The lawsuit escalates a growing struggle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and tech giants including Facebook, Google parent Alphabet and Twitter in one of their key global growth markets. WhatsApp has filed a legal complaint in Delhi against the Indian government seeking to block regulations coming into force on Wednesday that experts say would compel the California-based Facebook unit to break privacy protections. The lawsuit, described to Reuters by people familiar with it, asks the Delhi high court to declare that one of the new rules is a violation…
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Technology
Why Facebook, Twitter, Instagram could be banned in India?
Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram may face ban in India if they fail to comply with the new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms. The three-month deadline given by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) to accept these guidelines ends today i.e. May 25 but none of the giants have so far accepted the new regulations. The rules will be effective from tomorrow despite these companies seeking a total six-month delay in their implementation. Homegrown social media platform Koo, which is the Indian version…
Read MoreAvoid Internet Bans by Using a Free VPN that works in Kashmir
On the first week of February 2021, the Indian authorities agreed to finally restore nationwide internet access by temporarily lifting the 18-month ban, the longest internet blackout in a democratic country. With this move, schools, banks, and other essential online services are now free to operate without restrictions. Additionally, the lifting of the internet ban can help in the improvement of the healthcare system in the country, especially in an era where proper healthcare is needed the most. But given the previous incidents, it will probably take just enough time…
Read MoreData of 25 lakh Airtel customers in J&K allegedly leaked; telco claims no breach in server
A sample of the leaked database was shared on Twitter by cyber-security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia which shows masked details of the subscribers. Data of around 25 lakh Bharti Airtel subscribers of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) circle, including Aadhaar numbers, address, and date of birth, has reportedly been leaked by hackers, even as the telecom operator denied any breach in its servers. A sample of the leaked database was shared on Twitter by cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia which shows masked details of the subscribers. Rajaharia also shared a video of…
Read More4G: Govt extends ban on high-speed internet till September 30
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday decided to continue high-speed internet services in Udhampur and Ganderbal districts till September 30 while extending 4G internet ban in all 18 other districts of the Union Territory. According to an order issued by Principal Secretary, J&K home department, Shaleen Kabra, the directions were reviewed by the review committee on August 21 and September 1. “The committee, while taking note of the assessment made by the law enforcement agencies that no reports of misuse of high speed internet services in the districts of…
Read MoreSupreme Court seeks centre’s response on plea seeking contempt charges over Internet curbs in J&K
The Supreme Court had said in its May 11 order that indefinite suspension of the internet is not permissible and that these curbs will have to follow principles of proportionality. The Supreme Court has sought response from the Centre on a petition filed by a group of media persons. The petition accuses Centre of contempt for not conducting periodic review of its orders suspending telecom services in Jammu and Kashmir. The apex court has given the Centre a week’s time to file its response. Appearing for the Centre, Attorney General…
Read MoreHigh-speed internet ban extended till July 8
Yet again, the Jammu-Kashmir administration on Wednesday, extended its ban on the high-speed internet till 8 July 2020, limiting it to 2G speed only. Moreover, it stated that 2G speed internet has been provided to post-paid sim cards and provided to pre-paid sim cards after verification of norms. The government has maintained that the continued ban was in place to prevent infiltration attempts and curbing fake news, adding that neither education or COVID-related activities have been hampered. J&K: High-speed internet ban extended till July 8 SC asks Centre to examine…
Read MoreGlobal Internet Shutdown score is not good news for Kashmir
The Stanford University study says that Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and J&K account for nearly 75% of all recorded shutdowns in India, while J&K alone comprises about 47%. Internet shutdowns in Kashmir, perhaps, remain the missing pages in the narrative of a Digital India. A country attempting a digital revolution, while also globally leading the internet shutdown track record, undisputedly, reflects the irony in the world’s largest democracy. According to a study at the Stanford University (Of Blackouts and Bandhs: The Strategy and Structure of Disconnected Protest in India), India has…
Read MoreDown for hours, Facebook, Instagram suffer a major global outage
Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday suffered a major global outage. Users were unable to access the two platforms on their smartphones as well as on desktop. Messenger is also down for several users. Some users complained that they could not log into their Facebook accounts. Instagram and Messenger users also faced similar problems. Some also complained that the News Feed was not refreshing at all. WhatsApp is also partially down for some users as they are unable to access some key features such as voice notes. Facebook said it was…
Read MoreToday World Wide Web turns 30
Today, the web completed 30 years on Earth. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) on March 12, 1989 at CERN, a research organization near Geneva. CERN is now giving users access to the first website created. The first website can be accessed through the URL “info.cern.ch” which also happens to be the original address. Titled “World Wide Web”, the website has hyperlinks to different documents related to the web. Here, users can find out what is hypertext, a summary of the project, software products and help with the…
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