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The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday ordered the blocking of apps, website and social media accounts linked to the banned organisation, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). In a statement, the Ministry said it has ordered the blocking of apps, website, and social media accounts of foreign-based 'Punjab Politics TV' having close links with the SFJ, deemed unlawful under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. "Relying on intelligence inputs that the channel was attempting to use online media to disturb public order during the ongoing State Assembly Elections, the Ministry used emergency powers under the IT Rules on February 18 to block the digital media resources of Punjab Politics TV," it said. The Ministry claimed that the contents of the blocked apps, website, and social media accounts had the potential to incite communal disharmony and separatism; and were found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, and public order. "It was also observed that the launch of new apps and social media accounts was timed to gain traction during the ongoing elections. The government of India remains vigilant and committed to secure the overall information environment in India and thwart any actions having the potential to undermine India's sovereignty and integrity," it added. In January, the Ministry had ordered the blocking of 35 YouTube-based news channels and two websites which were involved in spreading fake news against India in a coordinated manner over digital media. In December last year, the Centre blocked 20 YouTube channels and two websites when the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021 were first utilised. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/equity-markets-across-the-world-witness-bloodbath-amid-worsening-russia-ukraine-conflict/articleshow/89740850.cms" style="">Equity markets across the world witness bloodbath amid worsening Russia-Ukraine conflict</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/putin-orders-russian-troops-to-eastern-ukraine-for-peacekeeping-operation-a-major-escalation-towards-a-war/articleshow/89735923.cms" style="">Putin orders Russian troops to eastern Ukraine for 'peacekeeping' operation, a major escalation towards a war</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/fans-mourn-the-end-of-arthur-after-25-years-of-life-lessons-and-a-bunch-of-iconic-memes/articleshow/89737181.cms" style="">Fans mourn the end of 'Arthur' after 25 years of life lessons and a bunch of iconic memes</a>

Indian government orders blocking of apps, website, social media accounts linked to Sikhs For Justice

Meta-owned <keyword id="790242" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp" source="Orion">WhatsApp</keyword> on Tuesday launched a dedicated 'Safety in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>' resource hub highlighting a host of safety measures to help people stay safe online. The launch of the resource hub comes after WhatsApp's week-long campaign, #TakeCharge to promote the safe use of the Internet. "Safety of our users is at the core of everything we do at WhatsApp and launching a dedicated 'Safety in India' resource hub is a way of reiterating our commitment to educating and empowering users to take control of their online safety," <keyword id="1622253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhijit-bose" source="Orion">Abhijit Bose</keyword>, Head of India, WhatsApp, said in a statement. "Over the years we have made significant product changes to help enhance user security and privacy. Besides continuous product innovations, we have also consistently invested in state-of-the-art technology, artificial intelligence, data scientists, experts, and processes, to support user safety," Bose added. The resource hub explores several important topics around online safety, privacy and security, debunks common myths, in addition to creating awareness on how users can safeguard themselves from potential cyber scams in today's digitally connected world. Through the 'Safety in India' hub, WhatsApp's goal is to build awareness about the various safety measures and in-built product features that empower users to take control of their safety while using the service. The resource hub also highlights advanced technology that WhatsApp deploys along with India-specific processes that help prevent the spread of misinformation and any form of abuse on the platform. "We hope this resource will equip users with the information they need to safeguard their privacy and navigate the Internet safely," Bose said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indian-government-orders-blocking-of-apps-website-social-media-accounts-linked-to-sikhs-for-justice/articleshow/89744457.cms">Indian government orders blocking of apps, website, social media accounts linked to Sikhs For Justice</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/instagram-nudges-users-to-use-the-app-more-removes-lower-daily-limit-options-aimed-at-helping-users-limit-their-usage/articleshow/89742216.cms">Instagram nudges users to use the app more, removes lower daily limit options aimed at helping users limit their usage</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-may-let-you-untag-yourself-from-threads/articleshow/89742212.cms">Twitter may let you untag yourself from threads</a>

WhatsApp launches 'Safety in India' resource hub to help you stay safe online

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The TikTok CEO's testimony to Congress in March highlighted the anti-Asian rhetoric around the app.</li><li>There are concerns over TikTok, but making it a punching bag in place of China doesn't fix anything.</li></ul>Two things can be true at the same time. First: There are security concerns around TikTok, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-china-united-states-proxy-battle-war-2023-1">largely thanks to its parent company's ties</a> to China's ruling communist party. Critics say that beyond the threat that the Chinese government could misuse TikTok user data, the app could be used to spread pro-China propaganda. And second: The discourse around those issues, particularly talk of banning the app entirely in the US, has been poisoned by a surge in anti-Asian rhetoric, making it difficult to have a national conversation around TikTok in good faith.At the root of things is that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/banning-tiktok-bipartisan-issue-biden-trump-sale-last-resort-2023-3">battle over TikTok's future</a> has become a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-china-united-states-proxy-battle-war-2023-1">proxy for America's tensions with China</a>. And just as those tensions have played into an overall rise in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/26/tech/asian-americans-tiktok/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination in the US</a>, the conversation around TikTok has been surrounded by rhetoric that many Asian Americans see as xenophobic and outright racist. Take, for a recent example, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ceo-hearing-congress-failed-to-convince-against-ban-2023-3">TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's testimony in front of Congress in March</a>. At the hearing, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/26/tech/asian-americans-tiktok/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN reported</a>, lawmakers mangled Chew's name, pushed the CEO — who is Singaporean — on his personal ties to China, and used their time to launch tirades against the Chinese Communist Party without giving the CEO a chance to respond. Congress has grilled other tech CEOs over the past several years, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai. But what set the hearing with TikTok's CEO apart was the tone and personal nature of the questions, Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy groups said. At those other tech CEOs' hearings, the questions were similar but positioned more broadly about the industry, while some of the questions to Chew appeared to make an underlying assumption about his connection to the Chinese government.For example: Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas <a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1639087482380910594" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that, according to Chinese law, "any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work in accordance with the law and maintain the secrecy of all knowledge of state intelligence work."In other words, ByteDance — and also your TikTok employees that live in China — they must cooperate with Chinese intelligence whenever they are called upon. And if they are called upon, they're bound to secrecy — and that would include you."He appeared to brush it off when Chew pointed out that he was Singaporean.Crenshaw's office said Thursday that the congressman wasn't referring to whether Chew was Chinese, but was pointing out that — in Crenshaw's view — Chew would be required to cooperate with the Chinese government in his role as TikTok CEO because the social company is owned by China-controlled ByteDance. "The congressman obviously knows that Chew resides in Singapore," a spokeswoman said. "The issue is where ByteDance is geographically based."Still, the rhetoric at times seemed to paint the Chinese people with a broad brush and conflated people of Chinese ancestry with the will of the CCP. That paints a target on the back of Asian Americans, Chinese nationals living in the US, and, by extension, all other Asian populations, advocacy experts said."Our lawmakers are basically engaging in xenophobic showboating," the privacy-advocacy group Fight for the Future's <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/03/23/nightcap-tiktok-ban-clip-orig-nb.cnn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Evan Greer said in a CNN interview after the hearing</a>.Making Chew and TikTok into a punching bag for <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-analysis-chinese-semiconductor-chip-stocks-joe-biden-exports-2022-10?_gl=1*14mqagb*_ga*MTcxNTEzMTYxMS4xNjU4MTYzMzM1*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY4MDgyMTgwMi41MTAuMS4xNjgwODIyNjQ3LjE4LjAuMA..">America's frustrations with China</a> is likely to have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-congress-hearing-internet-reaction-analysis-chew-2023-3">several detrimental effects</a>, advocates for the Asian American community have said. If lawmakers let their distrust of China get in the way of a rational assessment of the situation, it allows for mistakes to enter into the policymaking process. "Unfortunately, because there was so much generic xenophobia, or what I might call broad statements about the so-called threats posed by the generic Chinese, it was hard to get an actual assessment of the national security threats that TikTok might pose," John Yang, the president of advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said."One question I asked myself is if the former CEO of TikTok who was not Asian was testifying, whether he would have received the same treatment," Yang added, referring to Kevin Mayer.This kind of rhetoric could also have other detrimental effects, Yang and other experts said. International students in the US studying tech might decide not to stay in the country after seeing how TikTok is treated, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-immigration-needs-reform-losing-workers-2023-3">depriving America of the tech talent</a> it needs to stay competitive. Similarly, it could feed into the perception that America is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-tech-firms-offshoring-immigration-labor-shortage-issues-remote-work-2023-3">unwelcoming to immigrant tech workers</a>, he said."The students, the entrepreneurs that are coming to the United States because they want to escape an authoritarian regime in China because they recognize the freedoms that the United States has to offer and they embrace it, we are discouraging them from coming here and staying here," Yang said.<h2>Tensions between the US and China have been building </h2>TikTok has been a political target for years, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-deal-oracle-walmart-shelved-with-trump-gone-2021-2">first during the Trump administration</a> and now during the Biden administration. It's being <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-tiktok-ban-why-do-they-want-to-ban-2022-12">threatened with a ban</a> if it doesn't divest its American business from ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns it, to address its risk to national security.America is also reevaluating its economic ties to China more broadly, especially after the country's government role in violence against the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-inside-china-internment-camps-for-uighur-minority-in-xinjiang-bbc-report-2018-8">Uyghur Muslim minority</a> and in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hong-kong-china-killed-democracy-movement-us-uk-inaction-2020-6">suppressing the independence of Hong Kong</a>.There are also economic tensions as the US pursues a policy of countering China's growing economic and cultural clout — including by banning Chinese tech giants like Huawei from doing business in the US. In response, China and its leader, Xi Jinping, have pledged their support to the private sector.In that light, the concerns of TikTok's critics have some validity: If China decided to throw its weight around and influence TikTok's famed algorithm, it could have ripple effects through American society. In the same way that Facebook and Twitter have fallen prey to bad actors influencing the national conversation, TikTok could be next.<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-xi-jinping-takes-rare-direct-aim-at-u-s-in-speech-5d8fde1a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In a recent speech</a>, according to China's state-owned news agency Xinhua, Xi said his party "has always regarded private enterprises and private entrepreneurs as our own people" and would provide them with support whenever they run into difficulties. <h2>There are real concerns surrounding TikTok, but they're overshadowed </h2>There are legitimate concerns about TikTok, given that ByteDance is subject to China's broad surveillance laws. It's possible that its government could force TikTok to turn over US user data.TikTok is used by 150 million Americans each month, and the algorithm is extremely sophisticated. As we've seen with Facebook, there are risks with what people see in their feeds and in how algorithms can influence the national mood. The fact that those algorithms could be influenced by the Chinese government is concerning.However, experts have said the US government hasn't shown <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-document-tiktok-myth-vs-fact-sheet-sent-to-advertisers-2023-3">specific or direct evidence of a national security threat</a> from TikTok. There's been only speculation about how American user data might be used or on how the Chinese government might be able to promote propaganda via the app, Ashley Gorski, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said.While TikTok has been embroiled in data-privacy scandals over the years, Gorski said, so have American companies such as Meta and Uber. TikTok recently came under scrutiny for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bytedance-employees-china-us-accessed-tiktok-user-data-journalists-report-2022-12">tracking journalists' locations</a> to uncover their sources. Banning TikTok won't necessarily prevent this type of data gathering or sharing.Gorski suggested that what's needed before considering a ban was a set of strong regulations for social-media data privacy — without tying those rules to any one app, no matter what country it's from."Rather than selectively banning a single app, consumer-privacy legislation would do much more to actually protect Americans' privacy by limiting the volume and types of data that companies are collecting and using in the first place," she said.Those <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/restrict-act-bill-legislation-regulate-tiktok-2023-4">discussions are overshadowed</a> by a heavy focus on one app. <h2>Anti-Asian rhetoric was already on the rise</h2>It's important to note that this is all happening while anti-Asian rhetoric has been <a href="https://www.insider.com/anti-asian-violence-racism-hate-crime-invisible-american-history">on the rise over the past few years</a>, fueled in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. While still in office, President Donald Trump referred to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-chinese-virus-tweet-sparked-anti-asian-hashtags-spike-study-2021-3">virus as the "kung flu" and the "China virus."</a>His comments correlated with <a href="https://www.insider.com/aapi-hate-crimes-spikes-more-than-500-in-san-francisco-in-2021">an increase in hate crimes</a> against Asian Americans, Manjusha Kulkarni, a cofounder of Stop AAPI Hate, a group that tracks hate crimes, said. The rhetoric around TikTok is adding to the problem, she added. And the perpetrators of those hate crimes aren't stopping at people of Chinese descent; targets can include anyone who "looks" to be Asian."What matters is not your specific national origin, but whether you match the phenotype of what they see as the enemy," Kulkarni said. "But it is that phenotype, the xenophobia combined that political leaders are willing to exploit and fuel."This isn't the first time in US history that an ethnic group has been targeted for discrimination amid a panic over national security. Kulkarni likens the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes to the discrimination faced by Muslims (and groups perceived to be Muslim, like the Sikh community) following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Those groups <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-hate-crimes-muslims-2015-2016-11">faced a surge in hate crimes</a>, as well as increased surveillance from the government.<h2>The rhetoric has consequences for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the US economy </h2>All this has implications for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US and the global Asian diaspora. The US is becoming less welcoming to people from China: A bill recently introduced in Texas would <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/bill-ban-undocumented-students-texas-universities-17832820.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bar Chinese and North Korean students from enrolling in the state's public universities</a>.Ultimately, the longer this rhetoric continues, the harder it is to have a discussion and action on TikTok's data privacy and national security concerns, experts said."The discussions that we should be having is around, specifically, sort of the extent to which TikTok might be under the influence of the Chinese government, and in a very real sense, not just because of the legal regime but sort of actual evidence," Yang said. "I think those are fair areas for inquiry that were just mildly touched upon during the hearing."Update: April 27, 2023 — This article was updated with a statement from Rep. Dan Crenshaw's office disputing that the congressman was singling out the TikTok CEO because of his national origin. It was also updated with a fuller quote from Crenshaw's exchange with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

The debate over banning TikTok has been poisoned by anti-Asian rhetoric

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="2742716" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="section-230">Section 230</keyword> — a federal law that Shields social media companies from liabilities that would otherwise reshape or crush their businesses — appears closer than ever to being rewritten. </li><li>President Donald <keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword> has escalated a recent push to repeal Section 230 as retribution for <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> and <keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> fact-checking his posts. He says they're proof that the platforms are biased against him, a claim Republicans have echoed.</li><li>Before that, both Democrats and Republicans have said for years that Section 230, which shields <keyword id="6358815" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech">tech</keyword> companies from being held liable for the content of users' posts, needs to be updated.</li><li>But repealing Section 230 was still a remote prospect — until this week, when FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he would issue guidance redefining the law.</li><li>And just days earlier, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the court's conservative members, wrote an unusual opinion arguing that courts should reinterpret Section 230 to give tech companies fewer protections.</li></ul>After years of threats, the US government appears closer than ever to stripping away one of Big Tech's biggest shields.In the weeks before the election, President Donald Trump has called with growing urgency for the repeal of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-section-230-internet-law-communications-decency-act-explained-2020-5">Section 230</a>, a law that prevents internet companies from being held liable for the content of users' posts as long as they make a good faith effort to remove illegal content.This week, officials mounted more immediate threats to the law that could fundamentally reshape the internet and its biggest companies.On Thursday, Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fcc-section-230-reform-trump-puppet-ajit-pai-2020-10">announced</a> that his office would "clarify the meaning" of Section 230, a measure that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-signs-executive-order-threatening-twitter-facebook-conservative-bias-2020-5">Trump has specifically requested</a>. While Pai didn't indicate what the clarifications would include, he implied that social media companies would lose some of the legal immunity currently granted to them by the law. Two days earlier, Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the Supreme Court and one of the court's conservative justices, issued an <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/101320zor_8m58.pdf">unusual opinion</a> arguing that courts should reconsider how Section 230 is interpreted to offer social media companies fewer protections.The new developments mean big tech companies could face a restructured Section 230 in the near future. And by potentially circumventing Congress and the legislative process needed to amend the law, the federal government could act more immediately, and leave those companies without much recourse to fight the new regulations.Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, known simply as Section 230, is part of a 1996 law that allows websites to avoid being treated as traditional publishers like newspapers that would be legally responsible for the content they produce. It has <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230">set the legal foundations for the modern internet</a> and enabled sites to host open forums populated by posts from anonymous users. Companies like Facebook and other supporters of Section 230 see it as a fundamental building block for open discussion and innovation on the internet — akin to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/net-neutralityfor-dummies-and-how-it-effects-you-2014-1">net neutrality</a>. Trump and the law's critics, meanwhile, say that big tech has too frequently wielded the law as a shield for their own bad behavior.Republican officials, including Trump's closest allies, have been some of the most high-profile recent drivers advocating a repeal or rewrite of the law. They say actions by Facebook and Twitter to fact-check Trump's false statements are evidence of systemic bias against conservatives, a claim <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/what-if-facebook-is-the-real-silent-majority.html">without much data to back it up</a>. Meanwhile, some Democrats — including House Speaker <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18307957/nancy-pelosi-donald-trump-twitter-tweet-cheap-freak-presidency-kara-swisher-decode-podcast-interview">Nancy Pelosi</a> — have implied tech companies should face harsher penalties for hosting misinformation or hate speech, but have not gone as far as to push to dismantle Section 230.Tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google have objected to calls to weaken the law's protections. A Facebook spokesperson <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/28/trump-targets-social-media-with-executive-order-after-twitter-fact-checks-him.html">said in May</a> that limiting Section 230 "will restrict more speech online, not less" by penalizing companies "that choose to allow controversial speech," while a Google spokesperson <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/28/trump-social-media-executive-order/">said</a> the same month that repealing the law could hurt the US' stature as a leader in internet freedom.<h2>If Thomas' opinion wins out, new liabilities could crush or reshape tech companies' businesses</h2>On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case concerning Section 230. In the rejection, Thomas <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/101320zor_8m58.pdf">argued</a> that courts should still reconsider the law at some point in the near future.He cited examples of previous lawsuits in the opinion, arguing that Section 230 was interpreted too broadly to shield tech companies.In one case, a group called Sikhs for Justice <a href="https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2017/09/facebook-wins-appeal-over-allegedly-discriminatory-content-removal-sikhs-for-justice-v-facebook.htm">sued Facebook</a>, claiming it removed their page at the request of the Indian government and refused to reinstate it, amounting to racial discrimination. In another case, a man <a href="https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/10902194429858/20200902_Goldberg_FCC_Coments_Final.pdf">sued</a> the gay dating app Grindr for allegedly failing to remove the profile of another man who was impersonating him using his photos.Facebook and Grindr won each of their cases. In both, courts didn't rule on whether the plaintiffs' claims were true — rather, they argued that Section 230 protected Facebook from claims of racial discrimination in how it moderates content, and that Section 230 immunized Grindr from complaints about how it removes fake profiles.Thomas argued that those cases established an overly broad definition of Section 230 that should be narrowed in the future.If Thomas' view prevails, hosting social media platforms would pose a far greater liability for tech companies, opening them up to a slew of new potential lawsuits. Legal experts are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/if-section-230-dies-twitter-facebook-would-likely-ban-trump-2020-5">divided</a> on what social media would look like without Section 230 protections, but changing the law could massively reshape how open forums are hosted across the internet.

Big tech's biggest shield is under fire from all 3 branches of government — here's how repealing Section 230 went from a Trump threat to an impending reality

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Indian government orders blocking of apps, website, social media accounts linked to Sikhs For Justice

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WhatsApp launches 'Safety in India' resource hub to help you stay safe online

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The debate over banning TikTok has been poisoned by anti-Asian rhetoric

Paayal Zaveri

Big tech's biggest shield is under fire from all 3 branches of government — here's how repealing Section 230 went from a Trump threat to an impending reality

Aaron Holmes

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