U.S. technology titans face a looming test of their free-speech credentials in Hong Kong as China’s new national-security law for the city demands local authorities take measures to supervise and regulate its uncensored internet. From a report: Facebook and its Instagram service, Twitter and YouTube, a unit of Alphabet’s Google, operate freely in the city even as they have been shut…
Tag: Terrorism
Russia Lifts Ban on Telegram After the Instant Messaging Firm Expressed ‘Readiness To Counter Terrorism and Extremism’
The Russian government has lifted its largely ineffective two-year-old ban on the Telegram instant messaging service. From a report: In a message posted on its website, Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor said it lifted the ban after Russian prosecutors reached an agreement with Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder. Russian officials said Durov “expressed readiness to counter terrorism and extremism” content shared on his…
UK Willing To Admit Nearly 3 Million From Hong Kong If China Adopts Security Law
schwit1 shares news that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would be willing to allow more than 2.8 million people from Hong Kong to live and work in the country if China implements a controversial proposed national security law on the former British colony. The law could take effect as soon as this month, and would expand mainland China’s control…
WhatsApp: Israeli Firm ‘Deeply Involved’ In Hacking Our Users
WhatsApp has alleged in new court filings that an Israeli spyware company used US-based servers and was “deeply involved” in carrying out mobile phone hacks of 1,400 WhatsApp users, including senior government officials, journalists, and human rights activists. The Guardian reports: The new claims about NSO Group allege that the Israeli company bears responsibility in serious human rights violations, including the…
Facebook Cancels Large In-Person Events Through June 2021
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Facebook (FB) is canceling all of its planned physical events with 50 or more people through June 2021 due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Some of those events will be held virtually instead, wrote CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday. Zuckerberg also said the “vast majority”…
Indian Police Open Case Against Hundreds in Kashmir For Using VPN
Local authorities in India-controlled Kashmir have opened a case against hundreds of people who used virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent a social media ban in the disputed Himalayan region in a move that has been denounced by human rights and privacy activists. From a report: Tahir Ashraf, who heads the police cyber division in Srinagar, said on Tuesday that the…
Clearview AI Wants To Sell Its Facial Recognition To Authoritarian Regimes
popcornfan679 shares a report from Buzzfeed:
Clearview has been touting a “rapid international expansion” to prospective clients using a map that highlights how it either has expanded, or plans to expand, to at least 22 more countries, some of which have committed human rights abuses. The document, part of a presentation given to the North Miami Beach Police Department in November 2019,…
Apple Responds To AG Barr Over Unlocking Pensacola Shooter’s Phone: ‘No.’
On Monday, Attorney General William Barr called on Apple to unlock the alleged phone of the Pensacola shooter — a man who murdered three people and injured eight others on a Naval base in Florida in December. Apple has responded by essentially saying: “no.” From a report: “We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola…
UK Government Accidentally Doxxes Award Winners
More than 1,000 celebrities, government employees and politicians recognized in the U.K.’s traditional New Year’s Honours list this year “have had their home and work addresses posted on a government website,” reports the Guradian. Shimbo (Slashdot reader #100,005) quotes their report:
The accidental disclosure of the tranche of personal details is likely to be considered a significant security breach, particularly as senior…
Facebook Tells US Attorney General It’s Not Prepared To Get Rid Of Encryption On WhatsApp And Messenger
Facebook said it would not weaken end-to-end encryption across its messaging apps, despite pressure from world governments, in a letter to US Attorney General Bill Barr and UK and Australian leaders. From a report: The letter, sent Monday, came in response to an October open letter from Barr, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton, and…