10/02/2026

LYFE TUESDAY | FEB 10, 2026

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

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Bebefinn launches new interactive app for children The app features nine activities inspired by everyday routines.

THE Pinkfong Company, the entertainment company behind Baby Shark , has launched Bebefinn Town, a new interactive kids app inspired by its hit franchise Bebefinn . Since its debut, Bebefinn has rapidly expanded its global reach, ranking number one on Netflix Kids charts in 11 countries and landing in the top 10 across 25 markets. The franchise continues to grow across platforms, surpassing 20 billion views and 35 million subscribers on YouTube to date, while also generating strong audience response through its recent global theatrical release and growing demand for licensed merchandise across key markets. As part of the ongoing expansion of the Bebefinn universe, Bebefinn Town offers a play-based digital experience that supports interactive play. The app features nine activities inspired by everyday routines – including dressing up, cleaning and brushing teeth – helping kids engage with daily habits through play.

It also includes 48 Bebefinn sing-along videos and interactive character moments designed to encourage emotional expression. Bebefinn Town is available in five languages – and can be downloaded via Google Play and the App Store in 175 countries. “ Bebefinn has seen remarkable growth in a short period of time. The strong support we’ve received from fans around the world inspired us to bring the Bebefinn universe into a more interactive format with the launch of Bebefinn Town. Through the app, we aim to create engaging digital experiences that reflect how kids naturally explore and play – and we look forward to expanding the franchise in new ways,” said The Pinkfong Company chief technology officer Dongwoo Son. The Pinkfong Company currently operates more than 200 mobile apps worldwide, with over 530 million downloads to date. The company has achieved number one in revenue in the education category across 112 countries.

AI threat against minors Unicef criticises AI developers for creating tools without proper safeguards. – 123RFPIC

“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. – AFP

alter or remove clothing to create sexualised images. “We must be clear. Sexualised images of children generated or manipulated using AI tools are child sexual abuse material. Deepfake abuse is abuse and there is nothing fake about the pain it causes,” Unicef said in a statement. The agency criticised 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 sexualised pictures of women and children using simple text prompts. Unicef’s study found kids are increasingly aware of deepfakes.

T HE UN children’s agency recently highlighted a rapid rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) 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 o Unicef warns of rise in sexual deepfakes involving youngsters

Bebefinn Town offers a play-based digital experience that supports interactive play.

Michael Jackson film reveals unheard clips of thoughts on kids A new Michael Jackson documentary airing in the UK features previously unheard audio of him sharing his thoughts on children, including he believed they wanted to touch him. previously unseen footage, as well as the unheard audio of the singer, to step “beyond the media circus” of Jackson’s infamous 2005 trial to ask “profound questions about fame, race and the American justice system”, Wonderhood said on its website. boys, including Leaving Neverland (2019), also broadcast on Channel 4, which prompted an angry response from his family. “Jackson is not here to defend himself, otherwise these allegations would not have been made,” the family said at the time.

The four-part Michael Jackson: The Trial , produced by London-based Wonderhood Studios, looks at the pop star’s 2005 criminal trial where he was charged with and later acquitted of sexual abuse of a minor, Gavin Arvizo, at his Neverland Ranch in California. In a trailer of the film on Wonderhood’s website, Jackson can be heard saying:“Children want to just touch me, hug me”. “Kids end up just falling in love with my personality. Sometimes it gets me into trouble,” he is also heard saying. The documentary, which aired on the UK’s Channel 4, uses interviews,

The audio comes from interviews with a rabbi who Jackson turned to for “spiritual guidance”, Channel 4 said in a statement. “In hours of recorded interviews, Jackson confesses intimate secrets,” the British broadcaster said. “The tapes, most of which have never been broadcast before, deliver an unprecedented insight into Jackson’s mindset and his troubled childhood”, adding they also show his “fixation” with Arvizo. The man dubbed the King of Pop who died in 2009 has been the subject of numerous films focusing on allegations that he abused young

The airing of the new documentary comes just days after the release of the trailer for the Hollywood biopic Michael , which stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar, as Michael, due to open in cinemas on April 24. Jackson, who died on June 25, 2009 after being given an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol, faced multiple allegations of child sex abuse during his lifetime. In addition to his 2005 acquittal, the performer paid a US$15 million (RM59 million) court settlement in 1994 over allegations involving another child. – AFP

Jackson waves as he arrives at the Santa Barbara County courthouse in California in 2005. – AFPPIC