Ghana’s Dext to Supply Science Sets to UK Schools, Facebook Doesn’t Want a Warren Presidency, and China’s TikTok Bans Political Ads

Africa

Ghana’s Dext Technology to distribute Science sets to UK schools

Ghanaian tech startup, Dext Technology, has landed a deal to distribute Science sets to 500 schools in the UK, it has been revealed. The deal is part of a partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK. Dext Technology is a Kumasi-based tech startup that builds portable, innovative, and affordable tool sets to aid students in the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Over 26 experiments can be performed with the Science set’s 45 individual materials. They were awarded the One Africa Prize Award in May 2018. Dext Technology’s Science sets are useful for pupils and students from basic school up to senior high school levels.

Nigerian tech community demand end to SARS intimidation

Nigerian tech community have launched a #StopRobbingUs to bring an end to continued intimidation by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS. This comes after several innocent people carrying laptops are stopped in the streets and unlawfully searched and arrested by the country’s police force, a report says. There are stories of extortion by the security forces after hours of torture in police custody. The call is being led by Oluyomi Ojo of Printivo, ‘Bosun Tijani of CcHUB, Iyin “E” Aboyeji of Future.Africa, Jason Njoku of IROKO, and many others on social media. SARS is a branch of the Nigerian police responsible for tracking violent crime offenders.

Drivers of ride-hailing companies strike over unfair conditions

A collection of drivers called the Online Drivers Union of Ghana have declared a strike action against their companies over unfair working conditions, Citi News Room has announced. The drivers who work for companies including Uber, Bolt, and Yango claim they are expected to be online for up to 15 hours a day to gain only GHC 20. “We gain nothing from this job… We the drivers are just slaves. We don’t gain anything at all. We work the whole night picking people,” a driver lamented. Some companies have responded to the strike action. Uber has announced that it would engage in a roundtable discussion with all stakeholders. Meanwhile, Bolt is believed to have increased its prices and improved the bonuses for its riders.

The Americas

Facebook thinks Warren would be bad for tech community

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced his intention to defeat Elizabeth Warrant from becoming president because it would be bad for the company, a report has suggested. The CEO was heard on a leaked internal audio talking about the legal battles that Facebook would face should Elizabeth Warren become the next US president. “If she (Warren) gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge. And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government,” Zuckerberg is heard saying. Elizabeth Warren has declared her intention to break up large tech companies because of the power they wield. In a response to the leaked audio, she said, “More than 85% of all social networking traffic goes through sites owned or operated by Facebook. They’ve got a lot of power—and face little competition or accountability. They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, undermined our democracy, and tilted the playing field against everyone else.” Zuckerberg, meanwhile, believes breaking up tech companies would make it difficult to fight election interference since the many different small companies would not be able to coordinate their efforts.

Hospitals reject patients due to ransomware attack

Hospitals affected by a ransomware attack have closed their doors to most patients due to inability to access computer systems, it has been reported. DCH Health System, which operates three hospitals in Alabama said, “A criminal is limiting our ability to use our computer systems in exchange for an as-yet unknown payment.” The three hospitals affected were Northport Medical Center, DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, and Fayette Medical Center. Emergency services now have to send patients to surrounding hospitals until the situation is rectified. The hospitals will only attend to critical situations, while patients with appointments are encouraged to call and confirm their appointments before visiting any of the hospitals.

Europe

UK court to hear case of Google tracking iPhone users

A case by 4 million iPhone users against Google will now be heard in court after it was previously blocked, the BBC has reported. The High Court had initially blocked the case, but a ruling by three judges now opens the door for the class action suit. Google is being accused of using cookies in Apple’s Safari browser to track users who had already chosen the “Do Not Track” setting. Google still went ahead to collect data on sexuality, race, health, and finance for its use. The illegal tracking was said to have occurred between 2011 and 2012. However, a court rejected the class action suit in 2018 saying it was impossible to prove the extent of damages done. The decision to reopen the case relied on the points that data had value and that damage could be measured by the lack of control over personal data. Google said of the situation, “The case relates to events that took place nearly a decade ago and that we addressed at the time. We believe it has no merit and should be dismissed.”

Social media platforms can be forced to remove illegal posts

EU’s highest court has ruled that platforms like Facebook could be ordered to remove illegal posts, the BBC has revealed. The ruling came after an Austrian court deemed an insulting comment on Facebook damaged the reputation of Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, an Austrian politician. Previous laws didn’t hold platforms accountable for illegal stories shared on their platforms until they were made aware of them. At the same time, an EU directive had said it was impossible for platforms to seek out and remove every illegal content. With the new ruling, however, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter would have to seek out and remove variations of the illegal content instead of waiting for each one to be reported separately. “If there’s a court order to say that someone’s been defamed, then Facebook has to also search for different variations of it,” according to Prof Steve Peers of the University of Essex.

Asia

TikTok bans political ads

Chinese video-sharing app, TikTok, has banned paid political ads on its platform according news reports. Beijing Bytedance Technology Co., publisher of TikTok, claim paid ads did not fit into the experience it aims to offer its teeming users. “We will not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, current leader, political party or group, or issue at the federal, state, or local level – including election-related ads, advocacy ads, or issue ads,” Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s vice president said regarding the issue. TikTok allows users to add special effects to short videos and share them with them with millions of fans. The app recently hit 500 million global users and is a huge hit among teenagers.

Maxis partners Huawei Huawei for 5G rollout in Malaysia

Maxis Bhd has announced that it signed an agreement with Huawei to rollout 5G networks in Malaysia when the service becomes available in the Asian country, Reuters has reported. As part of the agreement, Huawei would supply 4G and 4G equipment and services. The agreement also sees Huawei offering upgrade to existing LTE radio networks in anticipation of the 5G rollout by end of 2020. “Besides having access to 5G technologies, Maxis will be able to modernize its existing LTE network to be 5G-ready,” the company added. Maxis is Malaysia’s second largest mobile network operator.