Slow online business has hit Zoom revenue. High inflation is also dampening customers' spending. Watch this report for details.

World Business Watch: Slow online business hits Zoom revenue

Cyber frauds are becoming increasingly common. Some miscreants are even exploiting people's desire to bring home a pet. Watch the video for more details.

How to avoid puppy scams when bringing a pet home | Tech It Out

When we talk about the dangers that exist in the online environment, we usually discuss things like cyberbullying, invasion of privacy, identity theft et cetera. But there is also a more subtle threat that lurks on the web -- Dark Patterns. This is something that most of us have faced, perhaps without even realising what it is. Watch this video to know more.

Explained: How Dark Patterns influence you online| Tech It Out

Shanghai University became the butt of jokes after asking its students to take the mandatory swimming test online before graduating. On May 15, the dean’s office at Shanghai University announced that undergraduates finishing their bachelor’s degrees who are due to participate in a 50-metre (164 feet) swimming test can be allowed to take it online from home in the wake of the city’s Covid outbreaks, reports South China Morning Post.

In China, students at some of the most prestigious universities are required to learn swimming before they graduate as it is considered a survival skill and improves physical fitness.

The move was made to "ensure that the graduation process proceeds smoothly", the now-deleted read that was screen-grabbed and widely circulated over social media.

To pass the swimming requirement this year, students must fill out an online "Basic Theory of Swimming" test by May 29, the notice said.&nbsp;

“The classes and facilities including the swimming pool at the university are suspended under the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. To ensure the students can graduate, we decided to conduct the swimming test online,” an unnamed staff member from the dean’s office told the Chinese news outlet Jimu.

However, the announcement was met with ridicule and laughter after the notice was shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

"This is just embarrassing, coming from a reputable university. How can a theory test be the same as an actual lap in the pool?" one Weibo user commented.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bermuda-triangle-cruise-tour-agency-offers-full-refund-to-passengers-if-ship-vanishes-483004" hreflang="en">Bermuda Triangle cruise tour agency offers full refund to passengers if ship vanishes</a>

"Are the students supposed to swim in their bathtubs?" another person said, while another user asked, “Is it a reality version of surfing the internet?”

After witnessing one of the worst outbreaks that began on April 22, Shanghai city is witnessing a gradual decline in Covid cases.

Starting on Sunday, shopping malls, libraries, museums, theatres and gyms will be allowed to reopen, with limits on the numbers of people, in the eight of Beijing’s 16 districts that have seen no community cases for seven consecutive days.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Shanghai University became the butt of jokes after asking its students to take the mandatory swimming test online before graduating. On May 15, the dean’s office at Shanghai University announced that undergraduates finishing their bachelor’s degrees who are due to participate in a 50-metre (164 feet) swimming test can be allowed to take it online from home in the wake of the city’s Covid outbreaks, reports South China Morning Post.

Shanghai University became the butt of jokes after asking its students to take the mandatory swimming test online before graduating. On May 15, the dean’s office at Shanghai University announced that undergraduates finishing their bachelor’s degrees who are due to participate in a 50-metre (164 feet) swimming test can be allowed to take it online from home in the wake of the city’s Covid outbreaks, reports South China Morning Post. In China, students at some of the most prestigious universities are required to learn swimming before they graduate as it is considered a survival skill and improves physical fitness. The move was made to "ensure that the graduation process proceeds smoothly", the now-deleted read that was screen-grabbed and widely circulated over social media. To pass the swimming requirement this year, students must fill out an online "Basic Theory of Swimming" test by May 29, the notice said. “The classes and facilities including the swimming pool at the university are suspended under the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. To ensure the students can graduate, we decided to conduct the swimming test online,” an unnamed staff member from the dean’s office told the Chinese news outlet Jimu. However, the announcement was met with ridicule and laughter after the notice was shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. "This is just embarrassing, coming from a reputable university. How can a theory test be the same as an actual lap in the pool?" one Weibo user commented. Also read | Bermuda Triangle cruise tour agency offers full refund to passengers if ship vanishes "Are the students supposed to swim in their bathtubs?" another person said, while another user asked, “Is it a reality version of surfing the internet?” After witnessing one of the worst outbreaks that began on April 22, Shanghai city is witnessing a gradual decline in Covid cases. Starting on Sunday, shopping malls, libraries, museums, theatres and gyms will be allowed to reopen, with limits on the numbers of people, in the eight of Beijing’s 16 districts that have seen no community cases for seven consecutive days. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

‘Should we surf the internet?’: Chinese university mocked for telling students to take swimming test online

Cyber fraud is becoming increasingly common and some hackers are even exploiting people's desire to bring home a pet here are the details.

Attention, puppy buyers! Don't fall for pet scams online

The EU and Britain on Friday opened&nbsp;antitrust&nbsp;probes&nbsp;into a 2018 deal between tech giants Google and Facebook owner Meta allegedly aimed at cementing their dominance over the online advertising market.

The European Commission said it was investigating the so-called "Jedi Blue" agreement that has also faced lawsuits in the United States as global regulators up their campaign to seriously limit the power of big tech.

The EU said its probe would explore whether the arrangement between the internet behemoths had been used to "restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market".

The bloc's competition supremo Margrethe Vestager said if confirmed, the arrangement will have served to distort competition, squeezing rival ad tech companies, publishers "and ultimately consumers."

The UK's Competition Market Authority also launched its own investigation into the agreement and the two watchdogs will "closely cooperate" on the investigation, the EU said.

Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said the CMA "will not shy away from scrutinising the behaviour of big tech firms... working closely with global regulators to get the best outcomes possible."

The two online advertising giants are under intense pressure from publishers and ad rivals as together they overwhelm the online advertising market in much of the world.

In a statement, Google said the "allegations made about this agreement are false" and that its deal with Meta "is a publicly documented, procompetitive agreement" that exists with other companies.

Meta said it would cooperate with the enquiries but that the arrangements "deliver more value to advertisers and publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all".

US lawsuits&nbsp;

US Big Tech companies have been under intense pressure over their business practices in Europe, resulting in&nbsp;probes, huge fines and plans for EU-wide legislation to rein them in.

In the latest accusations, which also form the basis for lawsuits in the United States, the "Jedi Blue" deal served to oust competition by manipulating ad auctions.

These are the ultra-sophisticated system that determines which ads appear on web pages based on the anonymised profiles of internet users.

US court documents revealed that the top bosses of Google and Facebook were directly involved in approving the allegedly illegal 2018 deal.&nbsp;

The legal documents filed in a New York court clearly refer to Sundar Pichai, chief of Google's parent firm Alphabet, as well as Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg -- even if their names were redacted.

Google has further enraged publishers and online ad rivals with its plan to overhaul its ad tracking system on its world leading Chrome browser and Android smartphone operating system.

The internet giant made the move -- which does away with personal online trackers known as "cookies" -- to answer increasing pressure to better guarantee privacy for web users.

Critics see it as a way for Google to deny publishers and advertisers precious data and embolden the company's dominance in advertising.

Alphabet pulled in over $60 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 just in ad revenue, which makes up over 80 percent of its income.

The EU and Britain on Friday opened antitrust probes into a 2018 deal between tech giants Google and Facebook owner Meta allegedly aimed at cementing their dominance over the online advertising market.

The EU and Britain on Friday opened antitrust probes into a 2018 deal between tech giants Google and Facebook owner Meta allegedly aimed at cementing their dominance over the online advertising market. The European Commission said it was investigating the so-called "Jedi Blue" agreement that has also faced lawsuits in the United States as global regulators up their campaign to seriously limit the power of big tech. The EU said its probe would explore whether the arrangement between the internet behemoths had been used to "restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market". The bloc's competition supremo Margrethe Vestager said if confirmed, the arrangement will have served to distort competition, squeezing rival ad tech companies, publishers "and ultimately consumers." The UK's Competition Market Authority also launched its own investigation into the agreement and the two watchdogs will "closely cooperate" on the investigation, the EU said. Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said the CMA "will not shy away from scrutinising the behaviour of big tech firms... working closely with global regulators to get the best outcomes possible." The two online advertising giants are under intense pressure from publishers and ad rivals as together they overwhelm the online advertising market in much of the world. In a statement, Google said the "allegations made about this agreement are false" and that its deal with Meta "is a publicly documented, procompetitive agreement" that exists with other companies. Meta said it would cooperate with the enquiries but that the arrangements "deliver more value to advertisers and publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all". US lawsuits US Big Tech companies have been under intense pressure over their business practices in Europe, resulting in probes, huge fines and plans for EU-wide legislation to rein them in. In the latest accusations, which also form the basis for lawsuits in the United States, the "Jedi Blue" deal served to oust competition by manipulating ad auctions. These are the ultra-sophisticated system that determines which ads appear on web pages based on the anonymised profiles of internet users. US court documents revealed that the top bosses of Google and Facebook were directly involved in approving the allegedly illegal 2018 deal. The legal documents filed in a New York court clearly refer to Sundar Pichai, chief of Google's parent firm Alphabet, as well as Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg -- even if their names were redacted. Google has further enraged publishers and online ad rivals with its plan to overhaul its ad tracking system on its world leading Chrome browser and Android smartphone operating system. The internet giant made the move -- which does away with personal online trackers known as "cookies" -- to answer increasing pressure to better guarantee privacy for web users. Critics see it as a way for Google to deny publishers and advertisers precious data and embolden the company's dominance in advertising. Alphabet pulled in over $60 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 just in ad revenue, which makes up over 80 percent of its income.

EU launches antitrust probes on Google, Meta over online ads deal

A new game called 'Heardle' seems to be taking netizens by storm. It seems to be inspired by Wordle's winning formula. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Heardle’s creators describe it as: "Like Wordle but for music." &nbsp;

This new game borrows a lot from Wordle, such as players only get six guesses and the puzzle refreshes every 24 hours. &nbsp;

"A respectful homage to Wordle, with a musical twist," says the game's description. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/cutting-back-on-final-drink-of-day-can-help-improve-brain-health-says-study-459177" hreflang="en">Cutting back on final drink of day can help improve brain health, says study</a>

"Each Heardle is randomly plucked from a list of the most-streamed songs in the past decade. Much love (and all the relevant copyright) to all the artists featured," it added. &nbsp;

It uses Tailwind, Noto Serif Display, Soundcloud, Svelte, Noto Sans, IconSVG, autocomplete.js, and Vercel. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The game’s creators, Omakase, describe themselves as "music fans that love designing and building cool things—things like Heardle!" &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/study-finds-new-evidence-to-prove-women-more-susceptible-to-alzheimers-disease-458520" hreflang="en">Study finds new evidence to prove women more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease</a>

In each round, players get to hear snippets of three seconds of a song and attempt to name the tune by each snippet of tune played. An incorrect or skipped guess results in the next three seconds being added to the audio clip.&nbsp;

The players can type their answers into an auto-filled pop-up box, which presents a list of auto-filled songs and artist choices. So, misspellings are not an issue. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

A new game called 'Heardle' seems to be taking netizens by storm. It seems to be inspired by Wordle's winning formula. Heardle’s creators describe it as: "Like Wordle but for music.

A new game called 'Heardle' seems to be taking netizens by storm. It seems to be inspired by Wordle's winning formula. Heardle’s creators describe it as: "Like Wordle but for music." This new game borrows a lot from Wordle, such as players only get six guesses and the puzzle refreshes every 24 hours. "A respectful homage to Wordle, with a musical twist," says the game's description. Also Read: Cutting back on final drink of day can help improve brain health, says study "Each Heardle is randomly plucked from a list of the most-streamed songs in the past decade. Much love (and all the relevant copyright) to all the artists featured," it added. It uses Tailwind, Noto Serif Display, Soundcloud, Svelte, Noto Sans, IconSVG, autocomplete.js, and Vercel. The game’s creators, Omakase, describe themselves as "music fans that love designing and building cool things—things like Heardle!" Also Read: Study finds new evidence to prove women more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease In each round, players get to hear snippets of three seconds of a song and attempt to name the tune by each snippet of tune played. An incorrect or skipped guess results in the next three seconds being added to the audio clip. The players can type their answers into an auto-filled pop-up box, which presents a list of auto-filled songs and artist choices. So, misspellings are not an issue. (With inputs from agencies)

What is 'Heardle'? Here's what you need to know about new viral game  

“Fun to be had! Fun. To. Be. Had!” Todd Zanzinger crowed to an audience of remote tech workers on Zoom. It was the opening ceremony of an information technology company’s virtual Olympics, and music blared as Zanzinger, whose Zoom display name read “Hype Guy Todd,” walked 69 teams of co-workers through the rules of lip sync karaoke.

In the world of tech companies, off-site retreats were once the stuff of legend: a Beyoncé concert for Uber employees in Las Vegas. A lavish summer camp for WeWork employees in the English countryside. Parties that lasted all night. Friendships that lasted forever.

During the pandemic, they have taken a turn for the tamer: remote trivia. Virtual escape room. Three more hours on Zoom. “You’re on mute.”

Many organizations, especially high-growth tech companies, have long relied on off-site retreats — broadly defined as team-building or strategizing events that occur beyond the scope of regular office work — to build and maintain their corporate culture, as well as to present workers with an attractive perk in a competitive labor market.

When the pandemic hit, flights, hotel blocks and banquet dinners were canceled. But instead of shelving the idea of off-sites, which often involve both meetings and social activities, companies strove to re-create the magic remotely. Companies planned events online, and in recent months, some have crept back into in-person and hybrid events. Although it is much less expensive to gather on Zoom than it is to fly workers to a beach, many companies have plans to rebook those hotel blocks and try to meet up in person again this year.

Why, in a time when many workers are not on site to begin with, are bosses pushing so hard to retain the off-site, a concept that by definition depended on going somewhere else?

Managers are betting that off-sites will help their workers feel invested even when a remote job can feel like little more than an abstracted paycheck. During the pandemic, the tech industry, famed for its luxurious offices and no-expense-spared parties, lost key elements of the signature in-person culture that set Silicon Valley apart. Big tech companies like Facebook have announced that many employees can work from home indefinitely. In January, nearly half of workers employed in the computer or math fields said they had worked from home at some point because of the pandemic, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Bosses with growing teams and a lot on their plates have landed on off-sites as way to build culture and retain workers. Hanmei Wu, co-founder and CEO of Empowerly, a tech company with about 40 full-time remote workers around the world, said she would advise founders with struggling teams that an off-site “could be a fantastic opportunity to reinvigorate them and motivate them — and realign them with your mission or values.”

Off-sites help companies convey messages efficiently to many employees, build trust among workers and make the staff feel treated well without paying them extra. So managers are hanging on for dear life. Off-sites are not just about leaving the office. They are about breaking up daily routines that, after nearly two pandemic years, can feel monotonous.

But Google Hangouts is no team trip to Hawaii. Faced with the prospect of planning an engaging suite of activities for a remote or hybrid workforce, managers have rushed to consultants for help executing off-sites.

“The trajectory of our businesses has been crazy since March 2020,” said Mat MacDonell, CEO of the Offsite Co., which primarily plans events for startups. (Zanginger works for him.) He added, “We’ve been in hyper growth mode.”

Bob Frisch, founding partner of the Strategic Offsites Group in Boston, whose company focuses on executive retreats for corporations, said, “We’ve had our busiest two years we’ve ever had,” partly because many leaders are stumped about how to plan a viable virtual event without outside help.

Facilitators like Zanzinger show up equipped with activities, costumes and playlists. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Zanzinger, this time in the role of Ranger Todd, coached a group of tech recruiters through a virtual escape room. The co-workers, in teams of four, solved word and math puzzles in breakout rooms on Zoom.

One woman arrived in her breakout room — just a smaller Zoom — to announce that this activity was, to be honest, not her favorite. She conceded, however, that it is nice to socialize with colleagues that she cannot see in person. A co-worker chimed in that Zooms could never replace in-person events, while a third said it was her second day at the job. They gamely tackled a puzzle together and laughed about a viral clip of a child saying, “I smell like beef.” Their team did not ultimately win.

Some workers enjoy these retreats and even organize them. Genesis Bonds, 27, a software engineer in New York, planned a virtual escape room to boost morale on her team. She said she and another engineer sat down to try to plan something new — after months of virtual happy hours — that would get people excited to work together even if they were not going to be in the same place anytime soon. It was not on the same level as the in-person summit for Black employees that she had attended in 2019, which she said was “fantastic,” but the escape room went well. She said that she enjoyed getting to know co-workers beyond formal interactions in meetings.

Many find remote work to be more transactional than in-person work. You Slack someone when you need something and otherwise stare at your own screen in your own home. Managers see off-sites as a way to make remote work feel more personal.

Laura Burkhauser, a product manager at Twitter in San Francisco, planned a hybrid off-site in January to help her team build what she called “that elusive rapport.” In May 2020, Twitter told its employees that they could continue to work from home permanently. Burkhauser, whose team included workers in London and New York, said “off-sites are more important than ever in a time of virtual work” because it is easier to trust and communicate with remote co-workers when you actually know them.

If many tech workers and executives agree that there is some value in off-site retreats, even when they are held remotely, how to execute them is much more tricky.

Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab and co-founder of Strivr, a virtual reality startup, called the idea of doing a multiday retreat with back-to-back meetings “insanity — and I’m going to use that word not lightly.” He added, “You can’t just talk at someone for 36 hours and expect the brain to absorb it.” He recently published a paper on Zoom fatigue, and he said that “Zoom is like a fire hose. You’re getting flooded with nonverbal cues.”

Then there is the question of how to actually spend your time together on an off-site. Wu said her startup’s recent off-site in Napa, California, which the Offsite Co. planned, was mainly social. She knows that in-demand software engineers, in particular, can easily quit and take different jobs. “So,” she said, “you want to really create an environment where people are stoked to be there, believe in the company, like the people they work with and aren’t just going to jump ship.”

Meghana Reddy, a human resources executive in Oakland, California, said that while off-sites used to be “nice to have,” during the pandemic they became “a must-have.” She said that for tech companies that want to attract talent, investing in off-sites “will be a better use of money than trying to get people back in the office.” Some companies are already giving up their offices and diverting facilities budgets into off-sites. Hunter Block, the founder of Offsiter, said he knew of a large company that is planning more than 600 off-sites a year for smaller teams of employees.

Bailenson, who wrote on Zoom fatigue, would advise that, whatever companies do to amp up their off-site plans, they should not lean too heavily on video chats.

“If I were running a retreat,” he said, “we would be doing some Zoom. We’d be doing some audio-only stuff, some screen-sharing stuff. And then we would go into VR. We’d go into VR, and we’d do something really special.” He recommends gathering in virtual reality for bursts of five or 10 minutes at a time.

Reddy said the VR tech she used for a virtual off-site last year “was definitely not ready for prime time.” Although, she added approvingly, a virtual gathering around a campfire was “just as awkward as in real life.”

The Offsite Co., for one, has not yet done an in-person retreat for its staff. But like many of its clients, it has one in the pipeline for 2023.

“Fun to be had! Fun. To. Be. Had!” Todd Zanzinger crowed to an audience of remote tech workers on Zoom. It was the opening ceremony of an information technology company’s virtual Olympics, and music blared as Zanzinger, whose Zoom display name read “Hype Guy Todd,” walked 69 teams of co-workers through the rules of lip sync karaoke.

“Fun to be had! Fun. To. Be. Had!” Todd Zanzinger crowed to an audience of remote tech workers on Zoom. It was the opening ceremony of an information technology company’s virtual Olympics, and music blared as Zanzinger, whose Zoom display name read “Hype Guy Todd,” walked 69 teams of co-workers through the rules of lip sync karaoke. In the world of tech companies, off-site retreats were once the stuff of legend: a Beyoncé concert for Uber employees in Las Vegas. A lavish summer camp for WeWork employees in the English countryside. Parties that lasted all night. Friendships that lasted forever. During the pandemic, they have taken a turn for the tamer: remote trivia. Virtual escape room. Three more hours on Zoom. “You’re on mute.” Many organizations, especially high-growth tech companies, have long relied on off-site retreats — broadly defined as team-building or strategizing events that occur beyond the scope of regular office work — to build and maintain their corporate culture, as well as to present workers with an attractive perk in a competitive labor market. When the pandemic hit, flights, hotel blocks and banquet dinners were canceled. But instead of shelving the idea of off-sites, which often involve both meetings and social activities, companies strove to re-create the magic remotely. Companies planned events online, and in recent months, some have crept back into in-person and hybrid events. Although it is much less expensive to gather on Zoom than it is to fly workers to a beach, many companies have plans to rebook those hotel blocks and try to meet up in person again this year. Why, in a time when many workers are not on site to begin with, are bosses pushing so hard to retain the off-site, a concept that by definition depended on going somewhere else? Managers are betting that off-sites will help their workers feel invested even when a remote job can feel like little more than an abstracted paycheck. During the pandemic, the tech industry, famed for its luxurious offices and no-expense-spared parties, lost key elements of the signature in-person culture that set Silicon Valley apart. Big tech companies like Facebook have announced that many employees can work from home indefinitely. In January, nearly half of workers employed in the computer or math fields said they had worked from home at some point because of the pandemic, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Bosses with growing teams and a lot on their plates have landed on off-sites as way to build culture and retain workers. Hanmei Wu, co-founder and CEO of Empowerly, a tech company with about 40 full-time remote workers around the world, said she would advise founders with struggling teams that an off-site “could be a fantastic opportunity to reinvigorate them and motivate them — and realign them with your mission or values.” Off-sites help companies convey messages efficiently to many employees, build trust among workers and make the staff feel treated well without paying them extra. So managers are hanging on for dear life. Off-sites are not just about leaving the office. They are about breaking up daily routines that, after nearly two pandemic years, can feel monotonous. But Google Hangouts is no team trip to Hawaii. Faced with the prospect of planning an engaging suite of activities for a remote or hybrid workforce, managers have rushed to consultants for help executing off-sites. “The trajectory of our businesses has been crazy since March 2020,” said Mat MacDonell, CEO of the Offsite Co., which primarily plans events for startups. (Zanginger works for him.) He added, “We’ve been in hyper growth mode.” Bob Frisch, founding partner of the Strategic Offsites Group in Boston, whose company focuses on executive retreats for corporations, said, “We’ve had our busiest two years we’ve ever had,” partly because many leaders are stumped about how to plan a viable virtual event without outside help. Facilitators like Zanzinger show up equipped with activities, costumes and playlists. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Zanzinger, this time in the role of Ranger Todd, coached a group of tech recruiters through a virtual escape room. The co-workers, in teams of four, solved word and math puzzles in breakout rooms on Zoom. One woman arrived in her breakout room — just a smaller Zoom — to announce that this activity was, to be honest, not her favorite. She conceded, however, that it is nice to socialize with colleagues that she cannot see in person. A co-worker chimed in that Zooms could never replace in-person events, while a third said it was her second day at the job. They gamely tackled a puzzle together and laughed about a viral clip of a child saying, “I smell like beef.” Their team did not ultimately win. Some workers enjoy these retreats and even organize them. Genesis Bonds, 27, a software engineer in New York, planned a virtual escape room to boost morale on her team. She said she and another engineer sat down to try to plan something new — after months of virtual happy hours — that would get people excited to work together even if they were not going to be in the same place anytime soon. It was not on the same level as the in-person summit for Black employees that she had attended in 2019, which she said was “fantastic,” but the escape room went well. She said that she enjoyed getting to know co-workers beyond formal interactions in meetings. Many find remote work to be more transactional than in-person work. You Slack someone when you need something and otherwise stare at your own screen in your own home. Managers see off-sites as a way to make remote work feel more personal. Laura Burkhauser, a product manager at Twitter in San Francisco, planned a hybrid off-site in January to help her team build what she called “that elusive rapport.” In May 2020, Twitter told its employees that they could continue to work from home permanently. Burkhauser, whose team included workers in London and New York, said “off-sites are more important than ever in a time of virtual work” because it is easier to trust and communicate with remote co-workers when you actually know them. If many tech workers and executives agree that there is some value in off-site retreats, even when they are held remotely, how to execute them is much more tricky. Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab and co-founder of Strivr, a virtual reality startup, called the idea of doing a multiday retreat with back-to-back meetings “insanity — and I’m going to use that word not lightly.” He added, “You can’t just talk at someone for 36 hours and expect the brain to absorb it.” He recently published a paper on Zoom fatigue, and he said that “Zoom is like a fire hose. You’re getting flooded with nonverbal cues.” Then there is the question of how to actually spend your time together on an off-site. Wu said her startup’s recent off-site in Napa, California, which the Offsite Co. planned, was mainly social. She knows that in-demand software engineers, in particular, can easily quit and take different jobs. “So,” she said, “you want to really create an environment where people are stoked to be there, believe in the company, like the people they work with and aren’t just going to jump ship.” Meghana Reddy, a human resources executive in Oakland, California, said that while off-sites used to be “nice to have,” during the pandemic they became “a must-have.” She said that for tech companies that want to attract talent, investing in off-sites “will be a better use of money than trying to get people back in the office.” Some companies are already giving up their offices and diverting facilities budgets into off-sites. Hunter Block, the founder of Offsiter, said he knew of a large company that is planning more than 600 off-sites a year for smaller teams of employees. Bailenson, who wrote on Zoom fatigue, would advise that, whatever companies do to amp up their off-site plans, they should not lean too heavily on video chats. “If I were running a retreat,” he said, “we would be doing some Zoom. We’d be doing some audio-only stuff, some screen-sharing stuff. And then we would go into VR. We’d go into VR, and we’d do something really special.” He recommends gathering in virtual reality for bursts of five or 10 minutes at a time. Reddy said the VR tech she used for a virtual off-site last year “was definitely not ready for prime time.” Although, she added approvingly, a virtual gathering around a campfire was “just as awkward as in real life.” The Offsite Co., for one, has not yet done an in-person retreat for its staff. But like many of its clients, it has one in the pipeline for 2023.

For workers who are never on site, the ‘off-site’ still beckons

Students seeking admission to medical colleges in China have been told by India's National Medical Commission (NMC) that medical courses provided online will not be recognised in the nation.

India's National Medical Commission won't recognise "courses done only by online mode" from China

Online dating has become the new normal. Thousands are finding love online. Many are also being scammed, used for money laundering. Americans lost $500Mn in 2021. People above 60 lost significantly more money. Palki Sharma has the details.

Gravitas: Online dating scams surge during the pandemic

Three people have been arrested following an investigation into an app that apparently seemed to demean Muslim women by using their morphed pictures for an online fake auction.

While there was no actual ‘auction’ or ‘sale’ taking, the purpose of the app seemed to be to humiliate and intimidate the targeted women, many of whom are active social media users.

The action was taken following multiple complaints from prominent women who claimed that their morphed photos were used on an open source app called GitHub platform.

The app was called Bulli Bai, a derogatory term to describe Muslim women.

Ismat Ara, a journalist targeted by the app, said in a police complaint filed on Sunday that it was an attempt to harass Muslim women.

“The said ‘GitHub’ is violent, threatening and intending to create a feeling of fear and shame in my mind, as well as in the minds of women in general, and the Muslim community whose women are being targeted in this hateful manner," said the complaint, which Ara posted on social media.

Women victims had demanded the arrest of those behind such an act and Shiv Sena party MP Priyanka Chaturvedi had also made a complaint to Mumbai Police's cyber wing.

Following the outrage, three people were arrested. The first arrest was made from India’s southern Bengaluru city where a 21-year-old engineering student, Vishal Jha, was taken into custody.

The second arrest was of a 19-year-old woman, Shweta Singh, from Uttarakhand state. According to the police, the girl was said to be the main culprit in the case.

Then in the early hours of Wednesday, another person, Mayank Rawal (21), was arrested.

Meanwhile, a similar case emerged on Thursday where the focus of the target veered towards the Hindu women.

A channel created on the cross-platform Telegram, showcases morphed photos of Hindu women.

Information and Technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Twitter said, “Channel blocked. Government of India coordinating with police authorities of states for action.”

(With inputs from agencies)

Three people have been arrested following an investigation into an app that apparently seemed to demean Muslim women by using their morphed pictures for an online fake auction.

Three people have been arrested following an investigation into an app that apparently seemed to demean Muslim women by using their morphed pictures for an online fake auction. While there was no actual ‘auction’ or ‘sale’ taking, the purpose of the app seemed to be to humiliate and intimidate the targeted women, many of whom are active social media users. The action was taken following multiple complaints from prominent women who claimed that their morphed photos were used on an open source app called GitHub platform. The app was called Bulli Bai, a derogatory term to describe Muslim women. Ismat Ara, a journalist targeted by the app, said in a police complaint filed on Sunday that it was an attempt to harass Muslim women. “The said ‘GitHub’ is violent, threatening and intending to create a feeling of fear and shame in my mind, as well as in the minds of women in general, and the Muslim community whose women are being targeted in this hateful manner," said the complaint, which Ara posted on social media. Women victims had demanded the arrest of those behind such an act and Shiv Sena party MP Priyanka Chaturvedi had also made a complaint to Mumbai Police's cyber wing. Following the outrage, three people were arrested. The first arrest was made from India’s southern Bengaluru city where a 21-year-old engineering student, Vishal Jha, was taken into custody. The second arrest was of a 19-year-old woman, Shweta Singh, from Uttarakhand state. According to the police, the girl was said to be the main culprit in the case. Then in the early hours of Wednesday, another person, Mayank Rawal (21), was arrested. Meanwhile, a similar case emerged on Thursday where the focus of the target veered towards the Hindu women. A channel created on the cross-platform Telegram, showcases morphed photos of Hindu women. Information and Technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Twitter said, “Channel blocked. Government of India coordinating with police authorities of states for action.” (With inputs from agencies)

Bully Bai app case: Three arrested for online abuse of women in India

A famous Chinese online influencer was slapped with a $210 million fine for alleged tax evasion, according to Chinese authorities.

Huang Wei, also known as Viya, is an internet celebrity with millions of followers. She has used her platform to sell a variety of products.

Viya is one of the biggest stars on Alibaba's&nbsp;digital clothing marketplace Taobao, where influencers try to sell items to viewers on live streams, according to Bloomberg.

The 36-year-old had over 80 million followers on Taobao and 18 million on Weibo, the microblogging platform, according to the Daily Mail.

This is the second tax evasion penalty slapped on e-commerce livestreamers since November.

On Monday, the State Taxation Administration in a statement on its website said that Viya evaded or underpaid 703 million yuan ($110 million) in taxes.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/global-debt-rises-as-financial-crisis-looms-china-under-threat-437781">Global debt rises as financial crisis looms; China under threat</a>

The livestreamer is accused of evading taxes from 2019 to 2020 by concealing her personal income and falsely declaring some income sources, the press release said.

In a post on her Weibo account, Viya said she was “deeply sorry”.

“I thoroughly accept the punishment made by the tax authorities,” the post said.

According to AFP, Viya's accounts vanished from major online platforms on Tuesday, with her livestreaming page on Taobao shopping site rendered inaccessible.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-tv-shows-china-goes-after-comics-and-animation-in-latest-clampdown-on-entertainment-industry-416454">After TV shows, China goes after comics and animation in latest clampdown on entertainment industry</a>

The state-backed Global Times newspaper says that her penalty serves as a “warning to others”.

China has been clamping down on online bloggers– who have grown in popularity since the pandemic started, according to reports.

The livestreaming e-commerce market has seen explosive growth in China, with the consulting firm KPMG estimating that the market could be valued at approximately 1 trillion yuan last year, or $156 billion,&nbsp;according to the South China Morning Post.

Previously in November, two influential livestreamers Zhu Chenhui, widely known as Xueli Cherie and Lin Shanshan, were fined 93.2 million yuan ($14.6 million) for tax evasion. Both of their Taobao e-shops were shut down afterwards.

(With inputs from agencies)

A famous Chinese online influencer was slapped with a $210 million fine for alleged tax evasion, according to Chinese authorities. Huang Wei, also known as Viya, is an internet celebrity with millions of followers.

A famous Chinese online influencer was slapped with a $210 million fine for alleged tax evasion, according to Chinese authorities. Huang Wei, also known as Viya, is an internet celebrity with millions of followers. She has used her platform to sell a variety of products. Viya is one of the biggest stars on Alibaba's digital clothing marketplace Taobao, where influencers try to sell items to viewers on live streams, according to Bloomberg. The 36-year-old had over 80 million followers on Taobao and 18 million on Weibo, the microblogging platform, according to the Daily Mail. This is the second tax evasion penalty slapped on e-commerce livestreamers since November. On Monday, the State Taxation Administration in a statement on its website said that Viya evaded or underpaid 703 million yuan ($110 million) in taxes. Also read | Global debt rises as financial crisis looms; China under threat The livestreamer is accused of evading taxes from 2019 to 2020 by concealing her personal income and falsely declaring some income sources, the press release said. In a post on her Weibo account, Viya said she was “deeply sorry”. “I thoroughly accept the punishment made by the tax authorities,” the post said. According to AFP, Viya's accounts vanished from major online platforms on Tuesday, with her livestreaming page on Taobao shopping site rendered inaccessible. Also read | After TV shows, China goes after comics and animation in latest clampdown on entertainment industry The state-backed Global Times newspaper says that her penalty serves as a “warning to others”. China has been clamping down on online bloggers– who have grown in popularity since the pandemic started, according to reports. The livestreaming e-commerce market has seen explosive growth in China, with the consulting firm KPMG estimating that the market could be valued at approximately 1 trillion yuan last year, or $156 billion, according to the South China Morning Post. Previously in November, two influential livestreamers Zhu Chenhui, widely known as Xueli Cherie and Lin Shanshan, were fined 93.2 million yuan ($14.6 million) for tax evasion. Both of their Taobao e-shops were shut down afterwards. (With inputs from agencies)

Top Chinese online influencer fined $210 million for tax evasion

In today’s fast-paced world, where numerous people go online for various purposes, around 37% of the world’s population seems to have never used the internet. The revelation was made by a United Nations' body. &nbsp;

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a spike in the number of internet users but still around 3 billion people have not been able to use it. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/israel-and-iran-broaden-cyberwar-to-attack-civilian-targets-432628" hreflang="en">Israel and Iran broaden cyberwar to attack civilian targets</a>

According to an estimate by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 96% of these people in developing countries have not got access to internet. &nbsp;

ITU secretary general Houlin Zhao, said, “ITU will work to make sure the building blocks are in place to connect the remaining 2.9 billion. We are determined to ensure no one will be left behind.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the estimated number of people going online has increased from 4.1 billion in 2019 to 4.9 billion this year, the agency said. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/twitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-said-this-in-his-very-first-e-mail-as-captain-of-the-ship-433002" hreflang="en">Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said this in his very first e-mail as captain of the ship</a>

Several people using internet may also be doing it infrequently, facing connectivity issues or using shared devices. &nbsp;

The measures like school closures, lockdowns and the need to access online services may have led to the spike in internet users during the pandemic, the ITU said. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

In today’s fast-paced world, where numerous people go online for various purposes, around 37% of the world’s population seems to have never used the internet. The revelation was made by a United Nations' body.

In today’s fast-paced world, where numerous people go online for various purposes, around 37% of the world’s population seems to have never used the internet. The revelation was made by a United Nations' body. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a spike in the number of internet users but still around 3 billion people have not been able to use it. Also Read: Israel and Iran broaden cyberwar to attack civilian targets According to an estimate by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 96% of these people in developing countries have not got access to internet. ITU secretary general Houlin Zhao, said, “ITU will work to make sure the building blocks are in place to connect the remaining 2.9 billion. We are determined to ensure no one will be left behind.” Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the estimated number of people going online has increased from 4.1 billion in 2019 to 4.9 billion this year, the agency said. Also Read: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said this in his very first e-mail as captain of the ship Several people using internet may also be doing it infrequently, facing connectivity issues or using shared devices. The measures like school closures, lockdowns and the need to access online services may have led to the spike in internet users during the pandemic, the ITU said. (With inputs from agencies)

Over one third of world never used internet, says UN body  

As the British government examines new legislation to tackle online abuse, internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury."

Following a series of high-profile internet abuse cases involving sports journalists and Premier League sportsmen, the Department for Culture, Media and Sports has adopted suggestions from the Law Commission to base offences on "probable psychological injury."&nbsp; 
 
Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/58-girls-young-women-face-online-harassment-abuse-says-global-survey-333020">58% girls, young women face online harassment, abuse, says global survey</a>&nbsp;

Under the watchful eye of Ofcom, the Online Safety Bill aims to hold digital companies more responsible for user-generated dangerous information housed on their platforms, ranging from child sex exploitation to terrorism.

However, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is contemplating accepting the Law Commission's proposal that offences be based on "probable psychological injury." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/facebook-google-tiktok-twitter-vow-to-stop-online-gender-abuse-395209">Also read | Facebook, Google, TikTok &amp; Twitter vow to stop online gender abuse</a> 
 
It will move the attention away from texts with "indecent" or "grossly offensive" content and toward the message's "harmful effect."

Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, might include the changes in the bill that will be debated in Parliament next month.&nbsp;

The bill's present version focuses on frightening social media corporations with fines of up to $24.6 million if they fail to combat abuse, but modifications may result in individual users being punished on a far greater scale.

'Threatening communications' is one of the new offences, which encompasses messages and postings in which the author intends for their victim to fear that a threat will be carried out.&nbsp;

Messages made with the intention of causing 'emotional, psychological, or physical harm to the likely audience' will be considered as 'knowingly false communications.'

Currently, similar laws exist, but convictions are based on whether the clip contains 'indecent' or 'grossly offensive' material.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

As the British government examines new legislation to tackle online abuse, internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury.

As the British government examines new legislation to tackle online abuse, internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury." Following a series of high-profile internet abuse cases involving sports journalists and Premier League sportsmen, the Department for Culture, Media and Sports has adopted suggestions from the Law Commission to base offences on "probable psychological injury." Also read | 58% girls, young women face online harassment, abuse, says global survey Under the watchful eye of Ofcom, the Online Safety Bill aims to hold digital companies more responsible for user-generated dangerous information housed on their platforms, ranging from child sex exploitation to terrorism. However, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is contemplating accepting the Law Commission's proposal that offences be based on "probable psychological injury." Also read | Facebook, Google, TikTok & Twitter vow to stop online gender abuse It will move the attention away from texts with "indecent" or "grossly offensive" content and toward the message's "harmful effect." Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, might include the changes in the bill that will be debated in Parliament next month. The bill's present version focuses on frightening social media corporations with fines of up to $24.6 million if they fail to combat abuse, but modifications may result in individual users being punished on a far greater scale. 'Threatening communications' is one of the new offences, which encompasses messages and postings in which the author intends for their victim to fear that a threat will be carried out. Messages made with the intention of causing 'emotional, psychological, or physical harm to the likely audience' will be considered as 'knowingly false communications.' Currently, similar laws exist, but convictions are based on whether the clip contains 'indecent' or 'grossly offensive' material. (With inputs from agencies)

UK's online safety bill: Internet trolls could face two years in prison for psychological harm

All of us are familiar with the dangers of the digital world. So, we spoke to two leading cyber security experts, and they've given us internet safety rules that everyone can follow. Watch the video to know more details.

Cyber security: Tips on how to stay safe online

Is your child being exposed to objectionable content online? An investigation has revealed that TikTok is recommending videos of serial killers and gun violence to children as young as 13. Some of these videos have links to websites selling weapons. Palki Sharma brings you a report.

Gravitas: What is your child doing on the internet?

The Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, will give evidence to MPs and peers scrutinising the online safety bill. Haugen has released tens of thousands of internal documents highlighting Facebook's failure to keep its users safe from harmful content.

Speaking to the Observer before the hearing, Haugen said that Mark Zuckerberg, who is Facebook’s founder&nbsp;had not shown any readiness to protect the public from the harm that his company has caused.

She was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “Right now, Mark [Zuckerberg] is unaccountable. He has all the control. He has no oversight, and he has not demonstrated that he is willing to govern the company at the level that is necessary for public safety.”

The Facebook whistleblower told US senators that the social media juggernaut promotes divisiveness, hurts children, and urgently needs to be controlled, prompting promises that Congress will take long-delayed action.

Haugen recently disclosed reams of internal information to authorities and The Wall Street Journal, testified on Capitol Hill, fueling one of the company's most serious crises yet. Haugen said that she believes that Facebook's products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/facebook-struggles-to-combat-misinformation-and-hate-speech-in-india-report-423506">Also read |&nbsp;Facebook struggles to combat misinformation and hate speech in India: Report</a>

Damian Collins, the Conservative MP and chair of the joint committee, was quoted by The Guardian, “Frances Haugen’s testimony so far has made it even clearer that regulatory oversight of social media platforms, from democratically elected government, is urgently needed. She will bring valuable expertise to the scrutiny process, especially as the bill should empower Ofcom&nbsp;to access and act on the internal research and concerns.”

According to documents from the former Facebook employee obtained by The Associated Press, Facebook has struggled to curb hateful content in India.&nbsp;

The Facebook whistleblower told US senators that the social media juggernaut promotes divisiveness, hurts children, and urgently needs to be controlled, prompting promises that Congress will take long-delayed action.

The Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, will give evidence to MPs and peers scrutinising the online safety bill. Haugen has released tens of thousands of internal documents highlighting Facebook's failure to keep its users safe from harmful content.

The Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, will give evidence to MPs and peers scrutinising the online safety bill. Haugen has released tens of thousands of internal documents highlighting Facebook's failure to keep its users safe from harmful content. Speaking to the Observer before the hearing, Haugen said that Mark Zuckerberg, who is Facebook’s founder had not shown any readiness to protect the public from the harm that his company has caused. She was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “Right now, Mark [Zuckerberg] is unaccountable. He has all the control. He has no oversight, and he has not demonstrated that he is willing to govern the company at the level that is necessary for public safety.” The Facebook whistleblower told US senators that the social media juggernaut promotes divisiveness, hurts children, and urgently needs to be controlled, prompting promises that Congress will take long-delayed action. Haugen recently disclosed reams of internal information to authorities and The Wall Street Journal, testified on Capitol Hill, fueling one of the company's most serious crises yet. Haugen said that she believes that Facebook's products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy. Also read | Facebook struggles to combat misinformation and hate speech in India: Report Damian Collins, the Conservative MP and chair of the joint committee, was quoted by The Guardian, “Frances Haugen’s testimony so far has made it even clearer that regulatory oversight of social media platforms, from democratically elected government, is urgently needed. She will bring valuable expertise to the scrutiny process, especially as the bill should empower Ofcom to access and act on the internal research and concerns.” According to documents from the former Facebook employee obtained by The Associated Press, Facebook has struggled to curb hateful content in India. The Facebook whistleblower told US senators that the social media juggernaut promotes divisiveness, hurts children, and urgently needs to be controlled, prompting promises that Congress will take long-delayed action.

Frances Haugen to testify about Facebook and online harm

Scrolling through her social media feed, Laura Dornheim is regularly stopped cold by a new blast of abuse aimed at her, including from people threatening to kill or sexually assault her. One person last year said that he looked forward to meeting her in person so he could punch her teeth out.

Dornheim, a candidate for a Parliament seat in Germany’s election Sunday, is often attacked for her support of abortion rights, gender equality and immigration. She flags some of the posts to Facebook and Twitter, hoping that the platforms will delete the posts or that the perpetrators will be banned. She’s usually disappointed.

“There might have been one instance where something actually got taken down,” Dornheim said.

Harassment and abuse are all too common on the modern internet. Yet it was supposed to be different in Germany. In 2017, the country enacted one of the world’s toughest laws against online hate speech. It requires Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to remove illegal comments, pictures or videos within 24 hours of being notified about them or risk fines of up to 50 million euros ($59 million). Supporters hailed it as a watershed moment for internet regulation and a model for other countries.

But an influx of hate speech and harassment in the runup to the German election, in which the country will choose a new leader to replace Angela Merkel, its longtime chancellor, has exposed some of the law’s weaknesses. Much of the toxic speech, researchers say, has come from far-right groups and is aimed at intimidating female candidates like Dornheim.

Some critics of the law say it is too weak, with limited enforcement and oversight. They also maintain that many forms of abuse are deemed legal by the platforms, such as certain kinds of harassment of women and public officials. And when companies do remove illegal material, critics say, they often do not alert the authorities or share information about the posts, making prosecutions of the people publishing the material far more difficult. Another loophole, they say, is that smaller platforms like the messaging app Telegram, popular among far-right groups, are not subject to the law.

Free-expression groups criticize the law on other grounds. They argue that the law should be abolished not only because it fails to protect victims of online abuse and harassment, but also because it sets a dangerous precedent for government censorship of the internet.

The country’s experience may shape policy across the Continent. German officials are playing a key role in drafting one of the world’s most anticipated new internet regulations, a European Union law called the Digital Services Act, which will require Facebook and other online platforms to do more to address the vitriol, misinformation and illicit content on their sites. Ursula von der Leyen, a German who is president of the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm, has called for an EU law that would list gender-based violence as a special crime category, a proposal that would include online attacks.

“Germany was the first to try to tackle this kind of online accountability,” said Julian Jaursch, a project director at the German think tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, which focuses on digital issues. “It is important to ask whether the law is working.”

Marc Liesching, a professor at HTWK Leipzig who published an academic report on the policy, said that of the posts that have been deleted by Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, a vast majority were classified as violating company policies, not the hate speech law. That distinction makes it harder for the government to measure whether companies are complying with the law. In the second half of 2020, Facebook removed 49 million pieces of “hate speech” based on its own community standards, compared with the 154 deletions that they attributed to the German law, he found.

The law, Liesching said, “is not relevant in practice.”

With its history of Nazism, Germany has long tried to balance free-speech rights against a commitment to combat hate speech. Among Western democracies, the country has some of the world’s toughest laws against incitement to violence and hate speech. Targeting religious, ethnic and racial groups is illegal, as is Holocaust denial and displaying Nazi symbols in public.

To address concerns that companies were not alerting the authorities to illegal posts, German policymakers this year passed amendments to the law. They require Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to turn over data to the police about accounts that post material that German law would consider illegal speech. The Justice Ministry was also given more powers to enforce the law.

“The aim of our legislative package is to protect all those who are exposed to threats and insults on the internet,” Christine Lambrecht, the justice minister, who oversees enforcement of the law, said after the amendments were adopted. “Whoever engages in hate speech and issues threats will have to expect to be charged and convicted.”

Facebook and Google have filed a legal challenge to block the new rules, arguing that providing the police with personal information about users violates their privacy.

Facebook said that as part of an agreement with the government it now provides more data about the complaints it receives. From January through July, the company received more than 77,000 complaints, which led it to delete or block about 11,500 pieces of content under the German law, known as NetzDG.

“We have zero tolerance for hate speech and support the aims of NetzDG,” Facebook said in a statement.

Twitter, which received around 833,000 complaints and removed roughly 81,000 posts during the same period, said a majority of those posts did not fit the definition of illegal speech, but still violated the company’s terms of service.

“Threats, abusive content and harassment all have the potential to silence individuals,” Twitter said in a statement. “However, regulation and legislation such as this also has the potential to chill free speech by emboldening regimes around the world to legislate as a way to stifle dissent and legitimate speech.”

YouTube, which received around 312,000 complaints and removed around 48,000 pieces of content in the first six months of the year, declined to comment other than saying that it complies with the law.

The amount of hate speech has become increasingly pronounced during election season, according to researchers at Reset and HateAid, organizations that track online hate speech and are pushing for tougher laws.

The groups reviewed nearly 1 million comments on far-right and conspiratorial groups across about 75,000 Facebook posts in June, finding that roughly 5% were “highly toxic” or violated the online hate speech law. Some of the worst material, including messages with Nazi symbolism, had been online for more than a year, the groups found. Of 100 posts reported by the groups to Facebook, roughly half were removed within a few days, while the others remain online.

The election has also seen a wave of misinformation, including false claims about voter fraud.

Annalena Baerbock, the 40-year-old leader of the Green Party and the only woman among the top candidates to succeed Merkel, has been the subject of an outsize amount of abuse compared with her male rivals from other parties, including sexist slurs and misinformation campaigns, according to researchers.

Others have stopped running altogether. In March, a former Syrian refugee running for the German Parliament, Tareq Alaows, dropped out of the race after experiencing racist attacks and violent threats online.

While many policymakers want Facebook and other platforms to be aggressive in screening user-generated content, others have concerns about allowing private companies to make decisions about what people can and can’t say. The far-right party Alternative for Germany, which has criticised the law for unfairly targeting its supporters, has vowed to repeal the policy “to respect freedom of expression.”

Jillian York, an author and free speech activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Berlin, said the German law encouraged companies to remove potentially offensive that is perfectly legal, undermining free expression rights.

“Facebook doesn’t err on the side of caution, they just take it down,” York said. Another concern, she said, is that less democratic countries such as Turkey and Belarus have adopted laws similar to Germany’s so they could classify certain material critical of the government as illegal.

Renate Künast, a former government minister who once invited a journalist to accompany her as she confronted individuals in person who had targeted her with online abuse, wants to see the law go further. Victims of online abuse should be able to go after perpetrators directly for libel and financial settlements, she said. Without that ability, she added, online abuse will erode political participation, particularly among women and minority groups.

In a survey of more than 7,000 German women released in 2019, 58% said they did not share political opinions online for fear of abuse.

“They use the verbal power of hate speech to force people to step back, leave their office or not to be candidates,” Künast said.

Dornheim, the candidate for Parliament, who has a master’s in computer science and used to work in the tech industry, said more restrictions were needed. She described getting her home address removed from public records after somebody mailed a package to her house during a particularly bad bout of online abuse.

Yet, she said, the harassment has only steeled her resolve.

“I would never give them the satisfaction of shutting up,” she said.

Scrolling through her social media feed, Laura Dornheim is regularly stopped cold by a new blast of abuse aimed at her, including from people threatening to kill or sexually assault her.

Scrolling through her social media feed, Laura Dornheim is regularly stopped cold by a new blast of abuse aimed at her, including from people threatening to kill or sexually assault her. One person last year said that he looked forward to meeting her in person so he could punch her teeth out. Dornheim, a candidate for a Parliament seat in Germany’s election Sunday, is often attacked for her support of abortion rights, gender equality and immigration. She flags some of the posts to Facebook and Twitter, hoping that the platforms will delete the posts or that the perpetrators will be banned. She’s usually disappointed. “There might have been one instance where something actually got taken down,” Dornheim said. Harassment and abuse are all too common on the modern internet. Yet it was supposed to be different in Germany. In 2017, the country enacted one of the world’s toughest laws against online hate speech. It requires Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to remove illegal comments, pictures or videos within 24 hours of being notified about them or risk fines of up to 50 million euros ($59 million). Supporters hailed it as a watershed moment for internet regulation and a model for other countries. But an influx of hate speech and harassment in the runup to the German election, in which the country will choose a new leader to replace Angela Merkel, its longtime chancellor, has exposed some of the law’s weaknesses. Much of the toxic speech, researchers say, has come from far-right groups and is aimed at intimidating female candidates like Dornheim. Some critics of the law say it is too weak, with limited enforcement and oversight. They also maintain that many forms of abuse are deemed legal by the platforms, such as certain kinds of harassment of women and public officials. And when companies do remove illegal material, critics say, they often do not alert the authorities or share information about the posts, making prosecutions of the people publishing the material far more difficult. Another loophole, they say, is that smaller platforms like the messaging app Telegram, popular among far-right groups, are not subject to the law. Free-expression groups criticize the law on other grounds. They argue that the law should be abolished not only because it fails to protect victims of online abuse and harassment, but also because it sets a dangerous precedent for government censorship of the internet. The country’s experience may shape policy across the Continent. German officials are playing a key role in drafting one of the world’s most anticipated new internet regulations, a European Union law called the Digital Services Act, which will require Facebook and other online platforms to do more to address the vitriol, misinformation and illicit content on their sites. Ursula von der Leyen, a German who is president of the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm, has called for an EU law that would list gender-based violence as a special crime category, a proposal that would include online attacks. “Germany was the first to try to tackle this kind of online accountability,” said Julian Jaursch, a project director at the German think tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, which focuses on digital issues. “It is important to ask whether the law is working.” Marc Liesching, a professor at HTWK Leipzig who published an academic report on the policy, said that of the posts that have been deleted by Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, a vast majority were classified as violating company policies, not the hate speech law. That distinction makes it harder for the government to measure whether companies are complying with the law. In the second half of 2020, Facebook removed 49 million pieces of “hate speech” based on its own community standards, compared with the 154 deletions that they attributed to the German law, he found. The law, Liesching said, “is not relevant in practice.” With its history of Nazism, Germany has long tried to balance free-speech rights against a commitment to combat hate speech. Among Western democracies, the country has some of the world’s toughest laws against incitement to violence and hate speech. Targeting religious, ethnic and racial groups is illegal, as is Holocaust denial and displaying Nazi symbols in public. To address concerns that companies were not alerting the authorities to illegal posts, German policymakers this year passed amendments to the law. They require Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to turn over data to the police about accounts that post material that German law would consider illegal speech. The Justice Ministry was also given more powers to enforce the law. “The aim of our legislative package is to protect all those who are exposed to threats and insults on the internet,” Christine Lambrecht, the justice minister, who oversees enforcement of the law, said after the amendments were adopted. “Whoever engages in hate speech and issues threats will have to expect to be charged and convicted.” Facebook and Google have filed a legal challenge to block the new rules, arguing that providing the police with personal information about users violates their privacy. Facebook said that as part of an agreement with the government it now provides more data about the complaints it receives. From January through July, the company received more than 77,000 complaints, which led it to delete or block about 11,500 pieces of content under the German law, known as NetzDG. “We have zero tolerance for hate speech and support the aims of NetzDG,” Facebook said in a statement. Twitter, which received around 833,000 complaints and removed roughly 81,000 posts during the same period, said a majority of those posts did not fit the definition of illegal speech, but still violated the company’s terms of service. “Threats, abusive content and harassment all have the potential to silence individuals,” Twitter said in a statement. “However, regulation and legislation such as this also has the potential to chill free speech by emboldening regimes around the world to legislate as a way to stifle dissent and legitimate speech.” YouTube, which received around 312,000 complaints and removed around 48,000 pieces of content in the first six months of the year, declined to comment other than saying that it complies with the law. The amount of hate speech has become increasingly pronounced during election season, according to researchers at Reset and HateAid, organizations that track online hate speech and are pushing for tougher laws. The groups reviewed nearly 1 million comments on far-right and conspiratorial groups across about 75,000 Facebook posts in June, finding that roughly 5% were “highly toxic” or violated the online hate speech law. Some of the worst material, including messages with Nazi symbolism, had been online for more than a year, the groups found. Of 100 posts reported by the groups to Facebook, roughly half were removed within a few days, while the others remain online. The election has also seen a wave of misinformation, including false claims about voter fraud. Annalena Baerbock, the 40-year-old leader of the Green Party and the only woman among the top candidates to succeed Merkel, has been the subject of an outsize amount of abuse compared with her male rivals from other parties, including sexist slurs and misinformation campaigns, according to researchers. Others have stopped running altogether. In March, a former Syrian refugee running for the German Parliament, Tareq Alaows, dropped out of the race after experiencing racist attacks and violent threats online. While many policymakers want Facebook and other platforms to be aggressive in screening user-generated content, others have concerns about allowing private companies to make decisions about what people can and can’t say. The far-right party Alternative for Germany, which has criticised the law for unfairly targeting its supporters, has vowed to repeal the policy “to respect freedom of expression.” Jillian York, an author and free speech activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Berlin, said the German law encouraged companies to remove potentially offensive that is perfectly legal, undermining free expression rights. “Facebook doesn’t err on the side of caution, they just take it down,” York said. Another concern, she said, is that less democratic countries such as Turkey and Belarus have adopted laws similar to Germany’s so they could classify certain material critical of the government as illegal. Renate Künast, a former government minister who once invited a journalist to accompany her as she confronted individuals in person who had targeted her with online abuse, wants to see the law go further. Victims of online abuse should be able to go after perpetrators directly for libel and financial settlements, she said. Without that ability, she added, online abuse will erode political participation, particularly among women and minority groups. In a survey of more than 7,000 German women released in 2019, 58% said they did not share political opinions online for fear of abuse. “They use the verbal power of hate speech to force people to step back, leave their office or not to be candidates,” Künast said. Dornheim, the candidate for Parliament, who has a master’s in computer science and used to work in the tech industry, said more restrictions were needed. She described getting her home address removed from public records after somebody mailed a package to her house during a particularly bad bout of online abuse. Yet, she said, the harassment has only steeled her resolve. “I would never give them the satisfaction of shutting up,” she said.

An experiment to stop online abuse falls short in Germany

Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday announced measures to clamp down on financial fraud on its platform in Britain, saying it will require all financial services to be verified by the regulator before they are allowed to advertise. 
 
Google said in a blog post, it will begin enforcing the new policy, which follows calls from the Financial Conduct Authority for the US&nbsp;tech giant to vet paid promotions, from September&nbsp;6. 
 
The FCA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
 
The watchdog issued 1,200 consumer warnings last year about scams advertised via social media platforms by fake companies, double the amount in 2019. 
 
FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi said last year, Google should make checks with regulators to see whether potential advertisers had already been shut down in some other guise, before promotions are posted online. 
 
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has also been lobbying the government to introduce a legal requirement for internet giants to take down financial fraud websites, according to a March report in the Sunday Times. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday announced measures to clamp down on financial fraud on its platform in Britain, saying it will require all financial services to be verified by the regulator before they are allowed to advertise.

Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday announced measures to clamp down on financial fraud on its platform in Britain, saying it will require all financial services to be verified by the regulator before they are allowed to advertise. Google said in a blog post, it will begin enforcing the new policy, which follows calls from the Financial Conduct Authority for the US tech giant to vet paid promotions, from September 6. The FCA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The watchdog issued 1,200 consumer warnings last year about scams advertised via social media platforms by fake companies, double the amount in 2019. FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi said last year, Google should make checks with regulators to see whether potential advertisers had already been shut down in some other guise, before promotions are posted online. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has also been lobbying the government to introduce a legal requirement for internet giants to take down financial fraud websites, according to a March report in the Sunday Times. (With inputs from agencies)

Google to introduce measures to curb online financial scams in UK

Audio chat app Clubhouse has denied any breach or hack after a report said that a database containing 1.3 million scraped records of the platform's users were posted on a popular hacker forum.&nbsp;

According to a report in CyberNews on Saturday, the 'leaked' database contains a variety of user-related information from Clubhouse profiles, including user ID, name, photo URL, username, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, number of followers, number of people followed by the user, account creation date, and invited by user profile name.&nbsp;

The invite-only app, available currently only for iPhone users, called the report 'misleading and false’.&nbsp;

"Clubhouse has not been breached or hacked. The data referred to is all public profile information from our app, which anyone can access via the app or our API," Clubhouse said in a statement on Twitter.&nbsp;

The CyberNews report said that the scraped data posted on the hacker forum can be used by cybercriminals to carry out targeted phishing or other types of social engineering attacks, and that such database can also be used by threat actors to brute-force the passwords of Clubhouse profiles.&nbsp;

The news comes within a few days of an archive with data purportedly scraped from 500 million LinkedIn profiles reportedly put for sale on a popular hacker forum emerged, with another two million records leaked as a proof-of-concept sample by people behind the hack.&nbsp;

Earlier this month, another data leak report rocked social media users as personal data of nearly 533 million Facebook users, including 61 lakh Indians, remerged online after a hacker posted the details on a digital forum.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Audio chat app Clubhouse has denied any breach or hack after a report said that a database containing 1.3 million scraped records of the platform's users were posted on a popular hacker forum.

Audio chat app Clubhouse has denied any breach or hack after a report said that a database containing 1.3 million scraped records of the platform's users were posted on a popular hacker forum. According to a report in CyberNews on Saturday, the 'leaked' database contains a variety of user-related information from Clubhouse profiles, including user ID, name, photo URL, username, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, number of followers, number of people followed by the user, account creation date, and invited by user profile name. The invite-only app, available currently only for iPhone users, called the report 'misleading and false’. "Clubhouse has not been breached or hacked. The data referred to is all public profile information from our app, which anyone can access via the app or our API," Clubhouse said in a statement on Twitter. The CyberNews report said that the scraped data posted on the hacker forum can be used by cybercriminals to carry out targeted phishing or other types of social engineering attacks, and that such database can also be used by threat actors to brute-force the passwords of Clubhouse profiles. The news comes within a few days of an archive with data purportedly scraped from 500 million LinkedIn profiles reportedly put for sale on a popular hacker forum emerged, with another two million records leaked as a proof-of-concept sample by people behind the hack. Earlier this month, another data leak report rocked social media users as personal data of nearly 533 million Facebook users, including 61 lakh Indians, remerged online after a hacker posted the details on a digital forum. (With inputs from agencies)

1.3 mn scraped Clubhouse user records posted online: Report 

Personal details such as phone numbers of around 6.1 million (61 lakh) Indians on Facebook have allegedly been leaked online and posted on hacking forums, according to a cybersecurity executive.

According to Alon Gal, co-founder and chief technical officer of cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, personal data of 533 million Facebook users globally - including names, phone numbers and other details - was allegedly leaked online and posted for free on hacking forums.&nbsp;

"All 533,000,000 Facebook records were just leaked for free. This means that if you have a Facebook account, it is extremely likely the phone number used for the account was leaked," Gal has said in a tweet flagging the issue.&nbsp;

A list of countries that was shared in the tweet, showed that information of 6.1 million users from India, 32.3 million from the US, 11.5 million from the UK and 7.3 million from Australia, was part of the leaked data.&nbsp;

When contacted, a Facebook company spokesperson said, "This is old data that was previously reported on in 2019. We found and fixed this issue in August 2019".&nbsp;

Gal said in early 2020, a vulnerability, which enabled seeing the phone number linked to every Facebook account, was exploited, creating a database containing the information of 533 million users across all countries.&nbsp;

He added that details include phone number, Facebook ID and full name and "bad actors will certainly use the information for social engineering, scamming, hacking and marketing".&nbsp;

In the past too, Facebook - which had 2.80 billion monthly active users (MUAs) as of December 31, 2020, has faced challenges around data security.&nbsp;

In March 2018, Facebook data of over 5.62 lakh Indians was allegedly compromised as UK-based Cambridge Analytica had accessed information of about 87 million users globally. India is among the biggest markets for Facebook and its group companies, WhatsApp and Instagram. According to government data, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users, and 21 crore users of Instagram.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Personal details such as phone numbers of around 6.1 million (61 lakh) Indians on Facebook have allegedly been leaked online and posted on hacking forums, according to a cybersecurity executive.

Personal details such as phone numbers of around 6.1 million (61 lakh) Indians on Facebook have allegedly been leaked online and posted on hacking forums, according to a cybersecurity executive. According to Alon Gal, co-founder and chief technical officer of cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, personal data of 533 million Facebook users globally - including names, phone numbers and other details - was allegedly leaked online and posted for free on hacking forums. "All 533,000,000 Facebook records were just leaked for free. This means that if you have a Facebook account, it is extremely likely the phone number used for the account was leaked," Gal has said in a tweet flagging the issue. A list of countries that was shared in the tweet, showed that information of 6.1 million users from India, 32.3 million from the US, 11.5 million from the UK and 7.3 million from Australia, was part of the leaked data. When contacted, a Facebook company spokesperson said, "This is old data that was previously reported on in 2019. We found and fixed this issue in August 2019". Gal said in early 2020, a vulnerability, which enabled seeing the phone number linked to every Facebook account, was exploited, creating a database containing the information of 533 million users across all countries. He added that details include phone number, Facebook ID and full name and "bad actors will certainly use the information for social engineering, scamming, hacking and marketing". In the past too, Facebook - which had 2.80 billion monthly active users (MUAs) as of December 31, 2020, has faced challenges around data security. In March 2018, Facebook data of over 5.62 lakh Indians was allegedly compromised as UK-based Cambridge Analytica had accessed information of about 87 million users globally. India is among the biggest markets for Facebook and its group companies, WhatsApp and Instagram. According to government data, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users, and 21 crore users of Instagram. (With inputs from agencies)

India’s 6.1 mn Facebook users’ personal details leaked online 

At&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/globalsummit/dubai-2021">WION's Global Summit, Dubai</a>, several prominent speakers from across the world discussed the role that digitalisation played during the Covid&nbsp;pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;At the session themed "Digital Revolution: The World Goes Online", moderated by international TV journalist Ali Aslan, the discussions revolved around the various aspects of the internet that were seen during the pandemic, its challenges and opportunities.

Sharing the success story of the internet in Estonia, Kaimar Karu, Former Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology, explained how the country decided to put focus on the internet.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/economic-centre-of-gravity-has-moved-to-east-asia-former-vp-of-world-bank-tells-wion-global-summit-372849">Economic centre of gravity has moved to East Asia, former VP of World Bank tells WION Global Summit</a>

"We decided to do something which was best in the world and something that didn't exist at the time," Karu said.&nbsp;

Maria Galindo, Current Advisor in International Digital Policy, Ministry for Digital Policy and Public Administration, Government of Catalonia insisted how "countries and societies really need to make this effort to move forward with digitalisation".

Also read | &nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/at-wion-global-summit-leaders-discuss-how-israel-palestine-conflict-will-affect-west-asia-peace-372843">At WION Global Summit, leaders discuss how Israel-Palestine conflict will affect West Asia peace</a>

"There are huge opportunities with digitalisation for creating new jobs, economy for the future, making traditional sectors more competitive."

She also pointed out "huge challenges", such as how to bring digital rights into the international agenda and how to battle the digital divide.&nbsp;

Simon Lacey, Former VP, Huawei Technologies, said we will see the reinvention of workplace and labour regulations.&nbsp;

Karu warned that we should understand that the digital revolution is not just about "technology", warning that the focus should be on people, otherwise we are heading in the "wrong direction".&nbsp;

Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Taiwan, said that there is much more in digital technology than "two dimensions" that are known and a lot can be improved upon.&nbsp;

It needs to be understood that productivity is not decreasing due to work from home, noted Jehudi Castro, Former Deputy Minister, Digital Economy, Colombia.&nbsp;

<h2>Challenges and opportunities</h2>

According to Galindo, the "biggest challenge" that we are currently facing is how to make this digital transformation "affordable" and "accessible" for everyone.&nbsp;

Gilles Babinet, Digital Champion at the European Commission for France, said that the challenges in the decades and years to come would be to make this technology accessible to developing countries and poorer sections of the society.&nbsp;

Lacey said that one of the most important positives of these technologies is that it provides a "level-playing field" to everyone and generate "economic empowerment" to areas that were struggling before the pandemic to survive.&nbsp;

At WION's Global Summit, Dubai, several prominent speakers from across the world discussed the role that digitalisation played during the Covid pandemic. At the session themed "Digital Revolution: The World Goes Online", moderated by international TV journalist Ali Aslan, the discussions revolved around the various aspects of the internet that were seen during the pandemic, its challenges and opportunities.

At WION's Global Summit, Dubai, several prominent speakers from across the world discussed the role that digitalisation played during the Covid pandemic. At the session themed "Digital Revolution: The World Goes Online", moderated by international TV journalist Ali Aslan, the discussions revolved around the various aspects of the internet that were seen during the pandemic, its challenges and opportunities. Sharing the success story of the internet in Estonia, Kaimar Karu, Former Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology, explained how the country decided to put focus on the internet. Also read | Economic centre of gravity has moved to East Asia, former VP of World Bank tells WION Global Summit "We decided to do something which was best in the world and something that didn't exist at the time," Karu said. Maria Galindo, Current Advisor in International Digital Policy, Ministry for Digital Policy and Public Administration, Government of Catalonia insisted how "countries and societies really need to make this effort to move forward with digitalisation". Also read | At WION Global Summit, leaders discuss how Israel-Palestine conflict will affect West Asia peace "There are huge opportunities with digitalisation for creating new jobs, economy for the future, making traditional sectors more competitive." She also pointed out "huge challenges", such as how to bring digital rights into the international agenda and how to battle the digital divide. Simon Lacey, Former VP, Huawei Technologies, said we will see the reinvention of workplace and labour regulations. Karu warned that we should understand that the digital revolution is not just about "technology", warning that the focus should be on people, otherwise we are heading in the "wrong direction". Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Taiwan, said that there is much more in digital technology than "two dimensions" that are known and a lot can be improved upon. It needs to be understood that productivity is not decreasing due to work from home, noted Jehudi Castro, Former Deputy Minister, Digital Economy, Colombia. Challenges and opportunities According to Galindo, the "biggest challenge" that we are currently facing is how to make this digital transformation "affordable" and "accessible" for everyone. Gilles Babinet, Digital Champion at the European Commission for France, said that the challenges in the decades and years to come would be to make this technology accessible to developing countries and poorer sections of the society. Lacey said that one of the most important positives of these technologies is that it provides a "level-playing field" to everyone and generate "economic empowerment" to areas that were struggling before the pandemic to survive.

WION Global Summit: Leaders explore role, challenges of digitalisation

After months often on lockdown and nearly on remote learning. Students in England are now excited to head back to classrooms, and they are more than willing to follow protocol and undergo the regular test if it means they no longer need to take classes online.

Schools all set to reopen in England from 8th march

Monday sneaks up with painful regularity. Chaos disguised as excitement knocks a book off the side table. The son was trying to “borrow” a pen. I’m given to believe that my only surviving pen is the distance between him and Shakespearean glory. And so it is consumed in the spirit of motherly sacrifice. Online classes resume today, why am I still asleep? Parce que.&nbsp;

Thankfully my role is largely of compulsory observation, not to be undermined one bit, since it takes a special quality to observe a mess at close quarters with equanimity. The children trust Alexa with the morning alarm and the help with their breakfast. I must play the audience, the indefatigable spammer of critique and the reluctant provider of stationery.&nbsp;

The commotion reaches a crescendo by 9 am. The receipt of a class code is a seismic event on WhatsApp. Parents who have spent the weekend in punishing anticipation flood the timeline with the same message. They’ve been able to log in. Hallelujah! The children, who until then, were getting ready as if going for the Olympic games, suddenly turn into the very pictures of disinterest.&nbsp;

One pushes his luck with a new extortion plan.&nbsp;

“Why don’t I have a new school bag?"

“Because you don’t need one right now.”

I’m reminded of the bags sitting in my cupboard and how need has little to do with it. The flip side of encouraging free thinking and expression is that it’s practised and perfected on parents.&nbsp;

The next task is conquering the mute button. Children are the very opposite of fish. They come programmed with a default unmute setting. After 30 excruciating seconds of sitting still, they start revealing their true colours. They want to wave, make faces, swing the chair, smile, yawn, do everything right now.&nbsp;

“Good morning children, please put yourselves on mute,” the teacher intonates. This is to be the most repeated phrase for the next few hours. Mute yourselves. The sentiment by the end of it will be more like - suit yourselves.&nbsp;

They begin with place value and face value. What more scintillating subject could one think of for a Monday morning! The first class is a most distressing reacquaintance with Mathematics, the serial crusher of spirit. The teacher gets a boy’s name wrong. Other boys snigger. I look daggers at mine and drown back into my phone.&nbsp;

Tiny popping sounds emerge. Amid a serious discussion on healthy eating, the son is popping the bubble wrap still clinging to a leg of his chair. By some acrobatic miracle, I tear it out from under the table, evading his swinging legs.&nbsp;

“Is river a proper noun or a common noun?”

A pair of wide open eyes, framed by raised eyebrows, is trained on me over the laptop screen. If a hopeful question mark had a face, this would be it. I’m not helping you, I whisper. The smile crumbles, and the eyes exude betrayal. The teacher has moved to the next child, leaving behind a trail of sulk that only a Kinder Joy will erase.&nbsp;

“May I go to the toilet ma’am,” chimes a classmate.&nbsp;

Mute yourselves.&nbsp;

Hehe haha.&nbsp;

Mute yourselves.&nbsp;

Grrrr.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Monday sneaks up with painful regularity. Chaos disguised as excitement knocks a book off the side table. The son was trying to “borrow” a pen. I’m given to believe that my only surviving pen is the distance between him and Shakespearean glory.

Monday sneaks up with painful regularity. Chaos disguised as excitement knocks a book off the side table. The son was trying to “borrow” a pen. I’m given to believe that my only surviving pen is the distance between him and Shakespearean glory. And so it is consumed in the spirit of motherly sacrifice. Online classes resume today, why am I still asleep? Parce que. Thankfully my role is largely of compulsory observation, not to be undermined one bit, since it takes a special quality to observe a mess at close quarters with equanimity. The children trust Alexa with the morning alarm and the help with their breakfast. I must play the audience, the indefatigable spammer of critique and the reluctant provider of stationery. The commotion reaches a crescendo by 9 am. The receipt of a class code is a seismic event on WhatsApp. Parents who have spent the weekend in punishing anticipation flood the timeline with the same message. They’ve been able to log in. Hallelujah! The children, who until then, were getting ready as if going for the Olympic games, suddenly turn into the very pictures of disinterest. One pushes his luck with a new extortion plan. “Why don’t I have a new school bag?" “Because you don’t need one right now.” I’m reminded of the bags sitting in my cupboard and how need has little to do with it. The flip side of encouraging free thinking and expression is that it’s practised and perfected on parents. The next task is conquering the mute button. Children are the very opposite of fish. They come programmed with a default unmute setting. After 30 excruciating seconds of sitting still, they start revealing their true colours. They want to wave, make faces, swing the chair, smile, yawn, do everything right now. “Good morning children, please put yourselves on mute,” the teacher intonates. This is to be the most repeated phrase for the next few hours. Mute yourselves. The sentiment by the end of it will be more like - suit yourselves. They begin with place value and face value. What more scintillating subject could one think of for a Monday morning! The first class is a most distressing reacquaintance with Mathematics, the serial crusher of spirit. The teacher gets a boy’s name wrong. Other boys snigger. I look daggers at mine and drown back into my phone. Tiny popping sounds emerge. Amid a serious discussion on healthy eating, the son is popping the bubble wrap still clinging to a leg of his chair. By some acrobatic miracle, I tear it out from under the table, evading his swinging legs. “Is river a proper noun or a common noun?” A pair of wide open eyes, framed by raised eyebrows, is trained on me over the laptop screen. If a hopeful question mark had a face, this would be it. I’m not helping you, I whisper. The smile crumbles, and the eyes exude betrayal. The teacher has moved to the next child, leaving behind a trail of sulk that only a Kinder Joy will erase. “May I go to the toilet ma’am,” chimes a classmate. Mute yourselves. Hehe haha. Mute yourselves. Grrrr. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Online learning - the new school of hard knocks

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-slams-us-sanctions-on-european-gas-project-269464">Russia carried out tests</a> Monday to ensure the "security" of its internet infrastructure in case of a foreign cyberattack, measures that rights activists worry could also tighten censorship and lead to online isolation.

A controversial law that allows the country to cut internet traffic from international servers came into force in November, but the communications ministry has denied that the government is gearing up to isolate the Russian segment of the internet and said ordinary users would not notice the tests.

The ministry has said that the drills are aimed at ensuring the "integrity" of the internet.

The law, which President Vladimir Putin signed in May, requires Russian internet providers to install equipment provided by the authorities to enable centralised control of traffic.&nbsp;

They will also filter content to prevent access to banned websites.&nbsp;

At his annual news conference last week, Putin defended Russia's internet policies, promising that the country was not "moving towards closing off the internet."

"A free internet and a sovereign internet are two concepts that aren't mutually exclusive," he said.

The internet is the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/je-indra-2019-a-symbol-of-warm-indo-russo-ties-269205">country's main forum</a> for political debate and opposing voices as well as coordinating opposition demonstrations.

The new system is set to go online in 2021.&nbsp;

Internet providers need to ensure before that time that their networks have the technical means for "centralised traffic control" to counter potential threats.

The main providers have already begun installing the required equipment including Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) which would allow Russia's Roskomnadzor internet watchdog to analyse and filter traffic.

Supporters of the legislation say the aim is to ensure Russian sites keep working if they are unable to connect to international servers or in the case of a threat from abroad such as cyberattacks.

But rights activists say it is another censorship bid following previous <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-outline-terms-for-five-year-gas-transit-deal-to-end-row-269490">efforts in Russia</a> to block services such as the LinkedIn professional networking site and the Telegram messenger service.

While Beijing has created what has become known as the Great Firewall of China to filter content and limit access to foreign websites, activists and analysts are divided if Russia has the resources to implement such a system.

Russia carried out tests Monday to ensure the "security" of its internet infrastructure in case of a foreign cyberattack, measures that rights activists worry could also tighten censorship and lead to online isolation.

Russia carried out tests Monday to ensure the "security" of its internet infrastructure in case of a foreign cyberattack, measures that rights activists worry could also tighten censorship and lead to online isolation. A controversial law that allows the country to cut internet traffic from international servers came into force in November, but the communications ministry has denied that the government is gearing up to isolate the Russian segment of the internet and said ordinary users would not notice the tests. The ministry has said that the drills are aimed at ensuring the "integrity" of the internet. The law, which President Vladimir Putin signed in May, requires Russian internet providers to install equipment provided by the authorities to enable centralised control of traffic. They will also filter content to prevent access to banned websites. At his annual news conference last week, Putin defended Russia's internet policies, promising that the country was not "moving towards closing off the internet." "A free internet and a sovereign internet are two concepts that aren't mutually exclusive," he said. The internet is the country's main forum for political debate and opposing voices as well as coordinating opposition demonstrations. The new system is set to go online in 2021. Internet providers need to ensure before that time that their networks have the technical means for "centralised traffic control" to counter potential threats. The main providers have already begun installing the required equipment including Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) which would allow Russia's Roskomnadzor internet watchdog to analyse and filter traffic. Supporters of the legislation say the aim is to ensure Russian sites keep working if they are unable to connect to international servers or in the case of a threat from abroad such as cyberattacks. But rights activists say it is another censorship bid following previous efforts in Russia to block services such as the LinkedIn professional networking site and the Telegram messenger service. While Beijing has created what has become known as the Great Firewall of China to filter content and limit access to foreign websites, activists and analysts are divided if Russia has the resources to implement such a system.

Russia: 'Sovereign' internet tested amid fears of online isolation

Children are putting themselves in increased danger with their online activities trying to imitate high-profile Youtubers and social media influencers all in the name of likes, the author of a new book on the topic told EFE Monday. 
 
David Ruiperez, author of the book "Mi vida por un like" ("My life for a like"), spoke to EFE about how children were facing grave dangers as a result of their desire to imitate influencers, high-profile internet personalities who are often approached by brands for promotions and warned parents to keep a track on who their offspring follow in the online world.&nbsp; 
 
He said it was of vital importance that parents got to grips with how their children were interacting online as, according to him, it bore little resemblance to how the average adult may use social media.&nbsp; 
 
"Kids see that young people are recording videos and posting them online and that they get a huge amount of money for doing so and become famous. They want to be like them," Ruipérez said. 
 
The thirst for online attention sees many young people picturing themselves in extreme and dangerous situations; others, usually the girls, pose in sensual and suggestive ways and then post these pictures online.&nbsp; 
 
All of this whilst running the very real risk of never being able to take them down if, in the future, they were to regret posting them in the first place. 
 
The author said parents were often blind to the situation, given that children often spend time surfing the social mediascape from the comforts of their own house. Parents may be unaware as to exactly what information their children could be sharing with people online.&nbsp; 
 
The author, who is also a coordinator of content for the department of communications for the Spanish General Council of Nursing, did recognize that social media had a lot of potential as a communications tool but it is important to control it and show children and young people how to use it adequately. 
 
"Understanding this phenomenon as soon as possible is the key to guiding our children in their online activities," the expert concluded.

Children are putting themselves in increased danger with their online activities trying to imitate high-profile Youtubers and social media influencers all in the name of likes, the author of a new book on the topic told EFE Monday.

Children are putting themselves in increased danger with their online activities trying to imitate high-profile Youtubers and social media influencers all in the name of likes, the author of a new book on the topic told EFE Monday. David Ruiperez, author of the book "Mi vida por un like" ("My life for a like"), spoke to EFE about how children were facing grave dangers as a result of their desire to imitate influencers, high-profile internet personalities who are often approached by brands for promotions and warned parents to keep a track on who their offspring follow in the online world. He said it was of vital importance that parents got to grips with how their children were interacting online as, according to him, it bore little resemblance to how the average adult may use social media. "Kids see that young people are recording videos and posting them online and that they get a huge amount of money for doing so and become famous. They want to be like them," Ruipérez said. The thirst for online attention sees many young people picturing themselves in extreme and dangerous situations; others, usually the girls, pose in sensual and suggestive ways and then post these pictures online. All of this whilst running the very real risk of never being able to take them down if, in the future, they were to regret posting them in the first place. The author said parents were often blind to the situation, given that children often spend time surfing the social mediascape from the comforts of their own house. Parents may be unaware as to exactly what information their children could be sharing with people online. The author, who is also a coordinator of content for the department of communications for the Spanish General Council of Nursing, did recognize that social media had a lot of potential as a communications tool but it is important to control it and show children and young people how to use it adequately. "Understanding this phenomenon as soon as possible is the key to guiding our children in their online activities," the expert concluded.

Spanish book warns of dangers children face online in their thirst for fame

Germany on Tuesday detained a German-Afghan man on suspicion he was spying for Iran while working for the German army as a linguistic and cultural adviser.

The 50-year-old identified as Abdul Hamid S. was arrested in western <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.wionews.com/world/germanys-frankfurt-airport-security-staff-begin-one-day-strike-190454&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjUmfGS5u_fAhVIqI8KHWxdDEkQFggFMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PQkeNQSQJ5Xw4ti9dAUHm">Germany</a>, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

"The accused was a language evaluator and cultural issues adviser of the German armed forces. In this capacity, he is believed to have passed on information to an Iranian intelligence service," they added.

According to Spiegel Online, he is suspected of working for Iranian secret services for several years.

While working for the German army, he had access to highly sensitive information including on troop deployment in Afghanistan, the report added.

Previous cases of infiltration by a foreign agency have sparked outrage and shock in Germany.

In 2016, Markus Reichel, himself a former intelligence agent for Germany, was convicted for spying for both the CIA and the Russian secret service.

He admitted handing over "scores of documents and internal information" to the CIA, including papers detailing Germany's counter-espionage strategies.

Reichel also delivered three classified documents to the Russians.

In 2011, Germany jailed a married couple for spying for the Russian secret services for more than 20 years.

The pair, identified only by the code names Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, were planted in former West Germany from 1988 by the Soviet Union's KGB and later worked for its successor the SVR.

The couple had obtained NATO and EU political and military secrets, focussed especially on the relationship between NATO and the EU with eastern European and central Asian countries.

Germany on Tuesday detained a German-Afghan man on suspicion he was spying for Iran while working for the German army as a linguistic and cultural adviser. The 50-year-old identified as Abdul Hamid S.

Germany on Tuesday detained a German-Afghan man on suspicion he was spying for Iran while working for the German army as a linguistic and cultural adviser. The 50-year-old identified as Abdul Hamid S. was arrested in western Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement. "The accused was a language evaluator and cultural issues adviser of the German armed forces. In this capacity, he is believed to have passed on information to an Iranian intelligence service," they added. According to Spiegel Online, he is suspected of working for Iranian secret services for several years. While working for the German army, he had access to highly sensitive information including on troop deployment in Afghanistan, the report added. Previous cases of infiltration by a foreign agency have sparked outrage and shock in Germany. In 2016, Markus Reichel, himself a former intelligence agent for Germany, was convicted for spying for both the CIA and the Russian secret service. He admitted handing over "scores of documents and internal information" to the CIA, including papers detailing Germany's counter-espionage strategies. Reichel also delivered three classified documents to the Russians. In 2011, Germany jailed a married couple for spying for the Russian secret services for more than 20 years. The pair, identified only by the code names Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, were planted in former West Germany from 1988 by the Soviet Union's KGB and later worked for its successor the SVR. The couple had obtained NATO and EU political and military secrets, focussed especially on the relationship between NATO and the EU with eastern European and central Asian countries.

Germany arrests German-Afghan army adviser for 'spying for Iran'

A viral video, which surfaced on Sunday evening, left the Bengal government officials in a tizzy. The video shows a Bengal cadre IAS officer Nikhil Nirmal, who is the current district magistrate of Alipurduar, beating up a young man mercilessly.&nbsp;

In the video, Nirmal and his wife both take turns and beat up a local youth inside the Falakata police station in presence of inspector-in-charge Soumyajit Ray.&nbsp;

According to sources in the police, the youth had made some lewd comments on Nirmal’s wife’s Facebook profile. Soon, he was summoned to the police station where he was beaten up by Nirmal and his wife.&nbsp;

Surprisingly, Nirmal is heard saying in the video, “I will not let you do anything against me in my district. I will enter your house and kill you.”&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
See how Bengal IAS officer, Nikhil Nirmal, district magistrate of Alipurduar district take law in his own hands. He &amp; his wife beat up a youth for making lewd comments on his wife’s Facebook profile. Incident unfolds inside the police station &amp; infront IC of Police <a href="https://twitter.com/dna?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dna</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ZeeNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZeeNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/iRCO7SnRa6">pic.twitter.com/iRCO7SnRa6</a>
— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_zeenews) <a href="https://twitter.com/pooja_zeenews/status/1081974285210546176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The husband and wife took turns to beat him. Nirmal’s wife is heard asking the man, “At who’s behest did you make such comments?”&nbsp;

While the youth pleaded for mercy, the duo continued beating him up.

The entire episode unfolded at the police station without the district magistrate or his wife filing any official complaint against the man.&nbsp;

When the correspondent tried reaching Nirmal, he neither answered nor returned calls. The inspector-in-charge too did not answer calls despite several attempts.&nbsp;

Nirmal, is a 2011 Bengal cadre IAS officer and hails from Kerala.&nbsp;

A viral video, which surfaced on Sunday evening, left the Bengal government officials in a tizzy. The video shows a Bengal cadre IAS officer Nikhil Nirmal, who is the current district magistrate of Alipurduar, beating up a young man mercilessly.

A viral video, which surfaced on Sunday evening, left the Bengal government officials in a tizzy. The video shows a Bengal cadre IAS officer Nikhil Nirmal, who is the current district magistrate of Alipurduar, beating up a young man mercilessly. In the video, Nirmal and his wife both take turns and beat up a local youth inside the Falakata police station in presence of inspector-in-charge Soumyajit Ray. According to sources in the police, the youth had made some lewd comments on Nirmal’s wife’s Facebook profile. Soon, he was summoned to the police station where he was beaten up by Nirmal and his wife. Surprisingly, Nirmal is heard saying in the video, “I will not let you do anything against me in my district. I will enter your house and kill you.” See how Bengal IAS officer, Nikhil Nirmal, district magistrate of Alipurduar district take law in his own hands. He & his wife beat up a youth for making lewd comments on his wife’s Facebook profile. Incident unfolds inside the police station & infront IC of Police @dna @ZeeNews pic.twitter.com/iRCO7SnRa6 — Pooja Mehta (@pooja_zeenews) January 6, 2019 × The husband and wife took turns to beat him. Nirmal’s wife is heard asking the man, “At who’s behest did you make such comments?” While the youth pleaded for mercy, the duo continued beating him up. The entire episode unfolded at the police station without the district magistrate or his wife filing any official complaint against the man. When the correspondent tried reaching Nirmal, he neither answered nor returned calls. The inspector-in-charge too did not answer calls despite several attempts. Nirmal, is a 2011 Bengal cadre IAS officer and hails from Kerala.

Watch: Bengal IAS officer beats up youth for making lewd comments on wife’s social profile 

Netflix confirmed Tuesday that it removed an episode of a satirical comedy show that criticises Saudi Arabia, after officials in the kingdom reportedly complained.

The move raises new questions about the limits of free online expression.

In the episode of "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," the American-born Muslim lashed Saudi Arabia after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

He specifically criticised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and was also critical of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.

"We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request - and to comply with local law," a Netflix spokeswoman said in a statement.

British newspaper the Financial Times said Netflix's action came after the kingdom's Communications and Information Technology Commission said the episode violated the cybercrime law.

In December, the US Senate approved two symbolic resolutions blaming Prince Mohammed for the killing of Khashoggi, after intelligence reports pointed in that direction, and urging an end to US participation in the Yemen war.

'Quite outrageous'

Karen Attiah, Khashoggi's editor at The Washington Post, said Netflix's action was "quite outrageous."

The Saudi Information Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.&nbsp;

The episode can still be seen in other parts of the world -- and in Saudi Arabia on YouTube.

Online platforms and tech companies face increasing scrutiny and growing public skepticism in the face of controversies about data sharing and the steady erosion of privacy.

In October, the press freedom watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranked Saudi Arabia as 169th out of 180 countries for press freedom, adding that "it will very probably fall even lower in the 2019 index because of the gravity of the violence and abuses of all kinds against journalists."

After releasing its annual study of global internet freedom, another watchdog, Freedom House, said in November that Saudi Arabia was among those employing "troll armies" to manipulate social media and in many cases drown out the voices of dissidents.

Minhaj, 33, has seen his profile rise steadily. His routines combine personal history and pointed political commentary wrapped in edgy topical humor.

In 2014, he became senior correspondent on Comedy Central's popular "The Daily Show," and in 2017 was the featured speaker at the White House Correspondents' dinner. "Patriot Act" debuted in October 2018. 
&nbsp;

Netflix confirmed Tuesday that it removed an episode of a satirical comedy show that criticises Saudi Arabia, after officials in the kingdom reportedly complained.

Netflix confirmed Tuesday that it removed an episode of a satirical comedy show that criticises Saudi Arabia, after officials in the kingdom reportedly complained. The move raises new questions about the limits of free online expression. In the episode of "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," the American-born Muslim lashed Saudi Arabia after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He specifically criticised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and was also critical of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. "We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request - and to comply with local law," a Netflix spokeswoman said in a statement. British newspaper the Financial Times said Netflix's action came after the kingdom's Communications and Information Technology Commission said the episode violated the cybercrime law. In December, the US Senate approved two symbolic resolutions blaming Prince Mohammed for the killing of Khashoggi, after intelligence reports pointed in that direction, and urging an end to US participation in the Yemen war. 'Quite outrageous' Karen Attiah, Khashoggi's editor at The Washington Post, said Netflix's action was "quite outrageous." The Saudi Information Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The episode can still be seen in other parts of the world -- and in Saudi Arabia on YouTube. Online platforms and tech companies face increasing scrutiny and growing public skepticism in the face of controversies about data sharing and the steady erosion of privacy. In October, the press freedom watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranked Saudi Arabia as 169th out of 180 countries for press freedom, adding that "it will very probably fall even lower in the 2019 index because of the gravity of the violence and abuses of all kinds against journalists." After releasing its annual study of global internet freedom, another watchdog, Freedom House, said in November that Saudi Arabia was among those employing "troll armies" to manipulate social media and in many cases drown out the voices of dissidents. Minhaj, 33, has seen his profile rise steadily. His routines combine personal history and pointed political commentary wrapped in edgy topical humor. In 2014, he became senior correspondent on Comedy Central's popular "The Daily Show," and in 2017 was the featured speaker at the White House Correspondents' dinner. "Patriot Act" debuted in October 2018.

Netflix drops satire episode critical of Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh's telecoms regulator shut down dozens of online news portals for several hours on Monday, citing security reasons, as officials scrutinise hundreds of sites before a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/two-dead-dozens-injured-in-bangladesh-clashes-as-election-nears-183442">parliamentary election this month</a>.

The move comes as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government is already facing criticism for introducing laws that many journalists fear are aimed at curbing press freedom.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) asked International Internet Gateway (IIG) operators to block 58 news sites, BTRC spokesman Zakir Hossain Khan said, without elaborating on the security concerns. The portals were inaccessible for at least 12 hours.

"When an issue is raised to us by the commission which is related to law and order of the country, we are bound to comply," IIG President Sarwar Alam Shikder said.

The 58 sites were found to be not registered with the information ministry and therefore their content was being examined, said Abdul Malek, an official at the ministry.

"It is the responsibility of this ministry to bring all news portals under a system so that they can run smoothly," he said, adding that hundreds of websites were under scrutiny.

While Hasina's government has won widespread global praise for letting in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar, its critics have decried her increasingly authoritarian rule, the government's handling of student protests this year and its crackdown on free speech.

The election is being held on December 30.

Bangladesh's telecoms regulator shut down dozens of online news portals for several hours on Monday, citing security reasons, as officials scrutinise hundreds of sites before a parliamentary election this month.

Bangladesh's telecoms regulator shut down dozens of online news portals for several hours on Monday, citing security reasons, as officials scrutinise hundreds of sites before a parliamentary election this month. The move comes as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government is already facing criticism for introducing laws that many journalists fear are aimed at curbing press freedom. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) asked International Internet Gateway (IIG) operators to block 58 news sites, BTRC spokesman Zakir Hossain Khan said, without elaborating on the security concerns. The portals were inaccessible for at least 12 hours. "When an issue is raised to us by the commission which is related to law and order of the country, we are bound to comply," IIG President Sarwar Alam Shikder said. The 58 sites were found to be not registered with the information ministry and therefore their content was being examined, said Abdul Malek, an official at the ministry. "It is the responsibility of this ministry to bring all news portals under a system so that they can run smoothly," he said, adding that hundreds of websites were under scrutiny. While Hasina's government has won widespread global praise for letting in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar, its critics have decried her increasingly authoritarian rule, the government's handling of student protests this year and its crackdown on free speech. The election is being held on December 30.

Bangladesh briefly shuts dozens of online news sites, citing security concerns

CBSE has announced the class 12th results today on the board's official website cbse.nic.in. and <a href="http://cbseresults.nic.in/class12zpq/class12th18.htm">cbseresults</a><a href="http://cbseresults.nic.in/class12zpq/class12th18.htm">.nic.in.</a>

The overall pass percentage is 83.01% and the top three regions are Trivandrum (97.32%), Chennai (93.87%) and Delhi (89%).&nbsp;

Meghna Srivastava, from Ghaziabad, has topped the exams with 499 marks out of 500.

Candidates can check their scores online using their roll number provided in the admit card.&nbsp;

Candidates who sat for the examinations that were held from March 5 to April 3, can check their scores online using their roll number given in their admit card.&nbsp;

Reportedly, about 28 lakh students sat for CBSE Board examinations 2018 at various centres.&nbsp;

Nearly 11,86,305 candidates alone have written the CBSE class 12 board examinations 2018 at 4,138 centres in India and 71 centres outside India.&nbsp;

Steps to check CBSE class 12th examination results 2018 online:

1. Visit the official website &nbsp;cbse.nic.in, <a href="http://cbseresults.nic.in/class12zpq/class12th18.htm">cbseresults</a><a href="http://cbseresults.nic.in/class12zpq/class12th18.htm">.nic.in</a>.

2. Click the link stating CBSE Class 12th results 2018.

3. Now, enter the required details such as name, registration number, school code, etc. and click submit.

4. Your CBSE class 12 results 2018 will be displayed on the computer screen.

5. Check your scores, download and take a print out of the same for future purpose.&nbsp;

Nearly 11,86,305 candidates alone have written the CBSE class 12 board examinations 2018 at 4,138 centres in India and 71 centres outside India.

CBSE has announced the class 12th results today on the board's official website cbse.nic.in. and cbseresults.nic.in. The overall pass percentage is 83.01% and the top three regions are Trivandrum (97.32%), Chennai (93.87%) and Delhi (89%). Meghna Srivastava, from Ghaziabad, has topped the exams with 499 marks out of 500. Candidates can check their scores online using their roll number provided in the admit card. Candidates who sat for the examinations that were held from March 5 to April 3, can check their scores online using their roll number given in their admit card. Reportedly, about 28 lakh students sat for CBSE Board examinations 2018 at various centres. Nearly 11,86,305 candidates alone have written the CBSE class 12 board examinations 2018 at 4,138 centres in India and 71 centres outside India. Steps to check CBSE class 12th examination results 2018 online: 1. Visit the official website cbse.nic.in, cbseresults.nic.in. 2. Click the link stating CBSE Class 12th results 2018. 3. Now, enter the required details such as name, registration number, school code, etc. and click submit. 4. Your CBSE class 12 results 2018 will be displayed on the computer screen. 5. Check your scores, download and take a print out of the same for future purpose.

CBSE Class 12th result 2018 announced, topper gets 499/500 marks

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