Politics

BENGALURU: Microsoft is chasing a deal to buy all of TikTok’s global business, including the viral video app’s operations in India and Europe, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. One investor pegged the value of Tik-Tok’s India business at as much as $10 billion. Microsoft had said on Sunday that it was in negotiations with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok and the world’s largest startup, to explore a purchase of the TikTok service in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Since then, Microsoft has also pursued a plan that will include all countries where TikTok operates, the FT said. It does not operate in China, and such a deal would not extend to its China-facing sister app Douyin, the newspaper reported. India was TikTok’s biggest market, with more than 650 million downloads, according to Sensor Tower data. But it’s been banned in the country since the end of June when the government … [Read more...] about The likely ‘Indian angle’ in Microsoft-TikTok deal

“The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China (China) continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. … [Read more...] about Banned! Trump signs order prohibiting US transactions with TikTok and WeChat

Clean Network would extend that same attitude towards "untrusted applications from US mobile app stores." One obvious example is TikTok, which is now facing an outright ban unless Microsoft can buy the entirety of its global operations. Pompeo told CNBC that "with parent companies based in China, apps like TikTok and WeChat and others are significant threats to personal data of American citizens, not to mention tools for Chinese Communist Party content censorship." … [Read more...] about US proposes a five-part “Clean Network” plan that could lead to a “splinternet”

In brief: YouTube has announced it has disabled 210 channels that were working in a coordinated effort to spread misinformation about the Hong Kong protests. On Monday, it was reported that Twitter was running ads from the Chinese government-backed Xinhua news agency that attacked the Hong Kong protesters, but the platform quickly said it would ban ads from state-backed media companies. Additionally, both Twitter and Facebook have suspended thousands of active accounts that tried to discredit the protests. … [Read more...] about YouTube removes 210 channels linked to disinformation campaign against Hong Kong protests

Granted, that quote is part of Friedman’s lengthy, must-read story about having his identity stolen by an impostor who was using Friedman’s office to solicit sex workers, then sneak out on payment. But the point stands: Snowpiercer the movie is fantastic up to a point, but it could stand to do a lot more with its premise. By taking the same story to series, Friedman has the opportunity to fix the movie’s ending, more thoroughly explore its themes, and make a little more sense of its world. He also has the chance to show Weinstein that American audiences can not only handle a little weird with their world-building, but that in a Game of Thrones age, they’re willing to stick with a good story, no matter how long it takes to tell it. … [Read more...] about The proposed Snowpiercer TV series could fix the film’s mistakes