Tag: technology

EU investigates Meta over Facebook and Instagram child safety | Social Media News

The European Commission says it is concerned systems used by apps could ‘exploit weaknesses and inexperience’ of children and stimulate ‘addictive behaviour’.

European Union regulators have opened a formal investigation into Meta for potential breaches of online content rules relating to child safety in its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

The European Commission said on Thursday it was concerned the algorithmic systems used by the popular social media platforms to recommend videos and posts could “exploit the weaknesses and inexperience” of children and stimulate “addictive behaviour”.

Its investigators will also examine whether these systems are strengthening the so-called “rabbit hole” that leads users to increasingly disturbing content.

“In addition, the Commission is also concerned about age-assurance and verification methods put in place by Meta,” the bloc’s executive arm said in a statement.

The investigation is being conducted under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a law that compels the world’s largest tech firms to enhance their efforts in protecting European users online.

The DSA has strict rules to protect children and ensure their privacy and security online.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said on X the regulators were “not convinced that Meta has done enough to comply with the DSA obligations – to mitigate the risks of negative effects to the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms Facebook and Instagram”.

In a statement, Meta said: “We want young people to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online and have spent a decade developing more than 50 tools and policies designed to protect them.”

The United States-based tech giant added: “This is a challenge the whole industry is facing, and we look forward to sharing details of our work with the European Commission.”

There is no deadline for the investigations to wrap up. Violations could result in fines that could reach as high as six percent of a platform’s global turnover or even a ban for serious and repeat violations.

Facebook and Instagram are among 23 “very large” online platforms that must comply with the DSA. Others include Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

The bloc has launched a wave of investigations, including another on Meta last month over fears that Facebook and Instagram were failing to counter disinformation ahead of EU elections in June.

In February, the commission began a probe into TikTok on suspicion that the popular video-sharing app may not be doing enough to address negative effects on young people.

The EU also forced TikTok to suspend its spinoff Lite app’s reward schemes in April after warning its “addictive” nature could risk users’ mental health.



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US cancels export licenses of suppliers to China’s Huawei | Technology

Move comes after launch of AI-enabled laptop drew fire from Republican lawmakers.

The United States has revoked some licenses that allow companies to ship goods, such as chips, to sanctioned Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies.

Some companies were notified on Tuesday that their licenses were revoked effective immediately, according to one person familiar with the matter.

The move comes after the release last month of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor.

The laptop launch drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who said it suggested that the US Department of Commerce had given the green light to Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.

“We have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei,” the Commerce Department said in a statement, declining to specify which ones it had withdrawn.

The move, first reported by Reuters, comes after concerted pressure by Republican China hawks in Congress who have been urging the Biden administration to take tougher action to thwart Huawei.

“This action will bolster US national security, protect American ingenuity, and diminish Communist China’s ability to advance its technology,” Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said in a statement.

Depending on which licenses were revoked, the move could also hurt Huawei which still relies on Intel chips to power its laptops, and could hurt US suppliers that do business with the company.

A spokesperson for Intel declined to comment.

Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Huawei was placed on a US trade restriction list in 2019 amid fears it could spy on Americans, part of a broader effort to handicap China’s ability to bolster its military. Being added to the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping.

Even so, suppliers to Huawei have received licenses worth billions of dollars to sell Huawei goods and technology, including one particularly controversial authorization, issued by the administration of former President Donald Trump, which has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in its laptops since 2020.

Qualcomm has sold older 4G chips to handsets since receiving a license from US officials in 2020. In a regulatory filing earlier this month, Qualcomm said it did not expect to receive more chip revenue from Huawei beyond this year.

However, Qualcomm still licenses its portfolio of 5G technologies to Huawei, which last year began using a 5G chip designed by its HiSilicon unit that most analysts believe is manufactured in violation of US sanctions. Qualcomm said in the filing this month that its patent deal with Huawei expires early in Qualcomm’s fiscal 2025 and that it has started negotiations to renew the deal.

Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Critics argue such licenses have contributed to the company’s resurgence. Huawei shocked the industry last August with a new phone powered by a sophisticated chip manufactured by Chinese chipmaker SMIC, despite US export restrictions on both companies.

The phone helped Huawei smartphone sales spike 64 percent year on year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to research firm Counterpoint. Its smart car component business has also contributed to Huawei’s resurgence, with the company notching its fastest revenue growth in four years in 2023.

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TikTok owner ByteDance files lawsuit against US law forcing app’s sale | Social Media News

ByteDance, the owner of the social media platform TikTok, has filed a lawsuit against the United States government in an effort to block a law that would force it to divest from its US assets.

On Tuesday, lawyers for ByteDance filed the complaint in the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, arguing the law was “obviously unconstitutional”.

President Joe Biden signed the law less than two weeks ago, on April 24, as part of a package that included foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as humanitarian relief for Gaza.

Under the law, ByteDance has nine months to sell off its US-based operations. Its deadline is January 19, with an additional three-month extension possible should a sale be in progress.

But in its suit, ByteDance argues divestment will not be possible within the timeframe allotted — “not commercially, not technologically, not legally”.

It also argues it is being unfairly targeted by a law that violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects free speech.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” the lawsuit reads.

A TikTok user protests outside the US Congress on April 23, as legislation was passed to force ByteDance to divest from its US operations [Mariam Zuhaib/AP]

While ByteDance maintained it has no plans to sell TikTok, its popular video-sharing app, it said that doing so would not even be feasible under the law.

Millions of lines of code would have to shift hands, the lawsuit explained, and any prospective owners would have to access ByteDance’s algorithms to keep it operational — something that would also be barred under the law.

“There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” the lawsuit said.

TikTok has been a target of bipartisan criticism in the US, with politicians concerned about its national security implications.

ByteDance is a Chinese technology company, and its critics fear that the Chinese government could request the information it collects from users, raising privacy concerns.

US Congress members like Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said the April law is therefore necessary to protect US users.

“This is the only way to address the national security threat posed by ByteDance’s ownership of apps like TikTok,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “Instead of continuing its deceptive tactics, it’s time for ByteDance to start the divestment process.”

ByteDance has long denied furnishing any information about US users to the Chinese government, and it has publicly pledged not to do so, brushing aside such concerns as “speculative”.

The lawsuit also notes that the company spent $2bn to protect US user data and has made commitments under a 90-page draft “National Security Agreement” with the US government.

TikTok has been in the US government’s crosshairs for nearly four years, as tensions continue between Washington and Beijing.

In 2020, for instance, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban the video platform, citing national security concerns.

But federal judges blocked the ban, saying that officials demonstrated a “failure to consider an obvious and reasonable alternative before banning TikTok”.

States have similarly sought to block the app, most notably Montana. In April 2023, Governor Greg Gianforte signed a first-of-its-kind bill, SB 419, that would fine TikTok for operating within state lines, as well as any app stores that carried it.

But it was unclear how Montana planned to enforce the law, which was quickly challenged in court.

Montana’s SB 419 was scheduled to take effect on January 1, but a federal judge ultimately blocked it, awarding another win to ByteDance. The state’s attorney general has promised an appeal.

Many free-speech advocates predict a similar fate awaits April’s federal law forcing ByteDance to sever itself from its US operations.

Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told the Associated Press that he anticipated ByteDance would prevail in Tuesday’s lawsuit.

“The First Amendment means the government can’t restrict Americans’ access to ideas, information, or media from abroad without a very good reason for it — and no such reason exists here,” Jaffer said in a statement.

For its part, China has taken similar actions against US-based companies like Meta, whose WhatsApp and Threads platforms were recently ordered to be removed from Chinese-based app stores over questions of national security.

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Apple iPhone sales plunge, as shares rise on dividend, stock buyback news | Technology

Sales of the iPhone fall 10 percent amid growing competition from Chinese rivals such as Huawei.

Apple’s revenue has dipped for a fifth consecutive quarter, driven by the steepest decline in iPhone sales since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The California-based tech giant on Thursday reported a profit of $23.6bn on $90.8bn in revenue during the January-March period.

Sales of the iPhone fell 10 percent, to $45.7 bn, amid growing competition from Chinese rivals such as Huawei and Xiaomi.

Sales in Greater China, one of Apple’s most important markets, fell to $16.4bn from $17.8bn year-on-year, a nearly 8 percent decline.

The sales drop marked the biggest slump since the third quarter of 2020 when factory closures due to COVID delayed the release of the iPhone 12.

Still, the revenue drop came in ahead of investors’ expectations, and the company’s shares surged on news of a stock buyback and higher quarterly dividend.

Apple shares rose nearly 6 percent in after-market trading as the firm announced it would buy back $110bn of its own stock and raise its quarterly dividend by 4 percent to $0.25 a share.

“Thanks to very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, our active installed base of devices has reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments, and our business performance drove a new EPS record for the March quarter,” Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in a statement.

“Given our confidence in Apple’s future and the value we see in our stock, our board has authorised an additional $110bn for share repurchases. We are also raising our quarterly dividend for the 12th year in a row.”

Apple’s tepid results come after a rocky start to the year for the company.

As well as coming under growing pressure from low-cost Chinese rivals, the company is facing scrutiny from antitrust regulators in the US and Europe and recently abandoned its decade-long project to build an electric car.

Meanwhile, Apple’s mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, the company’s only new product since the release of the Apple Watch in 2015, has yet to significantly contribute to sales.

The trend-setting company is also battling perceptions that it is falling behind rivals such as Microsoft and Google in the race to develop and roll out artificial intelligence (AI).

During a conference call on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook sought to assure analysts that the company has AI products in the works.

“We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI, and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era,” Cook said.

“We’ll talk more about that in the weeks ahead,” he added.

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Microsoft announces $2.2bn AI, cloud investment in Malaysia | Technology

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says firm will provide education and training to 200,000 people.

Microsoft will invest $2.2bn in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in Malaysia to support the country’s digital transformation, the tech giant has said, following similar announcements in Indonesia and Thailand.

The announcement by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday includes plans to establish an AI Centre of Excellence and provide education and training to 200,000 people in the Southeast Asian country.

“We are committed to supporting Malaysia’s AI transformation and ensure it benefits all Malaysians,” Nadella said as he visited Kuala Lumpur on the final stop of a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia.

“Our investments in digital infrastructure and skilling will help Malaysian businesses, communities, and developers apply the latest technology to drive inclusive economic growth and innovation across the country.”

Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s minister of investment, trade and industry, said the investment reflected a “deep partnership built on trust”.

“Indeed, Malaysia’s position as a vibrant tech investment destination is increasingly being recognised by world-recognised names due to our well-established semiconductor ecosystem, underscored by our value proposition that ‘this is where global starts,’” he said.

“Microsoft’s development of essential cloud and AI infrastructure, together with AI skilling opportunities, will significantly enhance Malaysia’s digital capacity and further elevate our position in the global tech landscape. Together with Microsoft, we look forward to creating more opportunities for our SMEs and better-paying jobs for our people, as we ride the AI revolution to fast-track Malaysia’s digitally empowered growth journey.”

Nadella earlier this week announced multibillion-dollar investments in AI and cloud services in Indonesia and Thailand.

Global consulting firm Kearney has estimated that AI could contribute nearly $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

Microsoft is seeking to boost support for the development of AI worldwide, with its recent initiatives also including major investments in Japan and the United Arab Emirates-based AI firm G42.

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Microsoft to invest $1.7 bbn in AI, cloud infrastructure in Indonesia | Technology

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says investment will help Southeast Asia’s biggest economy thrive in ‘new era’.

Microsoft has announced plans to invest $1.7bn in artificial intelligence and cloud services in Indonesia.

Under the plans unveiled by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the tech giant will train 840,000 people in Indonesia in the use of AI and provide support for the country’s growing ranks of tech developers.

The announcement marks the biggest investment by Microsoft in its nearly three-decade history in the Southeast Asian country.

Nadella on Tuesday held talks with President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, at Jakarta’s presidential palace before delivering a keynote speech about AI in the Indonesian capital.

“This new generation of AI is reshaping how people live and work everywhere, including in Indonesia,” Nadella said on the first stop of a tour of Southeast Asia.

“The investments we are announcing today – spanning digital infrastructure, skilling, and support for developers – will help Indonesia thrive in this new era,” he said.

Nadella said Microsoft’s investment would “bring the latest and greatest AI infrastructure to Indonesia”.

“We’re going to lead this wave in terms of AI infrastructure that’s needed,” he said.

Indonesia, with a population of about 280 million people, is Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and is home to the third-largest developer community in the region after India and China.

In a 2020 study, global consulting firm Kearney said that AI could contribute nearly $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product by 2030, with Indonesia expected to capture $366bn of the gain.

Nadella’s visit comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook last month met Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, where said he would “look at” manufacturing in the country.

Microsoft is seeking to boost support for the development of AI globally, and last month announced multibillion-dollar investments in cloud and AI infrastructure in Japan and the UAE-based AI firm G42.



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Elon Musk meets China’s No 2 official in Beijing | Technology

Telsa CEO’s unannounced visits comes as Chinese carmakers are promoting rival models at the Beijing Motor Show.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has met with China’s No 2 official on an unannounced visit to Beijing.

Musk’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang comes as Chinese carmakers are promoting their latest electric vehicles at the Beijing Motor Show taking place from April 25 to May 5.

During their meeting on Sunday, Li told Musk that he hoped the United States would engage with China on “win-win” cooperation, citing Tesla’s operations in China as a successful example of working together, Chinese state media reported.

“China’s very large-scale market will always be open to foreign-funded firms,” Li was quoted as saying.

“China will stick to its word and will continue working hard to expand market access and strengthen service guarantees.”

Musk said in a post on X that he was “honoured” to meet the No 2 official.

“We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days,” Musk said.

Musk’s visit was not announced in advance and it is unclear whether his itinerary might include a visit to the Beijing auto show, where Chinese carmakers are showing off electric vehicles that compete directly with Tesla’s models.

The billionaire entrepreneur’s trip comes just over a week after he cancelled a scheduled visit to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to “very heavy Tesla obligations”.

Tesla operates its biggest manufacturing plant outside the US in Shanghai, where about half of its vehicles are produced.

The electric car maker has been struggling with sluggish sales, in part due to fierce competition from Chinese brands.

Tesla’s vehicle deliveries fell by 8.5 percent in the first quarter, contributing to a 40 percent slide in its stock price since July.

The company last week reported profits of $1.1bn in the first quarter, down from $2.51bn a year ago.

Musk earlier this month told staff in a memo that the company would lay off more than 10 percent of its global workforce so that it would be “lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle”.

Chinese auto giant BYD dethroned Tesla as the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker in the last three months of 2023, although the Austin, Texas-based company reclaimed the title in the first quarter of this year.

Musk has made multiple trips to China in recent years, wrapping up his most recent visit in June last year.

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What role do US tech giants play in powering Israeli war crimes? | Israel War on Gaza

US tech giants, including Google, Meta and Amazon, face pushback from their workers for supporting Israel’s military.

After Amazon and Google signed a $1.2bn contract to launch Project Nimbus, providing cloud technology to the Israeli government and the military, tech workers started to notice more Israeli use of artificial intelligence against the Palestinian people.

Many of those engineers have become activists for “No Tech for Genocide”, including Zelda Montes, who was one of the dozens of Google staff who were recently fired for protesting against their company’s involvement with Israel.

Montes and tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar, who founded Tech for Palestine, tell host Steve Clemons why they refuse to build technology used for oppression, surveillance, warfare and apartheid.

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Why is Elon Musk feuding with Australia and Brazil over free speech? | Technology

Elon Musk, the self-proclaimed free speech absolutist and CEO of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, is once again at the centre of a heated debate about free speech and censorship.

Since buying X, the platform formally known as Twitter, in 2022, Musk has sparred with governments and public figures around the world about what is acceptable to post online.

The mercurial billionaire is now embroiled in separate legal battles with the governments of Brazil and Australia over their attempts to curtail content deemed to be harmful, such as misinformation, violent material and racist speech.

In each case, Musk has accused government officials of stifling free speech.

But his critics say he is emboldening extremists and cherry-picking cases as he has complied with takedown notices elsewhere.

Why is Musk in a dispute with Brazil?

Musk’s dispute with Brazilian authorities is part of an ongoing debate about how to handle “digital militias” associated with right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro’s online supporters have been the subject of a five-year investigation by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for allegedly spreading fake news and hate speech during his tenure.

The judge is also overseeing an investigation into a coup attempt by Bolsonaro’s supporters after he lost the 2022 election to current left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

As part of his investigation, de Moraes banned 150 accounts belonging to the “digital militias” – a fact that was made public earlier this year when media reported that many of those accounts were still active.

The move, which has been controversial in Brazil, piqued the interest of Musk, who in April fired off a series of tweets directed at the judge, calling the bans “aggressive censorship”.

Musk also said X would “lift all restrictions” on the banned accounts, although the platform said it had complied with the orders though it intended to challenge them in court.

“This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached,” Musk said on X. “Shame.”

In response, de Moraes launched an investigation into Musk for obstruction of justice.

Why is Musk at odds with Australia?

As Musk battles it out in Latin America’s most populous country, he is also at odds with Australia’s internet watchdog.

The stoush with the country’s eSafety Commissioner centres on a knife attack carried out on April 16 during a livestreamed service at an Orthodox Assyrian church in Sydney.

Police have charged five teenagers over the attack, including a 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a priest.

After the attack, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant issued a global takedown notice for videos of the event to X and Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.

Inman Grant has argued that posts of the attack should be taken down everywhere, including outside Australia, as internet users can easily avail of virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent domestic geo-blocking.

While Meta complied with the order, X has only geo-blocked the videos in Australia.

On Wednesday, Australia’s Federal Court extended an emergency injunction ordering X to remove the videos.

Musk has refused to back down, accusing Australia of attempting to impose censorship worldwide.

“Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian ‘eSafety Commissar’ is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?” Musk said on X.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has in turn accused Musk of thinking he is above the law and being an “arrogant billionaire.”

It remains an open question whether or not the courts will affirm the right of the Australian authorities to order the removal of content viewable outside the country.

What’s next for X?

X’s legal teams are going to be busy.

Earlier this week, Brazil’s de Moraes gave X until April 26 to explain why the platform had allegedly not fully complied with the court order to block certain accounts that authorities say are still active.

Separately, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters rallied to support Musk this week as he continues his legal fight.

In Australia, X is fighting the global takedown order ahead of a court hearing on May 10, with the platform facing fines of about $500,000 for each day of noncompliance.

Musk has signalled that further legal fights are on the horizon.

In January, he pledged to fund legal challenges to Ireland’s pending hate speech legislation

Is Musk a defender of free speech?

Whether Musk is a defender of free speech or a right-wing provocateur is to a great extent in the eye of the beholder.

Since his takeover of X, Musk has dramatically scaled back moderation of the platform and reinstated numerous banned accounts, including that of former United States President Donald Trump.

But Musk’s critics have noted that despite his willingness to spar with Brazil and Australia, he has complied with similar takedown orders from Turkey and India, including content critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Some of Musk’s detractors argue that his principles only extend to figures he personally agrees with, such as Brazil’s Bolsonaro and Argentina’s new President Javier Milei.

Meanwhile, although the US is known for its especially permissive laws and attitudes towards speech, other countries have taken a more proactive approach to clamping down on misinformation and hateful content.



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Microsoft, Google post double-digit profits rises, boosting case for AI | Technology

Tech giants’ shares surge after stronger-than-expected earnings.

Google and Microsoft have reported double-digit profit increases, buttressing the case for the tech giants’ heavy investment in artificial intelligence (AI).

The quarterly results announced on Thursday by Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft came in ahead of expectations, sending their shares 11 percent and 4 percent higher, respectively, in after-market trades.

Alphabet reported a profit of $23.7bn in the first three months of the year, a rise of 57 percent.

The Silicon Valley giant also announced its first-ever dividend, at $0.20 per share.

Google chief Sundar Pichai said AI text-to-image model Gemini had helped drive the company’s solid earnings.

“Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, and our global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation,” Pichai said.

Microsoft reported a quarterly profit of $21.93bn, up 20 percent.

The strong showing comes after rival Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, lost $200bn of its market value on Wednesday after CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned of higher expenses due to investment in AI.

The earnings come as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and other major players in AI are being scrutinised by regulators in the United States and Europe.

In January, the US Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry into whether multibillion-dollar partnerships between Microsoft, Amazon and Google and the start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic harmed competition.

The European Commission in March opened a probe into tech giants’ management of the risks associated with AI, including computer-generated deepfakes.

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