Category: iNews

Category: iNews

Facebook Whistleblower Says Firm Chooses ‘Profit Over Safety’
10/04/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The whistleblower who shared a trove of Facebook documents alleging the social media giant knew its products were fueling hate and harming children’s mental health revealed her identity Sunday in a televised interview, and accused the company of choosing “profit over safety.”  Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old data scientist from Iowa, has worked for companies including Google and

Details
Twitter Appeals French Court Ruling on Anti-Hate Speech
10/02/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Twitter has appealed a French court decision that ordered it to give activists full access to all of its relevant documents on efforts to fight hate speech, lawyers and a judicial source said on Saturday.   In July, a French court ordered Twitter to grant six French anti-discrimination groups full access to all documents relating

Details
How China’s Ban on Cryptocurrency Will Ripple Overseas
10/02/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Since China’s government declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal last week and banned citizens from working for crypto-related companies, the price of bitcoin went up despite being shut out of one of its biggest markets. Experts say large-scale Chinese miners of cryptocurrency — the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum — will take their high-powered, electricity-guzzling servers

Details
China’s Tech Titans Funding Beijing’s Effort to Close Income Gap
10/02/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

During the three-day World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, China, this week, the country’s biggest tech tycoons rushed to show their support for Beijing’s “common prosperity” initiative. Their enthusiasm for the initiative comes amid a yearlong crackdown on the country’s tech industry, where several high-profile companies have faced investigations and fines. Formerly high-flying celebrity CEOs

Details
Lithuania Urges Users to Ditch Chinese Smartphone Over ‘Built-In Censorship Tool’
10/01/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A popular Chinese-made phone has a built-in censorship tool that can blacklist search terms on the web, according to research by the Lithuanian government. The country is urging owners of the phones to replace them, as Henry Ridgwell reports. …

Details
Lithuania Urges Users to Ditch Chinese Smartphone Over ‘Built-In Censorship Tool’ 
10/01/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A popular Chinese-manufactured phone has a built-in censorship tool that can blacklist search terms on the web, according to research by the Lithuanian government, which is urging owners of the phones to replace them.  The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense analyzed three popular Chinese-made phones currently sold in Europe: the Xiaomi Mi 10T 5G; the Huawei

Details
New Holographic Technology Provides Transportive Experience
09/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A company in suburban Washington, D.C., is using cutting-edge technology to create lifelike video avatars to drop into music and training videos, games and other immersive environments. It’s an entry point to the so-called metaverse, as VOA’s Arzouma Kompaoré discovered while touring Avatar Dimension’s new studio. …

Details
YouTube Will Ban All Content Containing What it Calls Vaccine Misinformation
09/29/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

YouTube will ban any video that claims vaccines are ineffective or dangerous, including those that question vaccines for measles and chickenpox, the company announced Wednesday.   “Specifically, content that falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects, claims that vaccines do not reduce transmission or contraction of disease, or contains misinformation

Details
New Technologies Aim to Reduce Carbon in Atmosphere
09/29/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A bunch of new technologies are popping up that could help bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero by 2050, and all need investment. Governments worldwide are having to decide which one suits their geography and how much they can spend on a given technology. More with VOA’s Mariama Diallo. Produced by: Kimberlyn Weeks     …

Details
Facebook Puts Instagram Kids Project on Hold
09/27/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Facebook is putting its Instagram Kids project on hold amid growing concerns about potential harmful effects on young people, including anxiety and depression. The idea is to provide youngsters with the Instagram social media experience but with no ads, more parental control and age-appropriate content. U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged Facebook to scrap

Details
Huawei Executive Resolves Criminal Charges in Deal with US 
09/24/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A top executive of Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies has resolved criminal charges against her as part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that could pave the way for her to return to China.  The deal with Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, was disclosed in

Details
Disabled People Can Now Use Android Phones with Face Gestures
09/24/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Using a raised eyebrow or smile, people with speech or physical disabilities can now operate their Android-powered smartphones hands-free, Google said Thursday. Two new tools put machine learning and front-facing cameras on smartphones to work detecting face and eye movements. Users can scan their phone screen and select a task by smiling, raising eyebrows, opening

Details
Benin Startup Builds Low-Cost Computers
09/20/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

BloLab is converting plastic jerricans into computers using recycled components.. Anne Nzouankeu visited the startup in Cotonou, Benin in this story narrated by Moki Edwin Kindzeka. …

Details
Media: ‘Quad’ Countries to Agree on Secure Microchip Supply Chains
09/18/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia will agree to take steps to build secure semiconductor supply chains when they meet in Washington next week, the Nikkei business daily said Saturday, citing a draft of the joint statement.   U.S. President Joe Biden will host a first in-person summit of leaders of the

Details
‘Devious Licks’ Videos of Damage, Thefts Bedevil US Schools 
09/18/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Kids across the U.S. are posting TikTok videos of themselves vandalizing school bathrooms and stealing soap dispensers and even turf from football fields, bedeviling school administrators seeking to contain the viral internet trend.  The “devious licks” challenge that swept social media this week is plaguing principals and school district administrators who already must navigate a

Details
Navalny App Gone from Google, Apple Stores on Russia Vote Day
09/17/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny’s Smart Voting app disappeared from Apple and Google stores Friday as Russians began voting in a three-day parliamentary election marked by a historic crackdown on the opposition. “Removing the Navalny app from stores is a shameful act of political censorship,” top Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov said on Twitter. The app promoted an

Details
China Gets Serious About Cracking Down on Youth Online Gaming
09/17/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

With China’s new restrictions on minors playing online games, the global gaming industry wonders what’s next. Michelle Quinn reports. …

Details
Clive Sinclair, Computing Pioneer, Dies at 81
09/17/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Sir Clive Sinclair, the British inventor who pioneered the pocket calculator and affordable home computers, died Thursday at age 81. He died at his home in London a decade after being diagnosed with cancer, U.K. media said, prompting tributes from many who fondly recalled their first experience of computing in the early 1980s. He was

Details
UN Rights Chief Calls for Moratorium on Artificial Intelligence Systems
09/15/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, is calling for a moratorium on the sale and use of artificial intelligence systems, which she says pose a serious risk to human rights. The High Commissioner’s report, which will be submitted to the U.N. human rights council, provides an analysis of how advances in digital technologies

Details
US Accuses Russia of Stonewalling on Cybercrime
09/15/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. warnings to Russian President Vladimir Putin over shielding cybercriminals holed up in Russia appear to have made little impact, according to top U.S. law enforcement and cyber officials. “There is no indication that the Russian government has taken action to crack down on ransomware actors that are operating in the permissive environment that they’ve created

Details
Apple Plugs ‘No-Click’ Phone Hack Attributed to Pegasus Spyware
09/14/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Apple released a critical software patch to fix a security vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect iPhones and other Apple devices without any user action.   Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said the security issue was exploited to plant spyware on a Saudi activist’s iPhone. They said they

Details
Hospitals Turn to Robots to Free Up More Time for Patients
09/14/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A robot called Moxi is helping nurses and hospital staff focus more on patients by taking care of menial tasks. The VOA’s Deana Mitchell has the story.    …

Details