Africa
Nigeria bans Twitter, orders prosecution of violators
The Nigerian federal government says it will prosecute violators of its Twitter ban. While the president banned the social media site after his tweet was deleted for breaching Twitter rules, many are still getting around the ban via VPN.
Ghana’s appsNmobile raises $1m in funding
Ghanaian fintech startup, appsNmobile Solutions has secured $1 million from Oasis Capital VC in funding to scale up its e-payments services. The firm provides digital payment solutions to small and medium scale enterprises.
Farmerline CEO named among Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts
Farmerline CEO, Alloysius Attah, has been named as part of the inaugural 2021 Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts. The fintech CEO will join other talented entrepreneurs, policymakers, and scientists in discussions that would help provide solutions to problems around the world.
Europe
France fines Google €200m for ad abuse
France has fined Google some €200 million for abusing its advertising power. The French competition watchdog accused the tech giant of promoting its own ad services to the detriment of others.
French telecom buys 12% of UK’s BT
Altice, France’s second biggest telecoms group, has acquired a 12% stake in UK’s BT. Deutsche Telekom also owns 12% of the British telecom giant which hopes to provide fibre broadband to 25 million by the end of 2026.
Amazon faces $425 EU fine
Tech giant Amazon faces a potential $425 million in fines for breaching EU privacy rules. The fine relates to how to Amazon collects and uses data of members of the regional bloc, it has been reported.
The Americas
Hackers steal Electronic Arts source code
Hackers have stolen the source codes and other valuable information belonging to game publisher Electronic Arts. While EA said no player data was stolen, reports suggest up to 720GB of information including codes for FIFA21 and Frostbite were stolen.
Biden revokes US ban on TikTok and WeChat
US President Joe Biden has reversed Trump-era bans on Chinese apps, WeChat and TikTok. While the ban never came to force due to legal challenges, the administration will review apps coming from a foreign adversary.
US to invest billions in tech to challenge China
US lawmakers are looking to invest up to $250 billion in tech research to ensure the country competes with adversaries like China. Beijing officials believe the US is exaggerating Chinese threat in the technology space.
Asia
China exempt from Apple privacy feature
Apple’s new “private relay” feature which allows users to hide their browsing activity from Apple, advertisers, and other internet providers, will not be available for Chinese users. The feature will also not be available for users in Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Belarus, and a few other countries.
Huawei to reach driverless car technology by 2025
Chinese tech giant, Huawei, is looking to build driverless passenger cars by 2025. The move is important for the telecoms giant as it diversifies its sources of income following a US ban.
Amazon Web Services to open data centres in Israel
Amazon Web Services has announced that it will build data centres in Israel after signing deals to provide cloud computing to the government and military. The data centres will be ready by 2023.
Get your renewal completed in less than 24 hours. Use coupon code Claim your 20% Discount Now