Telegram boss Pavel Durov describes French arrest as ‘misguided’

Durov was detained by French authorities at Le Bourget airport in Paris last month and questioned for four days. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 06 September 2024
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Telegram boss Pavel Durov describes French arrest as ‘misguided’

  • Platform not an ‘anarchic paradise,’ Dubai-based entrepreneur says
  • Durov is accused of allowing Telegram to be used for criminal activities

LONDON: Telegram boss Pavel Durov has publicly addressed what he calls the “misguided” charges brought against him by French authorities, defending his platform and leadership in his first comments since his arrest.

In a social media post on Thursday, Durov criticized the judicial inquiry that led to preliminary charges and accused him of allowing Telegram to be used for criminal activities.

Those charges came as part of an investigation into the platform’s alleged complicity in the publication of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.

Durov, who holds UAE, French and Russian citizenship, said the legal case should target the platform, not its CEO.

“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” he said.

“Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.”

While acknowledging that Telegram faced challenges due to its rapid growth, Durov said it was not “some sort of anarchic paradise” and that the company’s efforts to moderate harmful content included removing millions of posts daily and publishing transparency reports.

The platform was working with NGOs to address urgent moderation issues, which had become a “personal goal,” and more updates would be published soon, he said.

Durov was detained by French authorities at Le Bourget airport in Paris last month and questioned for four days.

He was released on €5 million ($5.55 million) bail but is required to report to a police station twice a week. The UAE government has engaged with French authorities on the matter.

Durov said that while in police detention he “was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram. This was surprising for several reasons.”

The platform had an official representative in the European Union who replied to EU requests and had a public email address, he said.

“Authorities had numerous ways to reach me for assistance.”

He continued: “As a French citizen, I was a frequent guest at the French consulate in Dubai. A while ago, when asked, I personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France.”

He acknowledged the challenge of creating “a consistent global process” and said that finding the right balance between privacy and security had been difficult due to varying legislation.

“We’ve been committed to engaging with regulators to find the right balance … All of that does not mean Telegram is perfect … But we’ve always been open to dialogue.”

With AP


Israeli strike kills teen Palestinian journalist as Gaza marks Oct. 7 anniversary

Updated 21 sec ago
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Israeli strike kills teen Palestinian journalist as Gaza marks Oct. 7 anniversary

  • Hassan Hamad was killed in a strike in his home at the Jabalia refugee camp in North Gaza
  • His colleagues reported that he had received multiple threats from Israeli officers, warning him to stop filming the attacks

LONDON: Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad, 19, was killed in his home at the Jabalia refugee camp in North Gaza during an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, according to local media reports.

Hamad was caught in the heavy bombardment as Israeli forces continued strikes on Jabalia and other areas including Rafah and Al-Zawaida.

On Monday, Gaza marked the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack that has since plunged the Strip, Lebanon, and other regional players into a widening conflict, escalating tensions across the region.

“With great sadness and pain, I mourn the journalist Hassan Hammad … the journalist who was not yet 20 years old, resisted for a whole year in his own special way, and stayed on his own, away from family so they would not be targeted,” a friend posted on his X account, confirming the young man’s death.

“He resisted while trying to find internet signal and would sit for hours on the roof of his home to publish videos. Yesterday, from 10pm, he was travelling between bombed areas and returning home to get internet signal then going back to cover what had remained from the bombing,” the post continued.

Hamad was reportedly injured in the leg but continued documenting the assaults, sending his final video at 6 a.m. on Sunday before being killed. His body was later found in pieces, gathered in a box by those on the scene.

Hamad became well-known for documenting Israeli strikes and their impact on Gaza’s residents, including the devastation caused by bombings, siege conditions, and resource shortages.

According to reports, he had received multiple threats from Israeli officers instructing him to stop filming the attacks.

“Listen, if you continue spreading lies about Israel, we’ll come for you next and turn your family into (...) This is your last warning,” read a message allegedly sent to Hamad via WhatsApp from an Israeli officer, a warning that was shared on social media.

In one of his last posts, Hamad reported on Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahia and the bombardment of Jabalia. Just days earlier, he and fellow journalist Moamen Abu Awda survived a drone attack in the Jabalia camp.

Since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed, all but five of them Palestinian. The true death toll is feared to be much higher.

The ongoing conflict has pushed Gaza into a deep humanitarian crisis. Local authorities report that more than a third of the Strip’s buildings have been destroyed, with the death toll nearing 42,000 and over 91,000 injured.


Facebook seeks to attract young adults with new community, video features

Updated 04 October 2024
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Facebook seeks to attract young adults with new community, video features

  • Facebook announced two new tabs called Local and Explore that would help people expand their networks and make new connections

AUSTIN: Facebook, one of the original social media networks, has become known as the platform of parents and grandparents, while young adults take up photo and video apps like Instagram and TikTok.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is setting out to change that.
While Facebook was originally centered on helping users stay in touch with family and friends, the future lies in helping people expand their networks and make new connections, which lines up with how younger generations use the service, said Tom Alison, head of Facebook at Meta.
“We see young adults turn to Facebook when they make a transition in life. When they move to a new city, they’re using Marketplace to furnish their apartments. When they become parents, they’re joining parenting groups,” Alison said during an interview in Austin, Texas, ahead of an event on Friday with content creators.
During the event, Facebook announced two new tabs called Local and Explore, currently being tested in select cities and markets and which aggregate content from across the platform. The Local tab shows users nearby events, community groups and local items for sale, and the Explore tab recommends content based on a user’s interests.
An increased focus on young adults will be key to bringing in new users as Facebook faces vast competition for their attention. Short-form video app TikTok has 150 million users in the US and is wildly popular among Gen Z, prompting Meta to introduce its copycat product called Reels in 2021.
Young adults on Facebook spend 60 percent of their time watching videos and more than half watch Reels daily. The company said it would also roll out an updated video tab in coming weeks that collects short-form, live and longer videos in one place.
Facebook’s dating feature, launched in 2019 and which lets users flip through suggested profiles, has seen a 24 percent year-over-year increase in conversations started among young adults in the US and Canada, the company said.
At the pop-up event in Austin, a small booklet summed up the platform’s positioning for the future: “Not your mom’s (Facebook),” the title read.


British regulator upholds complaint against The Telegraph for labeling Muslim organization ‘extremist’

Updated 04 October 2024
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British regulator upholds complaint against The Telegraph for labeling Muslim organization ‘extremist’

  • Newspaper inaccurately called Muslim Association of Britain ‘extremist’ following a remark by then minister Michael Gove
  • In response to complaints, The Telegraph issued a correction and attributed mistake to ‘human error’

LONDON: The Independent Press Standards Organisation has upheld a complaint filed by the Muslim Association of Britain against The Telegraph for inaccurately labeling the organization as “extremist.”

The decision, announced on Thursday, followed a seven-month investigation into an article published in March, which wrongly described MAB as extremists.

“IPSO has upheld our complaint against The Telegraph for falsely labelling us as an extremist organisation, after Michael Gove’s abused parliamentary privilege in promoting a discredited and politicised definition of extremism,” said MAB in a post on X.

The regulator concluded that the newspaper violated the Editors’ Code of Practice by “failing to take care not to publish inaccurate information” and “for failing to offer a correction to a significant inaccuracy with sufficient promptness.”

The article, written by right-wing commentator Nick Timothy, claimed MAB was “one of several organizations declared extremist by Michael Gove in Parliament.” However, Gove had actually stated that MAB raised concerns due to its “Islamist orientation” and that the government would assess whether it met the definition of extremism.

In response to the complaint, The Telegraph issued a correction on its Corrections and Clarifications page, attributing the error to “human error.”

“While the correction is welcome, we urge the media to reflect on their responsibility to report facts and avoid spreading harmful falsehoods,” said MAB.

The decision comes at a critical moment, with British media facing accusations of bias in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, further complicating discussions on Islamophobia and antisemitism and highlighting ongoing challenges for Muslim organizations in the press, particularly in the context of extremism.


Elon Musk’s X fails bid to escape Australian fine

Updated 04 October 2024
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Elon Musk’s X fails bid to escape Australian fine

  • Elon Musk’s X loses legal bid to avoid a $417,000 fine levelled by Australia’s online watchdog
  • In June, X fended off a separate legal suit brought by Australia’s eSafety Commission

SYDNEY: Elon Musk’s X on Friday lost a legal bid to avoid a $417,000 fine levelled by Australia’s online watchdog, which has accused the platform of failing to stamp out harmful posts.
Australia’s eSafety Commission approached what was then Twitter in February 2023, demanding the company explain how it was tackling the spread of child sexual abuse content.
The following month Twitter was merged into Musk’s newly formed X Corp, which was eventually fined for “incomplete” responses to the commission’s repeated requests.
X Corp. argued in Australia’s Federal Court that it did not need to respond because the commission had first targeted Twitter, a company that no longer existed.
“X Corp. has failed on all its claims,” Justice Michael Wheelahan found in a decision handed down on Friday.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant — a former Twitter employee — welcomed the court’s decision.
“Had X Corp’s argument been accepted by the court it could have set the concerning precedent that a foreign company’s merger with another foreign company might enable it to avoid regulatory obligations in Australia.”
Inman Grant has previously said X’s efforts to rid the platform of graphic sexual and violent content amounted to “empty talk.”
The commission must now fight a separate legal battle in a bid to enforce the fine — one of many skirmishes pitting the Australian government against tech mogul Musk.
Musk likened the Australian government to “fascists” earlier this year, attacking proposed laws that would fine social media giants for failing to stem the spread of misinformation.
In June, X fended off a separate legal suit brought by Australia’s eSafety Commission.
The watchdog had sought a global takedown order forcing X to remove “extremely violent” videos showing the stabbing of a Sydney preacher.
But it dropped the case after a preliminary hearing, a move celebrated by Musk as a free speech triumph.
Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has clashed with politicians and digital rights groups worldwide, including in the European Union, which could decide within months to take action against X with possible fines.
In Brazil, where X has effectively been suspended after it ignored a series of court directives, Musk has responded by blasting the judge as an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.”


Google says it will stop linking to New Zealand news if proposed new law passed

Updated 04 October 2024
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Google says it will stop linking to New Zealand news if proposed new law passed

  • New Zealand government to progress legislation that ensures fair revenue sharing between operators of digital platforms and news media entities

WELLINGTON: Google said on Friday it will stop linking to New Zealand news articles and ditch the agreements it has with local news organizations, if the country’s government goes ahead with a law to force tech giants to pay a fair price for content that appears on their feeds.
The New Zealand government in July confirmed it would progress legislation started by the previous Labour Party-led government that ensures fair revenue sharing between operators of digital platforms and news media entities. The proposed legislation is still in review and is likely to see changes including some to bring it more in line with Australian legislation.
Caroline Rainsford, Google New Zealand Country Director said in a blog post that if the bill as it currently stands becomes law, Google would be forced to make significant changes to its products and investments.
“We’d be forced to stop linking to news content on Google Search, Google News or Discover surfaces in New Zealand and discontinue our current commercial agreements and ecosystem support with New Zealand news publishers,” Rainsford said.
Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc., is concerned that bill is contrary to the idea of the Internet being open, that it will be harmful to small publishers and that the uncapped financial exposure provides business uncertainty.
New Zealand Minister for Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith said he was considering the range of views in the sector.
“We are still in the consultation phase and will make announcements in due course,” he said in a statement. “My officials and I have met with Google on a number of occasions to discuss their concerns, and will continue to do so.”
Although minority government coalition partner ACT does not support the legislation, it is likely to find enough cross party support to pass once finalized.
Australia introduced a law in 2021 that gave the government power to make Internet companies negotiate content supply deals with media outlets. A review released by the Australian government in 2022 found it largely worked.