Vodafone Ghana Promotes STEM Education, Facebook In Trouble Over Data Transfers, and Trump Not Allowed to Block Critics on Twitter

Africa

Vodafone Ghana to promote STEM education

Vodafone Ghana Foundation has partnered with KNUST College of Engineering to deliver annual STEM education programmes, it has been reported. The annual event, Cygnus Girls Bootcamp is a four-day event that teaches girls from second-cycle schools trends in innovation, technology, and creativity. A total of 300 participants took part in the recent bootcamp where they learnt coding, entrepreneurship, and other digital skills.”Don’t be perturbed by the seeming uncertainty; take the skills being dished out at the camp seriously – Coding, mentoring, advisory and innovation – and become a critical mass for the future,” Ebenezer Amankwah, Chairperson of Vodafone Ghana Foundation, urged the girls.

NEC XON to offer first AI-powered WLAN in Africa

South Africa’s NEC XON is offering the first ever Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that is powered by artificial intelligence, according to a report published on its website. The AI-powered service would enable NEC XON to provide automated insights to connected networks in a timely and cost-effective manner. The technology behind the AI-powered WLAN was designed by Mist Systems, which offer intelligent cloud-based solutions to healthcare, security, and enterprise management. XON is a systems integrator that provides custom ICT and security services in Africa. Its collaboration with NEC Corporation’s service offerings in Africa led to the formation of NEC XON.

The Americas

Instagram has a new anti-bullying tool

Instagram is fighting bullies by asking them to review their messages before they are posted. The social media site has been under fire for not doing enough to curb bullying after high profile cases like the suicide of a British girl, the BBC has reported. Instagram agreed that it could do more and has put in place measures to curb the incidences of bullying. The new anti-bullying tool uses AI to identify texts that are known to be used in online abuse. In addition, Instagram is giving victims the power to limit their interactions with persons who abuse them online. “We can do more to prevent bullying from happening on Instagram, and we can do more to empower the targets of bullying to stand up for themselves,” chief executive Adam Mosseri said.

Trump breaking free speech by blocking critics on Twitter

A New York federal appeals court has ruled that it is unconstitutional for President Trump to block his critics on Twitter. The ruling comes in a case involving seven people who had been blocked by US President, Donald J Trump, the report said. The case was brought against the president by Knight First Amendment Institute in 2017. The judge said public officials were in no position to silence individuals who disagreed with them. “The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilises a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise‐open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees.” Trump’s lawyers, on the other hand, argued that Trump’s Twitter account was a private one and should not be subjected to the rules of free speech. 75 people have since been unblocked, though another 30 remain blocked.

Europe

Facebook faces probe over data transfers to US

Facebook will be quizzed in court over its practice of transferring data of EU citizens to the US, it has been reported. The watchdog responsible for this probe, the Irish data protection commissioner, will question whether rights of EU citizens are sufficiently protected during the transfer of their data. This is due to the possibility of mass surveillance by American security forces over data on American soil. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on this mass surveillance in 2013, but Facebook said it had put data protection measures in place.

France passes digital services tax

France has passed a digital services tax despite threats of retaliation by the US, the BBC has confirmed. The tax is a 3% levy on the revenues of tech giants generated in France. The US had opposed the tax, saying it targeted only US firms like Google and Facebook. The tax is imposed on digital companies with revenues exceeding €750 million, of which at least €25 million was generated in France. Since its passage, the US administration has ordered a probe into the tax and could impose tariffs of its own. Most large tech firms are able to avoid paying taxes in a country if they don’t have a large physical presence in that geography. As a result, most of their taxes go to where their headquarters are located. France has projected a €400 million revenue from the tax in 2019 alone.

UK to fine Marriott International £99 million for data breach

UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is planning to fine Marriott International £99.2 million over allegations of data breaches that occurred in 2014. The BBC reports that up 339 million guests had their personal details exposed in a reservation database. Of that number, about 30 million were guests from the EU who had checked into or reserved rooms at Starwood, a rival hotel that had since been acquired by Marriott International. Marriott intends to contest the fine, according to its president, Arne Sorenson. “We are disappointed with this notice of intent from the ICO, which we will contest. Marriott has been co-operating with the ICO throughout its investigation into the incident, which involved a criminal attack against the Starwood guest reservation database,” he said. The ICO insists Marriott is responsible for the data it holds per the rules in the GDPR.

Asia

North Korea develops software to teach party ideology

North Korea has developed a software to teach ideology to party members, the BBC has reported. The software is called Chongseo 1.0, and will teach party members the ideologies of both Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il. The programme aggregates classical works of the two former leaders and can run on Microsoft and Redstar (Linux-based) devices. It is believed this move is part of a wider attempt to curb foreign influences on the country’s citizens.

India-made iPhones to launch in August

iPhones assembled in Foyconn’s India factory could hit stores by next month, Reuters has learnt. A source who spoke to Reuters claimed the iPhone XR and XS devices are only pending a few approvals which makes an August release date a possibility. Assembling the phones in India could lead to lower prices for the second largest smartphone market by cutting down on taxes. “Local production will give Apple the leeway to play with the margins of their distributors and indirectly price their phones lower,” a research director at tech consultancy Canalys said.