Technology

App no longer available on US Apple and Google stores after supreme court upholds lawmakers’ ban

TikTok stopped working in the US late on Saturday, shortly before a federal ban on the Chinese-owned short-video app was due to take effect.

The app was no longer available on Apple’s iOS App Store or Google’s Play Store. The US Congress passed a law in April mandating that parent company ByteDance either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner or face a total shutdown. It chose the latter.

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FSB-linked Star Blizzard attempts to lure email recipients to click on QR code that gives attackers access to account

Russian state-linked hackers have targeted the WhatsApp accounts of government ministers and officials around the world with emails inviting them to join user groups on the messaging app.

The WhatsApp tactic marks a new approach by a hacking unit called Star Blizzard. Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has linked Star Blizzard to Russia’s domestic spy agency, the FSB, and has accused it of seeking to “undermine trust in politics in the UK and likeminded states”.

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Mark Zuckerberg’s move to end factchecking in US reflects president-elect’s views on social media, says Haugen

Mark Zuckerberg has “heard the message” from Donald Trump on restricting online content, and his Meta platforms will intervene “less and less” on users during the president-elect’s administration, according to the whistleblower Frances Haugen.

Haugen, who revealed the Facebook and Instagram owner’s struggles with user safety in 2021, said the US president-elect thought “the right way to run social media is with no restrictions”.

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Mark Zuckerberg says company will ‘dramatically reduce censorship’ across Facebook, Instagram and Threads

Meta will get rid of factcheckers, “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship” and recommend more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.

In a video message, Zuckerberg vowed to prioritise free speech after the return of Donald Trump to the White House and said that, starting in the US, he would “get rid of factcheckers and replace them with community notes similar to X”.

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Instagram profile of ‘proud Black queer momma’, created by Meta, said her development team included no Black people

Meta is deleting Facebook and Instagram profiles of AI characters the company created over a year ago after users rediscovered some of the profiles and engaged them in conversations, screenshots of which went viral.

The company had first introduced these AI-powered profiles in September 2023 but killed off most of them by summer 2024. However, a few characters remained and garnered new interest after the Meta executive Connor Hayes told the Financial Times late last week that the company had plans to roll out more AI character profiles.

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Civilian and armed groups in conflict-ridden state of Manipur using SpaceX’s satellite internet, sources say

Elon Musk’s satellite-based Starlink – currently unlicensed for use in India – is being used by militant groups in the conflict-ridden state of Manipur to circumvent government internet shutdowns, fighters and security sources have said.

The satellite internet service provider, operated by Musk’s SpaceX company, is not permitted to legally operate in India amid security concerns but is allowed by Myanmar, which neighbours Manipur.

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