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China’s cyberspace regulator also appointed an official to the board of an Alibaba subsidiary, say people familiar with the matter say. SINGAPORE—Chinese authorities recently acquired a stake in a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., indicating regulators intend to keep the sector on a tight leash even as they move past an extended crackdown on the country’s internet-technology giants. A Beijing-based entity controlled by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog, took a 1% stake in a Guangzhou, south China-based Alibaba business on Jan. 4, according to China’s corporate registry. The cyberspace regulator also appointed an official to the board of the Alibaba entity, whose media portfolio includes mobile browser UC Web, people familiar with the matter say.
“User reports indicate Twitter is having problems since 7:13 pm EST,” according to outage detection site Downdetector, where many of the issues were reported. Over 10,000 users had reported trouble with accessing the platform on Wednesday evening, according to Downdetector data. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but its new owner Elon Musk tweeted on the platform that it “works for me,” in response to a user query. Meanwhile, some users, including CNN journalists, were met with an error message that read “Something went wrong, but don’t fret – it’s not your fault. Let’s try again.”According to Downdetector, it was desktop users of the platform, rather than those accessing it on mobile, who were most likely to be affected.
How Bots Pushing Adult Content Drowned Out Chinese Protest TweetsTwitter and its new owner, Elon Musk, have recently vowed to crack down on bots. When contacted, two businesses that appeared in spam tweets said that they had purchased the tweets using advertising services. The bots posting content during the protest did not focus on related hashtags; instead they included broader terms like the names of Chinese cities alongside adult content. BOT n BOT BOT BOT Searching for “北京” A search on Twitter for “Beijing” in simplified Chinese brought up tweet after tweet of spam ... BOT BOT BOT BOT Searching for “Beijing” ... but searching for “Beijing” in English showed no bot or spam activity among the top tweets. Bot advertising on Twitter A company listed on some spam tweets confirmed it ran an advertising business using bots.
SINGAPORE—China’s internet watchdog instructed tech companies to expand censorship of protests and moved to curb access to virtual private networks this week, as a government clampdown succeeds in keeping most protesters off the streets after nationwide demonstrations erupted over the weekend against the country’s strict Covid policies. The Cyberspace Administration of China issued guidance to companies on Tuesday, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of short video apps TikTok and Douyin, asking them to add more staff to internet censorship teams, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies were also asked to pay more attention to content related to the protests, particularly any information being shared about demonstrations at Chinese universities and a fire in the western Xinjiang region that triggered the nationwide backlash over Covid policies.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Journalists from an investigative news outlet in El Salvador sued NSO Group in United States federal court Wednesday after the Israeli firm’s powerful Pegasus spyware was detected on their iPhones. In January, the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, an internet watchdog, reported that dozens of journalists and human rights defenders in El Salvador had their cellphones repeatedly hacked with the spyware. Among them were journalists at the El Faro news site. NSO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit. Apple and WhatsApp have pending lawsuits against NSO Group in the same U.S. court in the Northern District of California.
Hong Kong CNN Business —Internet users in China will soon be held liable for liking posts deemed illegal or harmful, sparking fears that the world’s second largest economy plans to control social media like never before. China’s internet watchdog is stepping up its regulation of cyberspace as authorities intensify their crackdown on online dissent amid growing public anger against the country’s stringent Covid restrictions. For the first time, it states that “likes” of public posts must be regulated, along with other types of comments. This year, the country’s strict zero-Covid policy and Xi’s securing of a historic third term have sparked discontent and anger among many online users. “Cyberspace policing by Chinese authorities is already beyond measure, but that does not stop brave Chinese citizens from challenging the regime,” he said.
Crypto exchanges enabled online child sex-abuse profiteer
  + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +22 min
These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. “For those people looking to make money from child sexual abuse, crypto has lowered the barrier,” said Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer. The Dark Scandals website, owned by Michael Mohammad, instructs users to send tokens to a Dark Scandals digital wallet to purchase content. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.
The U.S. Justice Department, in a report this September, said many crypto exchanges still "make little or no effort to comply" with know-your-customer requirements. These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. Asked at his trial for his opinion of crypto, Mohammad noted, "Privacy is something that a lot of users value." The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.
Protests were also reported in Isfahan, in central Iran, and in the southeast of the country. The Tehran commander of the Basij militia forces that have deployed against protesters said in Tehran that three Basij had been killed and 850 more injured. "So many years of crimes, death to this religious leadership", they chanted, according to a video posted on social media. Iran's foreign minister spoke on Friday with the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell, who urged Tehran to stop the repression of protesters. In a phone call, Hossein Amirabdollahian told Borrell Iran allowed peaceful protests and its government enjoyed popular support, state media said.
Starlink internet is now active in Iran, an academic said on Twitter after speaking to Elon Musk. Iranians and internet watchdogs have reported network outages amid protests over a woman's death. Musk granted Sadjadpour permission to share the news that Starlink had been activated in the country, Sadjadpour tweeted. "It will cost many millions of dollars to setup and sustain thousands of Starlink terminals to Iran," he said in the tweet. People in Iran have reported internet outages after protests started over the death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini who died in police custody.
CNN Business —When Iranian authorities pulled the plug on the internet in 2019 amid anti-government protests, the international community struggled to track the civilian carnage that followed. “Everything is a lie.”Mobile networks have been largely shut down, according to internet watchdog Netblocks. While it is not the total internet shutdown of 2019, tech experts say they are seeing a similar pattern. While the current internet blackout is “not as severe as November 2019,” Madory said, there are concerns it could eventually be. Despite the fear gripping his homeland right now amid the protests and internet blackouts, Rashidi does see reason for hope.
CNN Business —When Iranian authorities pulled the plug on the internet in 2019 amid anti-government protests, the international community struggled to track the civilian carnage that followed. “Everything is a lie.”Mobile networks have been largely shut down, according to internet watchdog Netblocks. While it is not the total internet shutdown of 2019, tech experts say they are seeing a similar pattern. While the current internet blackout is “not as severe as November 2019,” Madory said, there are concerns it could eventually be. Despite the fear gripping his homeland right now amid the protests and internet blackouts, Rashidi does see reason for hope.
WhatsApp says it is working to keep Iranians connected
  + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
The WhatsApp app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSept 22 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) WhatsApp said on Thursday that it was working to keep users in Iran connected after the country restricted access to the app and social media platform Instagram. WhatsApp "will do anything" within its technical capacity to keep the service accessible and that it was not blocking Iranian phone numbers, the messaging service said in a tweet. (https://bit.ly/3LP2mhX)Iran on Wednesday restricted access to Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the last remaining social networks in the country, amid protests over the death of a woman in police custody, according to residents and internet watchdog NetBlocks. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will seek exemption from sanctions against Iran to provide internet service. His tweet came amid protests in Iran over the death of a young woman who died in police custody. Musk was responding to a question about whether the company would be able to provide the Starlink internet service to people in Iran. Musk's tweet comes amid anti-government protests in Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini who died Friday in police custody. Iran's internet users have been reporting "the disconnection or severe slowing of internet service in multiple cities" since Friday, internet watchdog NetBlocks said on Monday.
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