Today’s Tech Sightings:
A Kashmiri shopkeeper browses the internet on his mobile phone as he waits for customers outside his shop in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, April 26, 2017. (AP)
Internet Trends Report: India Is Definitely World’s Next Major Tech Market
Thanks to cheaper smartphones and data plans, India now has 355 million internet users. That’s about 27 percent of its population of 1.3 billion – up from 277 million in 2015. That means mobile internet use is also on the rise, accounting for up to 80 percent of all web traffic, which is higher than the global average of 50 percent. There are challenges, however, before India becomes that much-coveted market, including education and infrastructure, lack of purchasing power, stringent regulations and expensive registration for startups, to name a few.
EU: Social Networks Are Getting Better at Reviewing Hate Speech
European Commission officials say social media giants have responded to calls to act on hate speech. According to the officials, Facebook did a better job at tackling hate speech complaints in the last six months than Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft and responded on them within the EU’s specified 24-hour window. The companies registered a 40 percent improvement over the past year in terms of reviewing and removing hate speech.
China Cybersecurity Law Will Keep Citizens’ Data Within the Great Firewall
China’s new cybersecurity law went into effect Thursday. It mandates that all personal information and data used by citizens and companies be stored on Chinese servers in the country. The law imposes severe restrictions on the transmission of scientific or technological data overseas and applies to a wide range of social media and internet firms, including foreign entities. Companies that fail to seek permission before exporting data overseas or violate the new rules risk being blacklisted or having their license revoked.
More:
- Who’s Responsible for WannaCry Ransomware Attack? Nobody’s Really Sure
- Putin: Russia Doesn’t Hack Other Countries’ Elections
- Security Pros Cancel Bid to Buy Shadow Brokers’ Exploits
- How Twitter Is Being Gamed to Feed Misinformation
- Five Years of Apple Blunders, Mistakes and Missed Opportunities
- Ethiopia Turns off Internet Nationwide as Students Sit Exams
- Teachers Are Using Facial Recognition to See If Students Are Paying Attention
- Samsung’s ‘Bixby’ Assistant Still Can’t Grasp English, Is Delayed Again
- Microsoft Overhauls Skype to Compete With Snapchat and iMessage
- Adobe Just Launched Free App That Turns Phone Into a Document Scanner
