by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Muslim World, Social Media
Kabul : In a move that can curb “freedom of expression”, the Afghanistan government has asked several private telecommunication companies to suspend WhatsApp and Telegram instant messaging services in the country.
Although the apps, popular among the country’s elite, were still working on private telecom operators on Friday, customers of Salaam Telecom, a government-owned service provider, reported that both apps had stopped working for them, The New York Times reported late Friday.
“It is wrong and illegal,” Abdul Mujeeb Khalvatgar, executive director of Nai, a group that campaigns for free speech, was quoted as saying.
“According to the Constitution, freedom of expression is inviolable in Afghanistan.
“WhatsApp and Telegram are tools of free speech — if the government bans them, it means that tomorrow they could stand against media in Afghanistan too,” he added.
The clarity on the reason for the temprory ban was not obtained but on Thursday, the deputy director of the telecoms regulatory authority told the BBC that the ban was due to “security concerns”.
WhatsApp and Telegram are often used by the Taliban and other militant groups to evade government surveillance, the report said.
An official from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said that the request on the 20-day ban had come from the National Directorate of Security, the country’s intelligence agency.
The ministry said that the apps were being temporarily banned “to introduce a new kind of technology”, because users had complained about the quality of WhatsApp’s service.
It also denied that the ban constituted a threat to freedom of expression.
“WhatsApp and Telegram are just applications for contact and the sending of audio messages, and this does not affect freedom of speech,” the ministry added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Networking, Online Marketing, Social Media, Technology
San Francisco : In a bid to increase transparency on its platform, Twitter has announced to publicly disclose all ads — including political and issue-based ads — and the identity of who bought them.
In the wake of Russia’s alleged use of social media platforms to interfere with the 2016 US presidential election, two Democratic senators introduced last week the “Honest Ads Act”, a bill which requires tech companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter to disclose political ads purchased on their platforms.
“In the coming weeks, we will launch an industry-leading transparency centre that will offer everyone visibility into who is advertising on Twitter, details behind those ads, and tools to share your feedback with us,” Twitter posted late on Tuesday.
The transparency centre will show all ads that are currently running on Twitter, including “Promoted-Only” ads, how long ads have been running and ads targeted to you as well as personalised information on which ads you are eligible to receive based on targeting.
People can also report inappropriate ads or give negative feedback for every ad running on Twitter, whether the ad targets them or not.
“To make it clear when you are seeing or engaging with an electioneering ad, we will now require that electioneering advertisers identify their campaigns as such. We will also change the look and feel of these ads and include a visual political ad indicator,” Twitter said.
Twitter has already turned over to the US Senate 201 profile names of accounts associated with alleged Russian effort to meddle in the presidential election last year.
The move came after critics said that the tech giant was not taking the congressional probe seriously enough.
Twitter was also criticised for reportedly deleting tweets and other user data useful to investigators looking into Moscow’s suspected manipulation of the social media service during the 2016 election.
The Senate has invited Twitter, along with Facebook and Google, to a public hearing set for November 1.
“We will make new updates first in the US and then roll them out globally. We look forward to engaging with Members of Congress and other key stakeholders on these issues as the legislative process continues,” Twitter posted.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
New York : Heavily criticised for the use of Twitter to often launch personal attacks on media outlets and the opposition, US President Donald Trump has defended his regular use of social media and said he might not have won the election without it.
In an interview airing on US channel Fox Business Network, Trump said he could bypass what he labels unfair media coverage by speaking directly to his followers.
“Tweeting is like a typewriter — when I put it out, you put it immediately on your show. I doubt I would be here if weren’t for social media, to be honest with you,” he was quoted as saying.
Calling his social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram “a tremendous platform”, Trump said, “When somebody says something about me, I am able to go bing, bing, bing and I take care of it.”
“The other way, I would never be [able to] get the word out.”
Several leaders have urged Trump to avoid or minimize the use of Twitter and the US President also acknowledged that some friends suggested him not to use the social media.
Trump, who has 40.9 million followers on Twitter, regularly uses Twitter to attack news media and political opponents often sending out missives in the early morning or late evening hours.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Media, Social Media, Technology
San Francisco : Facebook is finally testing a paywall in its Instant Articles feature — beginning with Android and not iOS devices — in partnership with a small group of publishers across the US and Europe.
Facebook will support the subscription-based news product in Instant Articles for both metered models (starting with a uniform meter at 10 articles) and “freemium” models (the publisher controls which articles are locked).
“This is a direct result of the work we’re doing through the Facebook Journalism Project. We’re listening to news publishers all over the world to better understand their needs and goals,” the social media giant said in a blog post late on Thursday.
In July, Campbell Brown, the head of the company’s news partnerships, said Facebook will launch a subscription-based news product with initial tests beginning in October.
To begin with, publishers like Bild, The Boston Globe, The Economist, Hearst (The Houston Chronicle and The San Francisco Chronicle), La Repubblica, Le Parisien, Spiegel, The Telegraph, tronc (The Baltimore Sun, The Los Angeles Times, and The San Diego Union-Tribune), and The Washington Post will participate.
According to Facebook, when someone who isn’t yet a subscriber to a publication encounters a paywall within Instant Articles, they will be prompted to subscribe for full access to that publisher’s content.
“If that person subscribes, the transaction will take place on the publisher’s website. The publisher will process the payment directly and keep 100 per cent of the revenue,” the company added.
The publisher and subscriber relationship will work the same way it does on their own sites today where the publisher has direct access and full control, including setting pricing and owning subscriber data.
These subscriptions include full access to a publisher’s site and apps.
“Similarly, someone who is already a subscriber to a publication in the test can authenticate that subscription within Instant Articles in order to get full access to that publisher’s articles,” Facebook explained.
In 2017 alone, the average revenue per page view has increased over 50 per cent, and Instant Articles pays out more than $1 million per day to publishers via Audience Network.
For Apple, said a ReCode report, the new Facebook subscription model violates the company’s rules about subscriptions sold inside apps.
Currently, Apple gets up to 30 per cent of all subscriptions sold inside third-party iOS apps and Facebook’s current subscription-based product would strip them of this revenue.
“This initial test will roll out on Android devices first, and we hope to expand it soon,” Facebook said, adding that the tool will roll out over the next few weeks.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Networking, Social Media, Technology
San Francisco : After Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced plans to act more aggressively on violence and sexual abuse, the micro-blogging website has now detailed new rules it will implement soon.
In an internal email which was obtained by Wired.com, Twitter’s head of safety policy has emailed members of its Trust and Safety Council on new rules to promote free speech and curb violence and sexual harassment.
“We hope our approach and upcoming changes, as well as our collaboration with the Trust and Safety Council, show how seriously we are rethinking our rules and how quickly we’re moving to update our policies and how we enforce them,” Twitter said on Wednesday.
“We will immediately and permanently suspend any account we identify as the original poster/source of non-consensual nudity and/or if a user makes it clear they are intentionally posting said content to harass their target,” the email read.
“If the account appears to be dedicated to posting non-consensual nudity then we will suspend the entire account immediately,” it added.
On hate symbols and imagery, it said: “We are still defining the exact scope of what will be covered by this policy. At a high level, hateful imagery, hate symbols, etc will now be considered sensitive media (similar to how we handle and enforce adult content and graphic violence)”.
On violent groups, Twitter said it will take enforcement action against organisations that use or have historically used violence as a means to advance their cause.
“Consistent interpretation and enforcement of our rules is our objective. We also need to remove the burden of reporting from those who are targeted. We’ve prioritised the work,” Dorsey said in a tweet.
—IANS
