their own investigations into X.
The platform is already facing a separate EU investigation from Brussels over whether it has been complying with the bloc’s digital rulebook for protecting social media users that requires platforms to curb the spread of illegal content such as child sexual abuse material.
