The masses currently prefer social media and mobile apps for up-to-date, firsthand information. These digital tools surpass traditional media, according to the Digital News Report 2026.

It is a fact that video platforms and social media are the top source of information compared to television and even specialized websites.

According to the study, “based on a survey of nearly 100,000 digital information consumers in 48 markets worldwide, trust in news has fallen to 37 %, its lowest level since it began being measured in 2015, with particularly sharp declines in the Philippines, Ireland, Thailand, Peru, and Poland.”

With the development of AI, there has been an increase in the use of chatbots to stay informed, especially among “young people, digital content creators, and a growing preference for video formats at the expense of text and audio.”

Currently, the main news source for 30 % of respondents globally is social media and video platforms, compared to 22% five years ago. “Increases were detected in 22 of the 48 markets analyzed, including countries like Germany, where they had historically played a smaller role.”

Young people between 18 and 24 years old (56%) have not read a newspaper regularly. Furthermore, “news consumption via television and media websites and apps has declined in all age groups, except for those over 55.”

In addition, 77 % of respondents use news videos on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, making this source of information more popular than television in most of the markets analyzed, except for Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Content creators or influencers are consulted by 27 % of those interviewed, although they are not their sole source of information.

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Source: swissinfo

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La entrada Social media as the main source of information apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The UK announced on Monday, June 15, a ban on social media use by those under 16 as a measure to protect children from online dangers.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who added that they will monitor children’s communications in digital chats to protect them from their vulnerability on these platforms.

The affected social media platforms are: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, X, Threads, Snapchat, Twitch, and Kick.

Starmer indicated that “the decision was not taken lightly, but rather took into account parents’ concerns about minors’ access to these networks.”

The measure has the full support of the House of Commons but still needs to be approved by Parliament.

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Source: publico.es

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FIFA estimates earnings for the 2026 World Cup to exceed $10 billion, primarily from television rights sales and global ticket sales.

This year, the World Cup involves 48 national teams playing 104 matches in various venues. According to analysts, it’s more than just a sport; the event generates as much money as Wall Street.

The diversification of the soccer-related business includes the sale of sporting goods, collectible albums, themed accommodations, and tour packages to the match venues, in addition to ticket sales and broadcasting rights.

It is all part of the business, which will continue to thrive and generate more revenue thanks to new streaming platforms like TikTok and YouTube, as well as video games based on the sport, which are capable of exponentially increasing the audience, especially among younger demographics.

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With information from national and international media

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Employee advocacy has existed as a concept for over a decade. But what began as a well-intentioned way to enhance corporate profile, thought leadership, and marketing also has some unintended consequences. When professionals post about their work, their company, and their role, they expect to reach like-minded professionals, as well as potential clients, allies, and partners. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, warns that malicious actors are also paying attention and that the more information there is, the more opportunities there are to carry out malicious activities that could seriously affect an organization. Once that information is publicly available, it is often used to help create convincing spearphishing or business email compromise (BEC) attacks.

“The first stage of a typical social engineering attack is information gathering. The next is to weaponize that information in a spearphishing attack designed to trick the recipient into unknowingly installing malware on their device. Or, potentially, into sharing their corporate credentials to gain initial access. This could be achieved through an email, a text message, or even a phone call. Alternatively, they could use the information to impersonate a high-level executive or supplier in an email, phone call, or video call requesting an urgent bank transfer,” reveals Martina Lopez, Cybersecurity Researcher at ESET Latin America.

“The first stage of a typical social engineering attack is information gathering.” The main platforms for sharing this type of information are the usual ones. LinkedIn is perhaps the most widely used. It could be described as the world’s largest open database of corporate information: a veritable treasure trove of job titles, roles, responsibilities, and internal relationships. It’s also where recruiters post job openings, which can reveal too many technical details that can then be exploited in spearphishing attacks.

GitHub is perhaps best known in the cybersecurity context as a place where careless developers post hardcoded secrets, IP addresses, and customer data. But they can also share more innocuous information about project names, CI/CD pipeline names, and details about the technology stacks and open-source libraries they use. They can also share corporate email addresses in Git commit configurations.

Then there are the classic end-user-oriented social platforms, such as Instagram and X. This is where employees often share details about their travel plans to conferences and other events, which could be used against them and their organization. Even information on your company’s website could be useful to a potential scammer or hacker. Think about details on technical platforms, suppliers and partners, or important corporate announcements, such as mergers and acquisitions. All of this could serve as a pretext for sophisticated phishing.

The attacks mentioned above typically require a combination of impersonation, urgency, and relevance. Here are some hypothetical examples:

• An attacker finds information on LinkedIn about a new employee in the IT department of Company A, including their main duties and responsibilities. They impersonate a key technology vendor and claim an urgent security update is needed, referencing the target’s name, contact information, and job title. The update link is malicious.
• A malicious actor finds information about two colleagues on GitHub, including the project they are working on. They impersonate one of them in an email asking the other to review an attached document, which contains malware.
• A scammer finds a video of an executive on LinkedIn or a company website. They see on the person’s Instagram feed that they are giving a presentation and will be out of the office. Knowing that the executive may be difficult to contact, they launch a BEC deepfake attack using video or audio to trick a member of the finance team into transferring urgent funds to a new vendor.

ESET describes real-world examples of malicious actors using open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques in the early stages of attacks. These include:

• A business email (BEC) attack that cost Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) $3.6 million: Malicious actors likely reviewed press releases about a newly announced campus to gather details, including the hospital’s construction partner. They then used LinkedIn and/or the company’s website to identify key executives and finance team members at the construction firm involved (JE Dunn). Finally, they impersonated the chief financial officer in an email to CHOA’s finance team requesting that they update their payment information for JE Dunn.
• The Russia-based SEABORGIUM and Iranian-aligned TA453 groups use OSINT for reconnaissance before launching spearphishing attacks against pre-selected targets. According to the UK’s NCSC, cybercriminals use social media and professional networking platforms to “research the interests [of their targets] and identify their real-world social or professional contacts.” Once they have established trust and a relationship via email, they send a link to collect the victims’ credentials.

Education: the most powerful preventive weapon

“While the risks of oversharing are real, the solutions are simple. The most powerful weapon is education. Updating security awareness programs is crucial to ensuring that everyone in a company understands the importance of not oversharing on social media. Ask staff to avoid sharing information through unsolicited direct messages, even if they recognize the sender (as their account could have been spoofed), and ensure they are able to detect phishing, BEC, and deepfake attempts,” advises Lopez from ESET Latin America.

” Furthermore, among ESET Latin America’s security recommendations is the need to support this with a strict social media policy, defining clear limits on what can and cannot be shared, and establishing clear boundaries between personal and professional/official accounts. It may also be necessary to review and update corporate websites and accounts to remove any information that could be used as a weapon.

Checking multifactor authentication (MFA) and strong passwords (stored in a password manager) should also be standard practice for all social media accounts, in case professional accounts are compromised to attack colleagues.

Finally, monitor publicly accessible accounts whenever possible to detect any information that could be used for spearphishing and business email marketing (BEC), and conduct red team exercises with employees to test their awareness.

“AI is making it faster and easier than ever for malicious actors to profile their targets, gather OSINT, and then draft convincing emails/messages in perfect natural language. AI-powered deepfakes further increase their options. The takeaway should be that if something is in the public domain, you can expect a cybercriminal to know it too and soon come knocking,” concludes Martina Lopez of ESET.

ESET invites you to learn more about cybersecurity by visiting: https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/.

For other useful preventative information, also available in Venezuela:  https://www.eset.com/ve/, and on their social media channels @eset_ve. Also on Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

With information and reference image provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland

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Social media and digital work tools are part of daily life in all segments of society. Adults and young people spend hours connected to screens, and it might be a good time to set a goal for 2026 to change these habits for healthier ones.

In this sense, some therapists talk about living as if you don’t have cell service, referring to the need for breaks in the use of digital devices to enjoy human contact with your partner, children, relatives, and friends, or even alone.

What’s the goal? To reclaim and enjoy quality time without your phone in your hands. And all it would take is a few changes in usage patterns, like putting your phone on airplane mode during meals, or turning it off if you go to the movies or a play.

The benefits of interacting with other people are invaluable. Chatting face to face instead of scrolling on your phone screen, or sharing opinions about a recently seen movie instead of reading reviews online. Also, going to a physical box office to buy tickets for a game instead of online, spending the day at the mall window shopping and enjoying dessert instead of online shopping and home delivery; these are moments to share, disconnect from technology, and feel human warmth.

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An appeals court gave the state of Florida the green light to implement a law prohibiting children under 14 from having social media accounts.

According to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the temporary injunction against HB3, ordered by a judge in June, was overturned by a vote of two to one. The Florida government announced that it will begin implementing the ban, which will require users to identify themselves to verify their age.

While this is happening, the legal process continues for a lawsuit filed by the industry, which claims the law violates constitutional freedom of expression.

HB3 is now the law of the state, authorities indicated. For his part, the state attorney general, James Uthmeier, stated: “We are putting all the big tech companies on notice: Put our children at risk and see what happens!”

Lawsuits for NetChoice are expected to take action, as they consider the law a “censorship law.” However, it is clear that under the law, “users will have to prove their age through facial scanning or identification to access adult websites.” Furthermore, social media companies will be required to delete the accounts of users under 14 years of age on their platforms, under penalty of fines.

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Source: elnuevodia

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The number of internet users worldwide surpasses 6 billion, according to figures updated through October 2025. This means that 3 out of every 4 people connect to the internet for various reasons.

Technological evolution, the democratization of internet access, and the rise of social media have contributed to this increase in users, who seek to stay in touch with family, conduct research, shop online, or simply be entertained with music, videos, or digital games.

The Digital Report 2026 indicates that “the number of internet users worldwide increased by 294 million (+5.1%) in the last year, but the differences between countries are enormous.” Of the more than 6 billion people connected, 96 % do so via mobile devices.

According to the report, “the ranking of countries with the highest internet penetration is led by Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates, where 99 % of the population is connected. This is a very different reality from that of other countries such as Burundi (11.1 %) or the Central African Republic (12 %). Data for North Korea is less readily available, but the study places internet penetration among its inhabitants at less than 1%.”

Regarding the raw data on the total connected population, China leads with 1.3 billion users, followed by India with 1.02 billion. Interestingly, India is precisely the country with the highest number of “unconnected” users, with 440 million people who still do not use the internet. As for Spain, its penetration rate is 96.4 %, placing it in 18th position.

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Source: marketing4ecommerce

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The minimum age for minors to access social media in Denmark could be raised from 13 to 15 if a reform in this area is approved, in accordance with recommendations from Minister of Digitalization Caroline Stage and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The announcement of the proposal, made last Tuesday, is aimed at protecting children from potential abuse and addiction to digital devices. In this regard, the Prime Minister had stated before Parliament: “Mobile phones and social media are stealing our children’s childhood.”

Regarding the access of 13- and 14-year-olds to social media, they will be able to do so if their parents so authorize. However, the Minister of Digitalization, Caroline Stage, emphasized that “under no circumstances can the digital lives of minors be left in the hands of these platforms,” adding: “We have been too naive.”

The Danish government has not revealed details of an agenda to promote this reform, but it is known that it could be the subject of debate ahead of the 2026 legislative elections.

The reform follows decisions taken in other countries aimed at protecting minors on social media, “focused on age verification and parental consent,” given concerns about mental health and exposure to harmful content.

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Source: lamarea.ec

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Meta recently launched Communities for Threads, where users can discuss topics of common interest, such as sports, movies, and K-pop.

This new feature is being tested “on over 100 popular topics” and builds on “existing capabilities like personalized feeds and topic tags to help users connect with others who share their passions.”

According to the tech company, these communities represent “casual spaces where members can exchange perspectives and join conversations on specific topics.” Each one features its own “custom Like emoji that represents the topic, such as a stack of books for Book Threads, adding a unique identity to interactions between members.”

With the new feature, Meta users can discover communities through direct search or by tapping community tags on posts in their feed. As on other social networks, “a three-dot icon in topic tags indicates an available dedicated community. When users join a community, it becomes publicly visible, with memberships pinned to the feed menu and tagged on user profiles.”

In addition to this launch, Meta also plans special badges for featured community contributors who are among the most active and engaged users.

Another new feature is the ranking systems within Communities and the For You feed, which will allow users to prioritize the most relevant posts.

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Source: es.investing.com

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Faced with financial doubts and concerns, it’s no surprise that people are looking for alternatives to make their money go further. This leads users with little investment experience to become interested and take their first steps. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, warns that scammers are taking advantage of this curiosity or need with increasingly sophisticated scams on social media. It also warns that AI-powered scams produce fake ads, deepfakes, and promises of profits that seek to deceive even the most cautious users.

“Could you distinguish between a real investment ad and a fake one? It’s becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Threat actors today have various tactics to make their scams more credible, including deepfake videos generated with artificial intelligence. While there are many tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) associated with this type of fraud, most begin with malicious or deceptive ads circulating on social media. They are often used as a lure to trick the victim, either into providing personal information or directly directing them to an investment scam,” says Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of the ESET Latin America Research Lab.

According to the FBI, investment scams have been the main source of income for cybercriminals for several years. At last count, they earned nearly $6.6 billion, and that’s just from crimes reported to the federal government. This figure dwarfs the $2.8 billion earned by the second-largest scam, business email compromise (BEC).

An example of this type of campaign was identified in June 2025, when Instagram ads impersonated legitimate banks. Some used tempting offers, such as high-interest accounts, in an attempt to persuade the victim to click and enter their banking information. In other cases, they used deepfake Instagram stories featuring banking investment strategists to collect personal information and/or lure them into WhatsApp groups about investment scams. A 2024 campaign spread a fake video of Lionel Messi to promote supposed investments through an app that promised high returns.

Also in 2024, ESET observed the Nomani Trojan campaign. The ad content and the phishing websites they linked to were designed to impersonate local news outlets and other organizations. Or, it could be a generic financial-themed visual with frequently changing names like “Quantum Bumex, Immediate Mator, or Bitcoin Trader.” Some of the characteristics of the Nomani campaign (and other similar campaigns) include:

• Highly localized content to attract specific regional victims.
• Distribution via fake ads on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, as well as Messenger and Threads.
• Deepfake video testimonials potentially using celebrities, often displayed in low-quality videos and with unnatural keyword repetition.
• Use of fake and hacked accounts to run the ads (including, in one case, an actor with 300,000 followers).
• Shared templates and callbacks pointing to the same hosting infrastructure.

In this campaign, according to ESET, the intended objective is to persuade the victim to provide their personal information, which the scammers use to contact them directly. They use this method to trick them into signing up for an investment scam, taking out a loan, or even installing remote access software on their device. ESET observed a 335% increase in Nomani threats between H1 and H2 2024, and blocked more than 8,500 related domains.

While these techniques seem like clear indicators of fraud, they can be much more difficult to detect, especially if you are looking for opportunities to alleviate financial pressures. ESET states that the continued effectiveness of these types of scams, such as fraudulent financial ads, is due to the following:

• Times are tough, and the prospect of quick and easy financial gain is attractive.
• Attention spans are decreasing, especially on mobile devices, so warning signs may not be detected in time.
• Many people are unfamiliar with the latest threat TTPs, such as the use of deepfake videos, which makes them more vulnerable.
• Many of these threats are localized, use legitimate (hijacked) accounts, and can appear at the top of search results.
• Banks’ traditional anti-fraud mechanisms often don’t work if the manipulation is also carried out socially via telephone to invest in a fraudulent scheme.

Investment scams are very common, and ESET points out that it’s necessary to pay attention to these warning signs

• Flashy ads (which may leverage legitimate brands) offering returns that are too good to be true or unusually high interest rates.
• Celebrity endorsements are often the hook to give the product a certain legitimacy. Always check if the endorsement is legitimate.
• Videos that don’t look entirely right, for example, with visual glitches, poor audio and video synchronization, low resolution, or robotic or overly polished voices.
• Pressure to act quickly and secure the investment.
• Guaranteed return on investment.

They also advise staying alert to warning signs, resisting the temptation to click on ads about finance or investments, even if they appear to be promoted by legitimate brands and individuals, searching online for reviews of a specific investment plan or group to verify their authenticity, not investing in financial products without having thoroughly researched them and understanding how they work, ignoring any unsolicited third-party offers, never sharing personal and/or financial information after clicking on an online ad, and always checking the information circulated with the supposedly issuing entity through official channels. Finally, use security software on all your devices from a trusted provider like ESET, which will help block scams.

“In times of economic uncertainty, it’s understandable that we look for alternatives to improve our financial situation. But scammers are exploiting this very need with increasingly sophisticated tactics. Therefore, being wary of what’s easy, recognizing the warning signs, and protecting your personal data is essential to avoid falling for this type of scam,” concludes the ESET researcher. ESET invites you to learn more about cybersecurity by visiting:  https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/.

For other useful preventive information, it is also available in Venezuela:  https://www.eset.com/ve/, and on its social media channels @eset_ve. Also, available on Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

Bitfinance.News

With information and reference image provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland

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