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Messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, has challenged Indian laws that would compel it to break user encryption in special cases.
Petitioning at the Delhi High Court on Thursday, the company demanded that a local IT law be declared “unconstitutional,” and that there should be no criminal liability for non-compliance. Lawyers representing WhatsApp claimed that the platform would quit India if it were “told to break encryption,” local media reported. The High Court was hearing petitions by WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook (now Meta), which are challenging IT rules enacted in 2021 for social media intermediaries. The law requires the messaging app to trace chats and make provisions to identify the “first originator of information” if ordered to do so by a court or a competent authority. “We will have to keep a complete chain, and we don’t know which messages will be asked to be decrypted,” WhatsApp lawyer Tejas Karia was quoted as saying by India Today. Millions of messages will have to be stored for years to comply with the rule, he added, arguing that the requirements are unique anywhere in the world. The court argued that “privacy rights” are not absolute and that “balance has to be done.” Several pleas challenging the IT law are pending before high courts across India. Information could be sought from the messaging app for offenses related to national security, public order, or those related to rape, sexually explicit material, or child sexual abuse material – each punishable with a jail term of five years, according to Indian media reports. WhatsApp has 535.8 million users in India, the largest number of any country, according to data for 2024 from tracking website Statista. The number is rising at a rate of 16.6% every year. The Economic Times estimated the platform’s revenues in the county at close to $1 billion. “India (is) a country that’s at the forefront... You’re leading the world in terms of how people and businesses have embraced messaging,” Zuckerberg said in a virtual address at Meta’s annual event in Mumbai last year, according to the media outlet. WhatsApp’s legal battle is playing out against the backdrop of harsher laws imposed by New Delhi against AI-generated deepfakes and other social media threats. Earlier this year, India vowed to hold big tech accountable for misleading content on their platforms, warning of potential punishments for any failure to remove such content in a timely manner. Another controversy erupted in February when Google’s new ‘Gemini’ chatbot appeared to link Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with ‘fascism’. New Delhi later issued an advisory requiring “significant” tech firms to obtain government permission before launching new models. The directive, however, was rolled back after criticism from India and abroad. Meanwhile, AI has also been accused of playing an adversarial role in the ongoing Indian general election, with morphed videos of Bollywood film stars circulated on social media to mislead voters. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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A US Congressman is accusing billionaire George Soros of trying to fast-track his acquisition of American radio giant Audacy through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
Soros has bought a major stake in what is the US’ second-largest radio company and could gain “effective control” of more than 220 radio stations across the country, according to previous media reports. Republican congressman Chip Roy from Texas wrote in a letter seen by Fox that he was concerned that the Soros groups are asking the FCC to approve a change in ownership in Audacy without the commission “running its normal, statutorily required process.” “This transaction, which affects radio stations that reach millions of listeners across the US, including in Texas’ 21st congressional district, should – at minimum – be subject to rigorous FCC oversight to ensure US radio stations are not subject to undue influence,” the congressman argued. Soros’ investment firm has become the largest shareholder in Audacy, after purchasing around $400 million of debt owed by the media group during its bankruptcy process. After years of declining revenue, Audacy filed for bankruptcy early last month, with $1.9 billion in debt. Should the deal go ahead, the billionaire financier would reportedly part-own broadcasters in 45 US states. Audacy owns 227 music, sports, and talk radio stations in 45 US states. The company also owns CBS Radio, which operates 11 news stations, including San Francisco’s KCBS and New York’s WCBS. Congressman Roy pointed out in his letter that, instead of going through the usual petition for declaratory ruling process, the Soros group has asked the FCC to waive that process and “put it off until sometime down the road — indicating that those foreign stakeholders will be given ‘special warrants’ in the meantime.” The Texas lawmaker also told Fox News Digital that he’d heard from constituents who “reached out and raised issues and concerns about the extent to which it’s very clear that Soros is, you know, making a move in the radio world.” A hedge-fund manager who shot to infamy for crashing the British pound in 1992, George Soros is among the wealthiest men on Earth, with an estimated net worth of around $7 billion. That’s on top of the $32 billion he’s donated to a web of NGOs, charities and political campaigns through his Open Society Foundations. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The US clock is ticking for TikTok4/24/2024 US President Joe Biden has signed a new law that could potentially lead to TikTok being banned in the country.
The legislation is part of a bill that includes over $95 billion in military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Under the new TikTok law, ByteDance - the platform’s Chinese owner - will have nine months to sell its business or it will be barred from US app stores. The bill will also bar it from controlling TikTok’s algorithm. The bill was approved by the US House of Representatives on Saturday and by the Senate on Tuesday. The legislation comes after a number of US officials expressed concerns that the app poses a risk to national security and could be used by Chinese authorities to obtain the private data of US citizens or influence their opinions by suppressing or promoting certain content on TikTok. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell stressed that “Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok or any other individual company”; it is making the move to “prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our US government personnel.” TikTok has threatened to legally challenge the US government over the law. The company’s head of public policy for the Americas, Michael Beckerman, has described the bill as a violation of the First Amendment rights of the app’s 170 million users in the US and warned that the potential ban would also have “devastating consequences” for the nearly seven million businesses using the platform. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew posted a response to the new law, addressing the users of the platform. “Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok, a ban on you, and a ban on your voice... Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere. We are confident that we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts. The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail.” China has also blasted plans to ban TikTok in the US, describing such a move as “contrary to the principles of fair competition and international economic and trade rules” and accusing Washington of “bullying behavior” and “leveraging state power” against ByteDance. Some US lawmakers have also opposed the bill, calling it a “cure” that is “worse than the disease” and raising concerns that it would give the White House the power to ban other websites and apps. Elon Musk has also warned that the bill is “about censorship and government control,” while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has denounced the legislation as “violating the free speech rights of millions of Americans” who use the platform daily. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Apple’s smartphone sales in China dropped 19% in the first quarter of 2024 due to increased competition from local brands, a new report by Counterpoint Research has shown.
The US tech giant fell to third place in the hotly contested market amid pressure from fast-rising rival Huawei, the researcher said on Tuesday. Shenzhen-based Huawei saw sales of its smartphones soar a whopping 69.7% in the first quarter. It is now the fourth-largest smartphone maker in China, according to the report. Huawei’s strong performance comes in the wake of US sanctions, which nearly wiped out the Chinese company’s global smartphone business. Overall, China’s smartphone market expanded about 1.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, marking the second quarter of positive growth for the industry. Vivo became the top smartphone vendor in China during the quarter with a 17.4% share, driven by strong sales of the Y35 Plus and Y36 models in the low-end segment and the S18 in the mid-end segment. Honour ranked second with a 16.1% share, followed by Apple with a 15.7% share. “Apple’s sales were subdued during the quarter as Huawei’s comeback has directly impacted Apple in the premium segment,” senior Counterpoint analyst Ivan Lam stated. “Besides, the replacement demand for Apple has been slightly subdued compared to previous years.” The sales drop highlights the challenges Apple faces in its third-largest market, where some Chinese companies and government entities bar the use of its devices in retaliation to restrictions the US placed on Chinese apps for supposed security reasons. Analysts anticipate increased pressure on Apple’s sales in 2024. Research firm IDC previously warned that the US tech giant’s presence in China has been dented by rival products and limited product upgrades by Apple, which has reduced the overall attractiveness of iPhones. Apple, once the world’s most valuable company, has seen its shares fall 14% this year, underperforming the overall market. Its market valuation is still $2.56 trillion, second only to Microsoft Corporation. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The Russian military conducted a high-precision strike on a large TV tower located in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov on Monday, multiple videos circulating online show.
The installation was used by Kiev’s military to house various equipment, including an air defense communication antenna, RIA Novosti reported, citing pro-Russian locals. The tower was once the tallest building in the city, measuring just over 240 meters. The structure sustained a direct hit by an unknown high-precision projectile, which took roughly a third of it off completely, footage shows. The top part of the tower collapsed after the strike. It was not immediately clear whether it caused any damage on the ground, given that the tower is located in a remote wooded area in the north of the Ukrainian city. The fallen part of the tower landed in the woods surrounding the Kharkov TV center, videos shared online in the aftermath of the strike indicate. The massive structure apparently remained in one piece after falling more than 100 meters, crushing trees in the area. Russia has increased missile strikes across Ukraine this month in retaliation for drone attacks on its oil infrastructure. The main targets included Ukrainian power stations and communication towers.
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Huawei Technologies’ new Pura 70 series is posing a further threat to Apple in the world’s biggest smartphone market, as the Chinese tech giant eyes retaking the top spot on its home turf this year, analysts say. The Pura 70 line is expected to generate global shipments of around 10.4 million this year, compared to the company’s previous P60 series that only shipped 1.8 million units and the Mate 60 Pro series that sold 6.2 million in China last year, according to a report by TechInsights on Thursday. The Pura 70 series will be one of the key competitors for the iPhone 15 and 16 series in 2024, after Apple’s flagship models posted double-digit annual declines on the mainland Chinese market in the first quarter of this year, TechInsights analyst Linda Sui wrote in the report. TechInsights predicted that Huawei would ship over 50 million smartphones in China this year, enabling it to regain No 1 position with 19 per cent market share, up from 12 per cent in 2023. Huawei’s Pura 70 Pro and Pura 70 Ultra officially hit the shelves on Thursday, priced as high as 10,999 yuan (US$1,400) for the Ultra version. After weeks of speculation about the launch and pre-order arrangements, online channels ran out of stock shortly after the sale started, and there were long queues of people at the company’s physical stores. On Friday, one of Huawei’s flagship stores in Shenzhen, the company’s home base, saw customers lining up just to make reservations, without any guarantee of when they could receive their handsets. Customers who successfully make their reservation will receive a text message notifying them of pick up arrangements in later days, according to a store representative on Friday. The Pura 70 series has seen “good initial demand”, which was not a surprise given Huawei’s premium brand name and the marketing effect it created with the “blind” pre-orders, said Will Wong, senior research manager for client devices at IDC Asia-Pacific. The flagship models of the Mate and Pura series, previously known as the P series, will help Huawei advance further in China’s smartphone market in 2024, after it ranked fourth in the market in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Wong. “There’s a good chance [to be back in the top five], especially since Huawei has a more well-rounded 5G product portfolio now, ranging from the flagship series to the Nova series,” Wong said.
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Palestine wins World Press Photo4/18/2024 Palestinian photographer Mohammed Salem has won the World Press Photo with a photo of a Palestinian woman holding the body of her 5-year-old niece.
The girl was killed at home by an Israeli rocket attack in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. According to the jury, the photo was taken with respect and care, but the image also shows the "unimaginable loss". Salem himself describes the photo as a "powerful and sad moment that encapsulates the larger feeling of what happened in the Gaza Strip." Salem, who himself comes from the Gaza Strip, works for the Reuters news agency and took the photo in October 2023. The photo was taken in the morgue of the Nasser hospital. The woman in the photo, 36-year-old Inas Abu Maamar, went there when she saw that a bombing had destroyed her family's home. In the hospital, Abu Maamar holds the lifeless body of her niece, wrapped in white cloths. Photographer Salem says that the image affected him even more because he had had a child himself a few days earlier. "People were confused and running from place to place, afraid of losing their loved ones. This woman caught my attention as she held the little girl's body and refused to let go." The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The Pentagon contract to deploy Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals in Ukraine will expire next month, Bloomberg has reported, citing an unnamed US official. The service plays a vital role in Washington's security assistance to Kiev, the report adds.
The source also revealed that the contract, which went into force in June of last year and lasts through May, is worth $23 million. The US Department of Defence has so far refused to officially disclose the size of the contract. The amount has been described by the publication as “miniscule” compared to the “hundreds of millions of dollars” Musk’s SpaceX received from the US for launching some of its national security satellites. Musk has repeatedly voiced unease about the use of Starlink in Ukraine. The satellite network has been providing communications to the country’s military and the government. ”Starlink needs to be a civilian network, not a participant to combat,” Musk said on X (formerly Twitter) in September, referring to the use of the satellites in Ukraine throughout the conflict with Russia. “This is the right order of things,” he added. Musk’s comment came shortly after the billionaire revealed that he had foiled a Ukrainian drone raid on Crimea by refusing to let Kiev forces use Starlink to guide naval drone strikes on Russian ships. Musk’s admission sparked outrage in Kiev, with Mikhail Podoliak, a top adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, accusing him of “enabling evil.” Musk responded to the accusation by explaining that he had no obligation to fight for Ukraine, adding that he did not want Space X to be “explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.” His remark echoed a previous statement made in the winter of 2023, where he admitted that although Starlink was “the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines”, SpaceX “will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.” Last year, SpaceX signed a contract with the US Defence Department to provide satellite services as part of the Pentagon’s new ‘Starshield’ program. CEO Elon Musk described the effort as a military alternative to the “civilian” Starlink. However the new Space Force contract will see Starshield’ rely on the existing constellation of Starlink satellites. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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