“We will do so with immediate effect,” Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told parliament.

Western authorities have been taking an increasingly firm approach to the app, owned by the firm Bytedance, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.

Dowden said that experts had conducted a risk assessment of third-party apps in relation to sensitive government data.

As part of the measures, government devices will only be allowed to access apps on a pre-approved list.

The ban will apply to “government corporate devices” used by ministers and ministries, but not apply to personal devices or the wider public.

“This is a proportionate move,” said Dowden, urging users to exercise “caution” before downloading apps.

ByteDance has long insisted that it does not keep data in China or share it with Beijing.

US officials have said that if TikTok parts ways with ByteDance it would avoid a wider national ban.

On Thursday, the foreign ministry in Beijing called on Washington to stop “unreasonably suppressing” TikTok, which claims more than a billion global users.

“The US has so far failed to produce evidence that TikTok threatens US national security,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters.

The UK this week detailed plans to counter what it said was the “epoch-defining challenge” posed by China, in an update to its defence and foreign policy.

Since its departure from the European Union, the UK is seeking new markets and influence in Asia, in part to counter China.

Among its plans is the strengthening of security agencies to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure.

The UK has previously sparked anger in China by banning the involvement of tech firm Huawei in the roll-out of the country’s 5G network.

It has also blocked Chinese takeovers of UK electronics groups and removed China General Nuclear from construction of a new power station.

When he bid unsuccessfully to take over from Boris Johnson in July, now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to get tough on China, calling the Asian superpower the “number one threat” to domestic and global security.

He claimed at the time that China was “stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities”.

But since replacing Johnson’s successor Liz Truss in Downing Street, Sunak has also stressed the need to stay engaged with China.

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Ravi Shankar Prasad said that in a “gross violation” of Indian regulations, he was without warning informed that his account was locked because of an infringement of US copyright law.

The account remained out of action for almost an hour, he said.

“It is apparent that my statements calling out the high handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled its feathers,” Prasad tweeted after his account was restored.

“Twitter’s actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda, with the threat that if you do not tow the line they draw, they will arbitrarily remove you from their platform,” he added.

Twitter was not immediately available for comment.

The US firm has been locked for several months in a row with New Delhi over new rules for social media companies operating in India.

The regulations require firms to remove and identify the “first originator” of posts deemed to undermine India’s sovereignty, state security or public order.

Social media companies and privacy activists fear the vagueness of the rules means they could be forced to identify the authors of posts critical of the government.

Prasad on Friday said Twitter had not been adhering to the new rules because “it would be unable to arbitrarily deny access to an individual’s account which does not suit their agenda”.

Twitter insisted last week that it was making every effort to comply with the guidelines.

WhatsApp is challenging the rules in court, fearing that it will have to break its system of encryption that prevents anyone other than the sender and receiver from reading messages.

Last week, Twitter’s top executive in India was summoned by police after a video of a Muslim man being assaulted went viral on the platform. Police accused Twitter of stoking sectarian tensions.

In May police visited Twitter’s offices to serve a notice to the US company over its failure to remove a “manipulated media” label that it had placed on a tweet by the ruling party’s spokesman.

Twitter responded by accusing the authorities of “intimidation tactics”.

The government says it recognises and respects the right to privacy and that the new rules are only to prevent “abuse and misuse of social media”.

The post Twitter blocks India’s IT minister as row rages first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Twitter blocks India’s IT minister as row rages appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

South West Group of Online Publishers (SWEGOP), on Saturday, cautioned Nigerians to stop raising the false alarm and spreading unfounded rumours, especially on the social media.

The online news publishers, also called on the governments at all levels, including all the concerned stakeholders to collaborate and intensify efforts at ensuring the safety of lives and property in the country.

Contained in a statement signed by the Chairman of the group, Mr. Olayinka Agboola, the online news publishers noted that social media is awash with pieces of information that are not only unfounded but also detrimental to the peaceful coexistence of the society.

“We need to conceal information about security strategies at our disposal to enhance effective operation of the security operatives rather than embellishing and spreading it on social media,” the statement said.

SWEGOP, however, lauded the South-West Governors for their proactiveness in addressing insecurity in the region.

The group acknowledged the efforts of the Amotekun operatives in complementing the major security agencies’ efforts at ensuring that peace reigns in the Southwest Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the group regretted the killings in Igangan, a town in Oyo State and other parts of the country, urging the government at both the state and the federal levels to be firmer in their approach to security matters in their respective jurisdictions.

“Governments, traditional institutions and all those concerned with security issues in Nigeria should rise to the challenges and take decisive steps that will restore peace and sanity. They should work to stop the rate at which lawlessness is gaining grounds in the nation,” SWEGOP submitted.

The post ‘Raising False Alarm Won’t Help End Insecurity’- SWEGOP Cautions Nigerians first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post ‘Raising False Alarm Won’t Help End Insecurity’- SWEGOP Cautions Nigerians appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Digital rights activists say New Delhi’s latest rules could be used by the government to identify authors of critical posts on social media sites.

But the government argues they are needed to investigate national security offences and cases involving sexually explicit material.

India’s electronics and IT ministry said Saturday it was “dismayed” over Twitter’s “non-compliance” and flagged the May 26 deadline, when the new rules came into force.

“The refusal to comply demonstrates Twitter’s lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for people of India on its platforms,” its notice said.

“Needless to state, such non-compliance will lead to unintended consequences including Twitter losing exemption from liability as an intermediary,” the ministry said.

“As a gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules.”

The regulations demand that social media companies give details of the “first originator” of posts deemed to undermine India’s sovereignty, state security or public order.

Tech companies are also required to appoint a chief compliance officer for the rules and a “grievance redressal officer”, both based in India.

New Delhi last week said most major social media sites had already shared details of their chief compliance officer, contact person, and grievance officer, including Koo, ShareChat, Telegram, LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

The row between India and Twitter escalated in May after the tech firm marked a tweet from a ruling party spokesman as “manipulated media”.

New Delhi accused Twitter and other US tech giants of “double standards” in taking down disputed content.

Delhi police visited Twitter’s office to serve a notice ordering it to join an official inquiry into the “manipulated media” label — a move the company described as “intimidation”.

There was no immediate comment from Twitter on the latest notice from New Delhi Saturday.

India’s IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the government respects people’s privacy and the new rules are aimed at preventing “abuse and misuse of social media”.

But critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is seeking to stifle online opposition in what is a huge market for Twitter, Facebook, and other tech firms.

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The NCC boss who spoke as Guest Speaker at the Annual Lecture of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, (NUJ) Oyo State chapter in Ibadan, on Tuesday also noted  that the agitation against the social media because of criticism of government through the medium will not stop such criticism,saying when government performs well,the social media is bound to respond positively.

According to him, “When government performs well,the social media is abuzz with praises for the government. When government fails,the social media is abuzz with condemnation. The best way to silence the social media is to strive and do well”.

Speaking on the topic,”Revisiting the role of journalism in Good Governance in Nigeria”, Professor Akande averred that the media promotes good governance by playing the role of  watchdog, civic forum and agenda setting for government.

He said the media is important in the quest for good governance because many elements of good governance like transparency, accountability, greater participation in government, access to information, rule of law and human rights, cannot be achieved without the media.

The professor of Political Science identified Paid News Journalism ans Social Media as two new developments with great impact on the role of journalism in promoting good governance.

On Paid News which he said is the institutionalised commercialisation of news, Akande said it undermines the credibility of the media before the public because news is supposed to be well researched and objective.

“The public takes whatever news that come from the media as gospel truth. When it turns out that such news are not true or not objective and altruistically produced,this erodes the confidence of the public in the media and weakens its capacity to promote good governance.

The Don emphasized that the advent of the social media has changed the fortune of journalism in Nigeria and worldwide. He said the social media produces news real time and offer other services the media offers in a way that challenges the continued existence of the mainstream media even while its excessess has raised concerns in many quarters.

Professor Akande called on the federal government to intensify its financial  interventions in the media industry because the sector is going through trying period and should not be allowed to go into paralysis because of its critical role in promoting good governance and national development.

The NCC Chief further argued that just like  the collapse of banking and aviation sectors would affect the econony adversely,the collapse of the media industry will equally have devatating effect on the society.

“The effect of the parlous  econony  may not manistest quickly in the media sector as it does in banking and aviation,but the truth is that the  effect would be devatastating on the society.

He lauded the federal government for the initiative to support  the media industry with access to single digit loan to survive the economic challenges caused by COVID 19 pandemic.

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Professor Ojerinde, who raised the alarm on Sunday in a statement, also hinted that the fraudsters opened the social media accounts, including  Facebook, in his name to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

He stressed that the fraudsters used the accounts to demand money from people for non-existing jobs in federal agencies, adding that they had been perpetrating the fraud for months.

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In his words,” I hereby inform members of the public that I neither operate any account on Facebook nor have I sent anyone to do so in my name.”

The ex-JAMB registrar, however warned members of the public to be on the alert and not fall victim to the fraudsters.

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The post REVEALED! Internet fraudsters open fake Facebook account for ex-JAMB boss appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Darsema, who featured in CPJ’s Free the Press campaign, and Khalid were released after a supreme court ruling late last year reduced their sentences. Mustefa Shifa Suleyman, who acted as one of their lawyers, told CPJ that the journalists should have been released on the day of the court ruling, and that the delay was “not appropriate.”

Like all of the journalists jailed in Ethiopia at the time of CPJ’s 2017 prison census, Darsema and Khlaid were held on anti-state charges. At least three other journalists remain in prison: Zelalem Workagegnehu is serving a five-year, four-month sentence, and Woubshet Taye and Eskinder Nega are serving 14 and 18 years respectively for their journalism, according to CPJ research.

Even those journalists freed pending the outcome of a trial face frustrations from arbitrary court delays. Befekadu Hailu, a member of the Zone 9 blogging collective who was previously jailed for his journalism with eight of his colleagues in 2014, told CPJ that he is still awaiting a final verdict related to that case.

Since the prime minister announced that political prisoners would be released, authorities have freed at least 115 people, according to a Reuters report. Yared Hailemariam, executive director of the Swiss-based Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia, told CPJ the government had yet to provide any indication on “whether journalists are included” among those who will be freed.

Befekadu told CPJ that releasing political prisoners is only part of the wide-ranging reforms needed to make Ethiopia a friendlier environment for dissenting voices, a sentiment echoed by Human Rights Watch. Befekadu and Yared both told CPJ they believe that the government should urgently review the anti-terror proclamation of 2009, which has been used to silence dissenting voices and to persecute critical journalists. On January 19, the United Nations human rights spokesperson, Liz Throssell also called on Ethiopia to amend anti-terror legislation in line with international standards, and to revise laws that restrict the media, Reuters reported.

As well as legal action, the government has a series of other tools to intimidate and harass critical reporters. A December 2017 report by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, found that since 2016, “a campaign of targeted malware attacks apparently carried out by Ethiopia” was directed at activists and Oromia Media Network (OMN), a U.S.-based media outlet that reports on Ethiopia. Jawar Mohammed, the network’s executive director, said that the attacks began four days before a state of emergency was declared.

“Our contacts were not compromised … we were able to beef up our security,” Jawar told CPJ. “If this is what [Ethiopian authorities] are doing to us here abroad, imagine what they’re doing to journalists in Ethiopia where they control the telecommunications.”

Authorities have used internet shutdowns during other politically sensitive periods too, CPJ has found. During protests in 2016, authorities cut access to social media access at least four times in the country’s Oromia region, according to research by digital rights group, Access Now. These shutdowns continued even after the state of emergency was lifted, with media reports indicating that the government blocked access to social media sites again following protests in mid-December. Mobile data was still inaccessible outside Addis Ababa this month, according to Yared and Atnafu Berhane, another Addis-based Zone 9 blogger.

As well as restricting Ethiopians’ access to information, the shutdowns have  hampered  journalists’ ability to communicate safely with each other and their sources. Befekadu and another journalist, Belay Manaye, said that because of this, the flow of news from regions outside Addis Ababa is, in effect, blocked.

Other journalists have been targeted directly over their critical commentary on social media.

Zone 9 blogger Mahlet Fantahun told CPJ that while she was covering a trial in November, a judge called her to the defendant’s stand to ask her about her Facebook posts, and warned her against writing critical comments on the social media site. Mahlet said that in one of the posts the judge referred to, she had shared her opinion of a trial in which the defendants complained about the judge. In the second post, she had shared a Facebook user’s plea for a verdict in another trial. Mahlet said that she has since deactivated her Facebook account.

The post Why release of two journalists in Ethiopia does not signal end to press crackdown first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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