WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would like to be able to close the federal Department of Education using an executive order.
“We spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we’re ranked at the bottom of the list. We’re ranked very badly. And what I want to do is let the states run schools,” Trump said in comments to reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump said he thought he would work with Congress and the teachers union to bring about the changes.
A White House official said on Monday that the Trump administration will take steps to defund the department and an announcement on the planned actions may come later in February.
Such defunding could be part of an effort by Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, chaired by billionaire Elon Musk, to identify fraud and wasteful government spending.
Republicans were critical of the Education Department under former President Joe Biden, particularly over student loan forgiveness and policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Trump has already issued executive orders to dismantle DEI programs across the federal government. ABC News reported on Monday that dozens of Department of Education employees received letters as business hours closed on Friday placing them on administrative leave.
Trump says he would like to close Dept of Education with executive action
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Trump says he would like to close Dept of Education with executive action
- “We spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we’re ranked at the bottom of the list,” Trump said
- Such defunding could be part of an effort by Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency
UNICEF warns of rise in sexual deepfakes of children
- The findings underscored the use of “nudification” tools, which digitally alter or remove clothing to create sexualized images
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN children’s agency on Wednesday highlighted a rapid rise in the use of artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit images of children, warning of real harm to young victims caused by the deepfakes.
According to a UNICEF-led investigation in 11 countries, at least 1.2 million children said their images were manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes — in some countries at a rate equivalent to “one child in a typical classroom” of 25 students.
The findings underscored the use of “nudification” tools, which digitally alter or remove clothing to create sexualized images.
“We must be clear. Sexualized images of children generated or manipulated using AI tools are child sexual abuse material,” UNICEF said in a statement.
“Deepfake abuse is abuse, and there is nothing fake about the harm it causes.”
The agency criticized AI developers for creating tools without proper safeguards.
“The risks can be compounded when generative AI tools are embedded directly into social media platforms where manipulated images spread rapidly,” UNICEF said.
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has been hit with bans and investigations in several countries for allowing users to create and share sexualized pictures of women and children using simple text prompts.
UNICEF’s study found that children are increasingly aware of deepfakes.
“In some of the study countries, up to two-thirds of children said they worry that AI could be used to create fake sexual images or videos. Levels of concern vary widely between countries, underscoring the urgent need for stronger awareness, prevention, and protection measures,” the agency said.
UNICEF urged “robust guardrails” for AI chatbots, as well as moves by digital companies to prevent the circulation of deepfakes, not just the removal of offending images after they have already been shared.
Legislation is also needed across all countries to expand definitions of child sexual abuse material to include AI-generated imagery, it said.
The countries included in the study were Armenia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Serbia, and Tunisia.
