Social media platforms should ‘open up’ algorithms to combat fake content, says Vĕra Jourová
European Commission Vice President Vĕra Jourová says tech companies need to work harder to eliminate fake accounts and the spread of disinformation online, following a report Friday from a NATO research group showing that fake content is still thriving on most platforms, according to Politico. The report from the Latvia-based Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence showed […]
Regulators should prohibit cryptocurrencies like Libra, EU finance ministers say in joint statement
Digital “stablecoin” currencies like Facebook’s Libra project shouldn’t be permitted until regulators can assess and address the risks involved, according to a joint statement from Europe’s finance ministers. The statement solidifies past skepticism voiced by EU authorities, and likely amounts to a de facto ban on stablecoins—cryptocurrencies that, unlike bitcoin, are tied to an asset such as conventional currencies. […]
Boris Johnson signals he could favor excluding Huawei from the UK’s 5G networks
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signaled that he shares US security concerns over involving the Chinese firm telecom Huawei in Britain’s 5G network, according to The Guardian. His statement suggests he could move to exclude the company from a role in building the network, in the clearest indication yet of his stance on the issue, […]
London revokes Uber’s license to operate, saying drivers were using fake identities
Uber has lost its license to operate in London, following findings that drivers had faked their identities to register on the platform, according to BBC News. The city’s transit authority, Transport for London (TfL), declined to renew the company’s license at the end of a two-month probationary extension. The ridesharing platform had been warned that it […]
EU competition chief says she won’t yet call for breaking up tech giants
European competition chief Margrethe Vestager has said that despite problems with large technology companies, she’s not yet ready to take the step of breaking them up, according to VentureBeat and Business Insider. During an interview at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal on Thursday, Vestager said: “From a competition point of view, you would have to do something […]
Facebook agrees to pay a £500k fine to the UK over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal
Facebook has agreed to pay a £500,000 fine to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which nearly 90 million users had their personal data shared with the political consulting firm without their knowledge or consent. The social media company has now withdrawn its appeal after a year of litigation, agreeing […]
European Commission says tech companies must do more to fight disinformation
The European Commission has warned that tech platforms’ voluntary, self-regulatory efforts to minimize disinformation need to go much further, in their latest progress report on an agreement several of the largest companies signed a year ago, according to TechCrunch. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Mozilla, and Microsoft signed on to the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation in […]
British chipmaker ARM says it will continue to supply Huawei
UK-based chip manufacturer ARM says it will continue to provide its chip designs to Huawei, after their legal team found that the technology is “of UK origin” and not subject to a US trade ban against the Chinese tech company, according to Reuters. It’s a reversal from earlier this year when ARM told staff to suspend their […]
Macron nominates Atos CEO Thierry Breton for EU commissioner
French President Emmanuel Macron has nominated Thierry Breton, former finance minister and current chief of technology company Atos, as the nation’s EU commissioner, according to The Independent. Macron’s initial pick for commissioner, Sylvie Goulard, was rejected by the European Parliament, which must approve the nominations. Breton could be well-positioned to gain the approval of the conservative European […]
UK lawmaker questions Facebook on its move to allow misinformation in political ads
A UK lawmaker is challenging Facebook on its decision to exclude political ads from its fact-checking requirements, effectively allowing politicians to lie in Facebook ads, according to The Guardian. The House of Commons’ media committee chair, Damian Collins, pressed Facebook vice president and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg over the company’s policy change, dropping a ban […]