UN employee accuses top official of sexual assault
New York: A UN employee has accused a top organisation official of sexual assault and claimed that the world body failed to take her complaint seriously.
In an exclusive interview with CNN on Friday, Martina Brostrom accused Luiz Loures, a UN Assistant Secretary General, of grabbing her in a hotel elevator, forcibly kissing her and trying to drag her to his room during a conference in 2015.
"I was pleading with him, and I was just bracing with all that I could just to not leave the elevator," Brostrom, a policy advisor at UNAIDS, the organisation's global AIDS programme, told CNN.
"What has happened to me, how the situation has been mishandled -- it mustn't happen to any other woman," she added.
A spokesman for UNAIDS told CNN that the investigation into Brostrom's allegations followed "due process" and she was welcome to appeal.
A third unidentified woman also complained of an assault a few years ago.
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Bill to regulate deepfakes tabled in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): A Private Member's Bill seeking a clear legal framework for regulation of deepfakes has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, introduced by Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde in the House on Friday, aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.
"Misuse of deepfakes for harassment, deception and misinformation has escalated, creating an urgent need for regulatory safeguards," Shinde said.
The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.
"With advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, deepfake technology has emerged as a significant tool for media manipulation. While the technology has potential applications in education, entertainment and creative fields, it also poses severe risks when misused, threatening individual privacy, national security and public trust," Shinde said in the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.
The proposed Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework to govern the creation, distribution and application of deepfakes in India, said Shinde, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Kalyan.
The Bill also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.
The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.
The Bill also proposes to establish a fund to support public and private sector initiatives in the detection and deterrence of advanced image manipulation.
A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.
