The government s new regulations for social media platforms and OTT players Thursday evoked divergent responses from legal experts with one section saying these would be valid till they contain reasonable restrictions while some opposed on grounds of infringement of privacy and free speech under the Constitution. The Centre Thursday announced sweeping regulations for social media firms like Facebook and Twitter as well as OTT players such as Netflix, requiring them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and setting up a complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country. The regulations also make it mandatory for platforms such as Twitter and WhatsApp to identify the originator of a message that authorities consider to be anti-national and against security and sovereignty of the country.
Facebook Accidentally Blocks Its Own Page in Australia Following News Ban
Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)
Facebook blocked dozens of charity groups, nonprofit organizations, and even random big box retailers in Australia late Wednesday (early Thursday, local time), a move that appears to be collateral damage from Facebook’s ban on news in the country. Facebook even briefly blocked its own page in Australia, according to multiplereports and confirmation from a Facebook spokesperson.
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Facebook blocked all “news” content from being distributed on its platform in Australia on Wednesday over a decision by the federal government to potentially implement new rules that would force big tech companies to negotiate with news outlets and pay for news content. Facebook says the proposed rules are an attempt, “to penalize Facebook for content it didn’t take or ask for.”
There are signs the waiting could be over. It seems like Google has finally decided to start updating its major iOS apps. The company released an update for YouTube this weekend, more than two months after its last update.
A group of researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory has determined that Clubhouse’s data protection practices allowed its users’ data, possibly including their raw audio, to potentially be accessed by the Chinese government.
The president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, gave testimony on Wednesday before a legislative commission investigating a data collection unit that aroused suspicions of having accessed private information from the general public.
The president defended the creation of the Presidential Unit for Data Analysis (UPAD) as a method to formulate public policies based on “science and data.”
“We are not facing a spy unit that was conceived and operated from underground, but rather a responsible, transparent initiative aimed in the best public interest,” Alvarado declared before the commission created to investigate the operation of the UPAD.
The unit unleashed a political controversy when the decree creating it was published in February 2020. Critics argued that the UPAD would have access to confidential information.