WhatsApp blocked more than two million users in India in just one month for violating its rules, the US company disclosed in its first compliance report under India’s controversial new social media rules. Most of the users were blocked for spam message abuses. The Facebook-owned firm has put a limit on mass forward messaging in […]
internet
Biden says US looking at how to restore Cuba internet
President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States was looking at whether it can reinstate internet access cut off in Cuba, which is facing down its biggest protests in memory. “They’ve cut off access to the internet. We’re considering whether we have the technological ability to reinstate that access,” Biden told a joint White […]
Social media regulation threatens rights, UN warns
The United Nations on Wednesday warned that public and private actors are intervening against online content in ways that curtail rights and muzzle criticism. “You see a digital world that is unwelcoming and frequently unsafe for people trying to exercise their rights,” said Peggy Hicks of the UN Rights Office in Geneva. “You also see […]
US to seek global rules on AI misuse, Blinken says
The United States will seek global rules on how to prevent misuse of artificial intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as he renewed warnings against Russia over hacking. Speaking at a conference on emerging technologies, the top US diplomat voiced alarm that a growing number of authoritarian states led by China are using […]
US urges Cuba to end internet restrictions after protests
The United States on Tuesday urged Cuba to end internet restrictions imposed after unprecedented protests and renewed a call for the release of detained demonstrators. “We call on Cuba’s leaders to demonstrate restraint (and) urge respect for the voice of the people by opening all means of communication, both online and offline,” State Department spokesman […]
France fines Google 500 mn euros in news copyright row
France’s competition watchdog on Tuesday slapped Google with a 500-million-euro ($593-million) fine for failing to negotiate “in good faith” with media companies over the use of their content under EU copyright rules. It is “the biggest ever fine” imposed by the Competition Authority for a company’s failure to adhere to one of its rulings, the […]
Square making real-world wallet for bitcoin
Financial payments startup Square was at work Friday on a real-world wallet for safely pocketing bitcoin cryptocurrency. Square founder and chief Jack Dorsey, who is also the top executive at Twitter, had tweeted last month asking for feedback on the notion. “This community’s response to our thread about this project has been awesome — encouraging, […]
Trump announces anti-censorship lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter
Former US president Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google, escalating his years-long free speech battle with tech giants who he argues have wrongfully censored him. “I’m filing, as the lead class representative, a major class-action lawsuit against the big tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter as well as […]
UK fintech firm Wise worth £8bn on London market debut
British financial technology firm Wise entered the London stock market Wednesday, valued at £8.0 billion ($11.1 billion, 9.3 billion euros) in a key post-Brexit test for the sector. The global money transfer specialist launched at £8.0 per share under a so-called direct listing, which does not seek to raise capital but enables public trading. The […]
US software firm moves to restart after huge ransomware attack
A US software firm hit by a major ransomware attack that crippled hundreds of companies worldwide was working to restart its servers late Tuesday to bring customers back online. Kaseya, the Miami-based IT company at the center of the hack, pushed back its forecast for restarting its cloud-based systems, promising hourly updates. It told customers […]