Ghana to Re-register All Sim Cards in Fight Against Fraud, Facebook Will Not Ban Political Ads, And Lebanon Retreats On Proposed WhatsApp Tax

Africa

Ghana to re-register all sim cards by 2020

Ghana’s Ministry of Communications has issued a June 2020 ultimatum for all sim card holders to re-register their sim cards in a bid to fight fraud, it has been reported. The registration process will begin in January 2020, and all persons who fail to abide by the new ruling would lose their numbers, the Minister said in a meet-the-press event in the capital, Accra. “The ministry has consulted all relevant stakeholders and hereby announces that from 1st January 2020, we would all be required to re-register our SIM cards. Any SIM card which is not registered will be deactivated by June 2020, giving a six-month time frame for this exercise,” Ursula Owusu Ekuful, sector minister added. In other news, the Ministry has taken exception to Ghanaian telcos sending alerts about Communication Service Tax to users upon every recharge. The Minister accused the telecoms companies of robbing Ghanaians. “Whatever they may have lost in absorbing the 6% CST, they more than made up for it by refusing to roll over credit that has been paid for by consumers but remained unused on the expiration of the bundle period. They are now effectively robbing consumers by passing on the full tax while retaining the unused data on voice bundles,” the Minister said. The Ministry also demanded that all unused data and voice bundles should be rolled-over on the next recharge.

No roaming charges across ECOWAS from 2020

Citizens of member states in the Economics Community of West African States will enjoy zero roaming charges within the sub-region from January 2020, news outlets have reported. This became possible following the implementation of the ECOWAS Roaming Initiative aimed at offering affordable roaming services for persons from member states. “From January 1, 2020, all ECOWAS citizens travelling within the region will experience no roaming tariffs but will roam at local rates,” Ursula Owusu Ekuful said in a press briefing. As part of the implementation process, the 6% charge on international calls will be cancelled. All telcos offering voice bundles are expected to conclude all roaming charges by 31^st December, 2019.

The Americas

Washington carried out secret cyber-attacks on Tehran

The United States of America carried out secret cyber-attacks against Iran in the wake of attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Reuters has revealed. The US and Saudi Arabia both blamed Iran for the attack on Saudi’s oil fields on September 14^th this year. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US official who spoke to Reuters said America targeted Iran’s physical hardware in an attempt to affect the country’s ability to spread propaganda. Iranian officials deny their involvement in the Saudi fires. Speaking on the matter of America’s cyber-attack, though, Iran ridiculed America’s ability to do what it said it did. “They must have dreamt it,” Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said.

Zuckerberg rules out banning political ads

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has ruled out banning political ads, saying it was wrong to censor news and politicians, the BBC has reported. This comes after the social media giant came under attack for refusing to ban political ads that contained falsehoods. “We can either continue to stand for free expression, understanding its messiness but believing that the long journey towards greater progress requires confronting ideas that challenge us. Or we can decide that the cost is simply temporary,” he said, claiming the long term effects of a ban would be detrimental to world democracy. He said barring politicians from campaigning on Facebook would favour incumbent politicians and those covered by the mainstream media. The Facebook chief also confirmed that Facebook would not be in China due to news censorship.

Europe

UK to probe Amazon’s investment into Deliveroo

UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Amazon’s investment into food delivery service provider, Deliveroo, it has been reported. The probe is meant to investigate if the deal had led to less competition in the industry. Deliveroo is Europe’s fastest food delivery service, with 60,000 riders serving some 80,000 restaurants in 13 countries. Amazon led a $575 million fundraising round in May, 2019. The CMA first ordered the two companies to operate independently. This was due to fears the two companies “ceased to be distinct,” the regulator added. Speaking on the probe, Deliveroo said, “Deliveroo is cooperating fully with the CMA. This minority investment will help to create jobs, help restaurants to grow their businesses, improve choice for consumers and enhance competition in the UK food delivery sector.”

France looking to create EU-wide tech regulator

France is pushing for an EU-wide tech regulator to fight abuse of power, Reuters has  reported. The new regulator would be modeled after what exists in the banking sector, an official from the French presidency said. In addition, the regulator would be able to slap fines and enforce same on flouting tech giants like Google. In the past month, for example, Google finally said it was not going to show snippets of news from European publishers to users in France in compliance with European copyright law. “Over the short-term, we would like the European Commission…. to look into whether legal action (against Google) is possible,” the French official said.

Asia

Lebanon backtracks on WhatsApp tax amid violent protests

The Lebanese government has scraped a proposed tax on internet calls made via WhatsApp and other apps, the BBC can confirm. The government had proposed a $0.20 daily tax on all internet calls as part of a move to beef the country’s finances. Violent protests soon erupted as a result, leading to clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. Hundreds of protestors burned tyres in the streets as security fired tear gas to disperse them. With protestors gathered around government headquarters in Beirut, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri may yet cancel a scheduled cabinet meeting. While the WhatsApp tax triggered the movement, the anger in Beirut and surrounding cities in Lebanon could be due to widespread economic hardships.

Tesla to start production in China

The Chinese government has granted Tesla the requisite license to begin production in China, a Reuters report has confirmed. Tesla was added to a list of automotive manufacturers approved to manufacture vehicles after it received its license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This gives Tesla the green light to complete its $2 billion plant in the Chinese city of Shanghai, reports have suggested. The Shanghai plant will be Tesla’s first manufacturing plant overseas; it’s also China’s first fully foreign-owned car manufacturing plant. Tesla hopes to produce 1,000 Model 3s by close of year.