The Indian govt has ordered social media platforms to remove COVID-19 content tagged as “Indian Variant”. The Ministry of IT said,” WHO has not associated the term Indian Variant with the B.1.617 variant of the COVID-19 in any of its reports.” In April another letter was sent by the ministry to social media firms to let users know that they must not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update, or share any info on Covid-19 that may mislead citizens.
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After China’s new curbs on cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has dropped to a 3.5 month low, falling below the $40,000 mark. A drop of 40% since its all-time high of $64,895 in April 2021. Other cryptocurrencies also took a beating with Ether falling 12% and Dogecoin falling by 18%. Shares in COIN.O fell by 4% in pre-market trading. The recent selling of crypto has brought the market capitalisation of cryptocurrency from $3.5 trillion to $3 trillion.
China has barred financial institutions and online payment service providers from offering any service related to cryptocurrency. Services barred include trading, registration, settlement, and clearing said the local industry bodies in a joint statement. People can hold cryptocurrency but exchanges and initial coin offerings have been banned. China has warned investors against crypto trading due to the volatile nature of trade and contracts not being covered by Chinese law.
Authorities in China have asked domestic app stores to remove 90 apps from their platforms. The action was taken to check the irregularities in data collection, forced targeted promotions, etc. The list of apps banned includes online ticket booking platform Damai, online travel booking app Tuniu, China’s biggest LinkedIn rival Maimai, and Tianya. China, recently, laid new rules that define what types of user data apps can collect and what is off-limits.
Big tech companies, under the draft legislation, will be forced to open offices in Russia or face consequences such as advertising bans. Russia aims to control big tech firms like Apple, TikTok, Facebook, and Google who are allegedly abusing their positions and distributing content banned in Russia. The draft will make it mandatory for firms having a daily audience of over 500,000 to open offices in the country.
German data protection regulator Johannes Casper has denied Facebook to collect and process Whatsapp user data. He said it is his job to prevent such black-box procedures. WhatsApp said that the decision was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the effect and purpose of the new update. Casper has used his executive authorities to put a three-month ban on Facebook-owned WhatsApp. He would also seek an EU-wide ruling at the European Data Protection Board.
A lawsuit in the UK was filed against Apple alleging overcharging iPhone and iPad users. The claimants said that the 30% standard fee is excessive and unlawful. Apple said its prices are in the mainstream of those charged by other digital markets. 84% of apps are free and developers are to give a 15% commission to Apple. An estimate of 1.5 mn pounds, as per the lawsuit, has to be compensated to users who purchased anything from the app store since 2015.
Google has raised over Rs.33 cr to aid NGOs working relentlessly in India during the deadly second wave of COVID-19. Apart from providing funds to NGOs like GOONJ, GiveIndia they are also showing over 2,500 testing centers and 23,000+ vaccination centers on maps. On YouTube, a piece of authoritative information set in the form of a playlist has been created. Last month it announced Rs 135 cr for urgent medical supplies i.e oxygen, equipment, etc.
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Samsung, to have shared growth, will share more of its royalty-free tech with smaller companies. Samsung’s 505 cases of technology to be shared include 213 mobiles and 68 semiconductor patents. South Korea’s Ministry of trade, industry, and energy said this sharing of technology will help smaller and medium-sized companies overcome losses due to covid-19. Earlier, chipmaker SK hynic shared 75 techs with 53 SMEes under the program.