Tag: Internet

Google disbands artificial intelligence ethics board

  by Glenn Chapman Agence France Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google on Thursday confirmed that it has disbanded a recently assembled artificial intelligence ethics advisory panel in the face of controversy over its membership. The end of the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) came just days after a group of Google employees launched a public campaign against having the president of conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation among its members. Another member of […]

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Austria proposes taxing internet giants 5 percent of ad revenue

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria on Wednesday proposed taxing internet giants such as Google and Facebook five percent of their digital advertising revenue, a higher rate than France and other EU countries are seeking. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the tax aimed to stop the “unfairness” of internet giants who have until now routed their sales through subsidiaries in low-tax EU members. The government hopes that the new tax, which still has to be approved […]

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New Zealand PM urges global action on social media perils

  CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday called for a global response to the dangers of social media as the Muslim community began burying their dead five days after the twin-mosques massacre. A white supremacist gunman streamed his 17 minutes of carnage in which he is accused of killing 50 Muslim worshippers during their Friday prayers. Facebook said the livestream from Christchurch was viewed fewer than 200 times […]

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Australian PM pushes G20 to tackle internet extremism

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called on world leaders to press technology firms to tackle the “ungoverned” space of extremist internet content in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack. In a letter published Tuesday, the Australian leader asked the G20 summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that the issue be raised when leaders gather in Osaka this June. Morrison is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, […]

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Facebook to restrict foreign political adverts ahead of Indonesia poll

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Facebook has banned political advertisements from outside Indonesia ahead of the country’s presidential poll, just weeks after being heavily criticised by the European Union for not doing enough to counter election meddling. The world’s biggest social network said it was temporarily restricting any paid material from advertisers based outside the Southeast Asian nation that related to politicians, parties or attempts to encourage voter suppression. “We want to make it harder to […]

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Google fights European copyright overhaul

  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Internet giant Google on Monday urged the European Parliament to resist approving a planned overhaul of the bloc’s online copyright law that the company said would hurt Europe for “decades to come”. European lawmakers could vote as soon as next week on the landmark legislation that is intended to modernise copyright for the digital age but has set off a furious lobbying war in Brussels. Tech giants, artistic creators and […]

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Trump:US firms ‘must step up’ on 5G, mum on Huawei

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday American firms should “step up their efforts” on 5G — superfast fifth-generation wireless networks — while suggesting he was not prepared to block foreign firms from the US market for the key technology. The comments made on Twitter left unclear whether Trump intended to bar Chinese firms from 5G networks in the United States, which has been reported by several media outlets. But he said […]

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Nepal social media bill sparks freedom of speech concerns

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepal’s government on Wednesday tabled draft legislation that would impose harsh penalties for “improper” social media posts, igniting concerns it could be used to suppress freedom of speech and stifle dissent. Under the proposed law, the government would have the power to block social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube unless they register in Nepal. And social media posts deemed defamatory or against national sovereignty could be punished with up […]

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Samsung bends over backwards to rev smartphone desire

by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Samsung on Wednesday is expected to unveil new flagship smartphones including one with a screen that can fold closed like a book as it seeks to boost the moribund market. Much of what is in store at a Galaxy Unpacked event that the South Korean consumer electronics giant is hosting in San Francisco has been revealed in leaks, including a Galaxy 10 television commercial […]

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Russia’s RT fumes after Facebook blocks ‘popular’ page “In The Now”

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Facebook has blocked a popular page run by Russian state TV channel RT, the channel’s editor said Monday, criticizing the move as an attack on media rights. “We had a subsidiary project in English, In the Now. The project was wildly popular — 2.5 billion views and four million subscribers on Facebook alone!” RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said on her Telegram social network account. She said a report aired by […]

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Facebook taps user data to defend workers from threat

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Facebook gathers intelligence from its platform to identify people who threaten the firm or its workers, the social network said Thursday in response to media reports of the security tactic. CNBC reported that it interviewed more than a dozen former Facebook security employees, some of whom questioned the ethics of what was portrayed as an unclearly defined practice at the leading social network. Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison told AFP […]

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Instagram tightens rules on self-injury images

by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Instagram late Thursday announced it is clamping down on images related to self-injury such as cutting. The move came after British Health Secretary Matt Hancock met with social media companies about doing more to safeguard the mental health of teenagers using their platforms. British teenager Molly Russell was found dead in her bedroom in 2017. The 14-year-old had apparently taken her own life, and […]

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