Bolt Ghana Expands to Sunyani, Facebook Ordered to Sell Giphy, and UK Government Fined Over Data Breach

Africa

Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation unveils shortlist for 2022 prize

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation has released a 16-member shortlist for the 2022 award. Shortlisted candidates include Ghana’s Aquaponics Hub, Nigeria’s Coldbox Store, and Kenya’s Genesis Care.

Tix.Africa now available in Ghana

Self-ticketing platform, Tix.Africa, is now available to users in Ghana. The company makes it easy for event organisers to sell tickets to event-goers and also collect payments in local currencies in record time.

Bolt Ghana expands to Sunyani

Ride-hailing app Bolt has expanded its operations to the Brong Ahafo regional capital, Sunyani. Riders can also hail Bolt drivers across Accra, Kumasi, Koforidua, Cape Coast, and Takoradi.

Europe

UK TV viewers suffer Virgin Media outage

Some viewers of UK’s Virgin Media suffered up to 10 hours of media blackout during a nationwide blackout, the BBC has reported. The lack of service was caused by a power outage, the company said.

UK government fined over data breach

The UK government has been fined some £500,000 over a New Year Honours data breach, it has been reported. The fine came after addresses of more than 1,000 Honours recipients were leaked online.

UK watchdog orders Facebook to sell Giphy

UK’s Competitions and Market Authority has ordered Facebook to sell Gif-sharing search engine, Giphy. The watchdog says the purchase would be unfair to other social media platforms.

The Americas

Congress to question crypto executives

The US Congress will question executives of the eight largest cryptocurrency firms, it has been reported. Politicians across the divide would like further clarification on the activities of these firms and their impact on the economy.

Square changes corporate name to Block

Digital payments platform, Square, has changed its corporate name to Block. This comes days after its CEO, Jack Dorsey, stepped down from running Twitter. Square and Tidal, both companies under Block, retain their names.

Creditors can now send DMs to debtors on social media

New agency rules will allow US creditors to send messages to their debtors on social media, the BBC has reported. Critics fear the new rule could lead to privacy invasion and proliferation of scam.

Asia

China’s Didi plans to move listing to Hong Kong

China’s ride-hailing app, Didi Global, plans to remove its listing from the US and move it to the Hong Kong exchange. The company has come under intense scrutiny in the US while China is also cracking down on foreign-listed tech firms.

Australia’s Clearview AI faces fine in the UK

Australia’s facial recognition firm, Clearview AI, is facing a potential £17 million fine in the UK over its handling of user data. The Australian firm claims the allegation is incorrect and is considering an appeal.

Facebook uncovers Chinese disinformation network

Facebook has removed up to 500 user accounts originating from China that was spreading claims by a fake Swiss biologist, Wilson Edwards. The fake expert had claimed the US was meddling with Covid-19 origins history.