Social media, the internet, and other digital tools, which were once hailed as great forces for human empowerment, connectivity, and liberation, have quickly come to be seen as a serious threat to democratic stability and human freedom. Social media platforms are demonstrating the potential to exacerbate risks such as authoritarian privacy violations, partisan echo chambers, […]
China
China’s cyberspace regulator said on Friday that it has cracked down on counterfeit investment platforms, as part of the country’s campaign to combat such telecom network crime. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it has investigated and cracked down on some 42,000 counterfeit apps since the start of this year, and incorporated them into […]
Chinese tech giants including Tencent Holdings and Ant Group have signed a pact to stop the secondary trading of digital collectibles and “self-regulate” their activities in the market, Chinese state media reported on Thursday. The companies were among 30 firms and institutes that have agreed to the “Digital Collectible Industry Self-Discipline Development Initiative” in which […]
Brendan Carr, the FCC commissioner, wrote to Apple and Google on Tuesday and asked them to ban TikTok from their app stores due to its record of sneaky data practices. This follows BuzzFeed News’s revelation last week that employees of TikTok in China had access to the data of users residing in the US up until January. […]
China’s Tencent Holdings announced to its staff on Monday the official formation of an “extended reality” (XR) unit, three people familiar with the matter said, formally placing its bets on the metaverse concept of virtual worlds. The unit is tasked with building up the extended reality business for Tencent including both software and hardware, the […]
Internet and gaming giant NetEase delayed the rollout of its video game Diablo Immortal in China three days ahead of its official launch, a move that comes just after the game’s official account on Weibo was banned from making new posts. China-based NetEase, which was set to release the game on Thursday, did not provide […]
Total sales by China’s e-commerce giant JD.com rose 10.3 percent over the 18 days to Sunday during the first major shopping festival since a recent COVID-19 outbreak, the firm said, sharply down from the 2021 event’s growth of 27.7 percent. This year’s figure was the slowest for the retailer, showing how consumer appetite in the […]
According to a report from Protocol, ByteDance, the parent company behind TikTok, is taking serious steps to enter the virtual reality (VR) market. The corporation intends to invest heavily in this endeavor, according to a source familiar with the subject, to create VR-related content. It appears like ByteDance is spending a significant amount on employment. […]
China’s Ant Group, a financial technology (fintech) giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, on Monday said it has launched a digital wholesale bank incorporated in Singapore, dubbed ANEXT Bank. ANEXT received approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to commence business on June 2, Ant and wholly owned ANEXT said in a joint statement. […]
Airbnb Inc said on Friday it will facilitate the shift of housing and host data to several Chinese domestic rental platforms before it shuts down operations in mainland China from the end of July. Hosts will be able to migrate information about their listings and reviews with one click, it said. Airbnb has struck agreements […]