Facebook to Open Lagos Office, Huawei Fighting for Survival, and UK Hacker sentenced to Five Years

Africa

Facebook to open Lagos office

Facebook has announced plans to open its Lagos office in the second half of 2021. The new office will support its efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa and will be home to teams catering to Facebook’s sales, engineering, and policy structures.

NCA sets new rules for MTN Ghana

Since declaring MTN Ghana as a Significant Market Power, Ghana’s National Communications Authority has introduced new rules to provide a level playing field for others. MTN Ghana would have to charge the same fee for on-net and off-net calls and SMS while receiving even less in traffic fees from rival networks.

Rack Centre to create West Africa’s largest data centre

Rack Centre is looking to create West Africa’s largest data centre after securing $100 million from an investment fund established by Actis and Convergence Partner. The investment will increase its lettable white space to 6000 sqm and IT power capacity to 13MW on its Lagos campus.

Europe

England and Wales urged to share data on Covid-19 app

The Health Foundation, a UK health charity, wants the governments of England and Wales to share details on how their apps fared in pilot projects. The foundation fears the app could leave certain communities at greater risk of infection.

The Dark Overlord hacker sentenced to five years

A UK hacker who was part of The Dark Overload hacker group that stole patient records and committed other online crimes has been sentenced to five years in prison. The hacker pleaded guilty over a Zoom court session to charges of identity theft and computer fraud.

EU to introduce bloc-wide crypto passport

The EU is finalising plans to establish the first bloc-wide set of rules to govern blockchain technology and the crypto assets market. The rules will include mandatory complaint procedure and rights of investors against issuers. The proposal would also look at how existing financial rules affect crypto assets.

The Americas

Advertisers and social media giants redefine hate speech

Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook have agreed with the World Federation of Advertisers to use common definitions for hate speech and other forms of online bullying. Following the boycotting of Facebook ads, brands will also have a say on where their ads are displayed.

Microsoft shells $7.5bn for Bethesda

Microsoft has acquired Bethesda, the creator of Fallout, Skyrim, and Wolfenstein video games, in a $7.5 billion deal. Bethesda’s game franchises will now be part of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Subscription package.

Cheaper Teslas ready in three years

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has announced that his company is looking forward to making cheaper batteries that would make Teslas more affordable in the future. He claims there could be $25,000 autonomous Tesla within the next three years.

Asia

Huawei stockpiles chips ahead of ban

Huawei is stockpiling chips ahead of the US government’s planned restrictions on its ability to acquire American technology. The Chinese firm says US aggression has put it under pressure and that for now, “Survival is the goal.”

Facebook closes fake Chinese accounts

Facebook has closed a network of 150 fake accounts linked to the Chinese government. The accounts were involved in a co-ordinated attempt to interfere in political discussions in other jurisdictions.

ByteDance seeks tech export license to avoid US ban

ByteDance has applied for a tech export license in China amid talks of a deal with Walmart and Oracle in a move that would see TikTok avoid a US ban. If approved, the deal would see the creation of a standalone US company to allow the video-sharing app to stay online in the states.