In no particular order, here are MediaNama’s top 10 stories of the week ended 12th July 2020
MediaNama would like to thank its sponsors: E2E, for their support.
Week after ‘Chinese’ app ban, Indian govt launches ‘Atmanirbhar’ app innovation challenge
Within a week of banning 59 ‘Chinese’ apps, the Indian government on July 4 launched an ‘app innovation challenge’, involving cash rewards and other incentives, to promote existing Indian apps, and help in the development of new apps. Read it here
Facebook ties up with CBSE for courses on Instagram use and AR; MediaNama’s take
Facebook has partnered with the Central Board of Secondary Education to offer courses on digital safety, Instagram use, and Augmented Reality (AR). CBSE announced the partnership in a circular on Saturday. The AR course will train teachers (who will then train students) on how to use Facebook’s own Spark AR Studio software. Read it here
Big Tech hit pause on sharing data with law enforcement in Hong Kong
In response to China’s enactment of Hong Kong’s National Security Law on June 30 (last Tuesday), multiple Big Tech firms have suspended their mechanisms to process data requests from law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong. Read it here
I&B Ministry proposes to take over content jurisdiction from MEITY
Amit Khare, Secretary of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, said on Tuesday that the Ministry was proposing to take over jurisdiction on online content regulation in India from the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. Read it here
Civil rights groups lambaste Facebook over ‘disappointing’ meeting about checking hate speech; Oversight Board’s operations delayed until fall
“Facebook wants us to accept the same old rhetoric, repackaged as a fresh response,” the Stop Hate for Profit campaign said in a statement after meeting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Product Officer Christopher Cox. Read it here
Delhi HC vacates gag orders on women and publications around sexual harassment allegations against Mahesh Murthy
The Delhi High Court on Monday vacated its 2017 gag orders restraining the publication of allegations of sexual harassment against Mumbai-based venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy by multiple women. Read it here
Swasth Alliance, LiveHealth, and others build on the Health Stack, iSpirt key in Swasth projects
At least five players, including the Swasth Alliance, LiveHealth and DRiefcase, have built prototypes upon the National Health Stack APIs. This was revealed in a webinar held by Bangalore-based private think tank iSpirt Foundation on July 4. Read it here
Minimise use of drones by public & private entities until India has a robust data protection law: Rights group Internet Democracy Project
There aren’t enough provisions in the government’s draft drone rules to safeguard citizens’ privacy, digital rights organisation Internet Democracy Project said in its recommendations. The IDP recommended that unless there’s a comprehensive personal data protection framework, usage of drones by private and public entities should be minimised to security of the state and public health emergencies or natural disasters. Read it here
TikTok received a questionnaire from MEITY after app ban
TikTok received a questionnaire from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology “two days ago”, after the app was banned in India along with 58 other apps, a TikTok spokesperson confirmed to MediaNama. The company did not specify the deadline to submit its response to the government. Read it here
UK, Australia launch joint investigation into controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI
Adding to the increasing scrutiny of controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI, the governments of Australia and the UK are now opening a joint investigation into the company. The Information Commissioner’s of the two countries, Thursday said, will investigate the “personal information handling practices” of Clearview AI, focussing on its use of ‘scraped’ data and biometrics of individuals. Read it here
