Author: Reporter

As the International Rescue Committee copes with dramatic increases in displaced people in recent years, the refugee aid organization has looked for efficiencies wherever it can, including using artificial intelligence. Since 2015, the IRC has invested in Signpost — a portfolio of mobile apps and social media channels that answer questions in different languages for people in dangerous situations. The Signpost project, which includes many other organizations, has reached 18 million people so far, but IRC wants to significantly increase its reach by using AI tools — if they can do so safely. Conflict, climate emergencies, and economic hardship...

At first, the bar association for immigration attorneys began receiving inquiries from a couple students a day. These were foreigners studying in the U.S., and they discovered in early April. Their legal status had been terminated with little notice. To their knowledge, none of the students had committed a deportable offense. In recent days, the calls have begun flooding in. Hundreds of students have been calling to say they have lost legal status, seeking advice on what to do next. “We thought it was going to be something that was unusual,” said Matthew Maiona, a Boston-based immigration attorney who...

After hiding in Thailand for seven years, two Cambodian journalists arrived in the United States last year on work visas, aiming to keep providing people in their Southeast Asian homeland with objective, factual news through Radio Free Asia. But Vuthy Tha and Hour Hum now say their jobs and legal status in the U.S. are at risk after President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order gutting the government-run U.S. Agency for Global Media. The agency funds Radio Free Asia and other outlets tasked with delivering uncensored information to parts of the world under authoritarian rule and often without...

U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from Donald Trump. The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the government’s reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally, such as asylum seekers, green card and citizenship applicants – and not just those applying to enter the country. That said, social media monitoring by immigration...

Should I stay or should I go, from Meta’s social media platforms? That is what some Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users have been wondering since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shocking announcement in January, in response to President Trump’s return to the White House. The company changed its rules on harmful content, such as hate speech, in what critics condemn as appeasement of Trump and disregard for public safety. The platform also abandoned its fact-checking program, replacing it with an ineffective crowdsourced solution. The changes have renewed interest among some users about deleting their Meta social media accounts. If you...