President Trump Demands Cut of Microsoft TikTok Deal 

UK MP Calls for Security Check into TikTok Before London HQ is built

  • An influential backbench MP has called on the government to carry out a security review of TikTok before its Chinese owner decides whether to base the app in the UK.
  • Neil O’Brien – co-founder of the China Research Group of Tory MPs – said the intelligence services should publish a report into the matter.
  • Mr O’Brien said he was not opposed in principle to the idea of TikTok being based in London, but said “It would be useful for the government to use the kind of specialists in cyber-security that only it has access to, to give us a definitive view of whether the app is safe’.
  • President Trump’s threat to ban TikTok in the US forced the app to ditch plans to establish its headquarters there.

Facebook Moderators Call for Boycott Extension

  • Facebook moderators have called for the advertiser boycott of the site to be extended to prove that the action is more than a “PR stunt”.
  • One current moderator said that without long-term commitments, this was a “PR stunt that will pass when they get enough of the reports that they want”.
  • The boycott, which was most recently joined by Britain’s Innocent Drinks, Pukka Herbs and the ready-meal company Cook, was organised from mid-June as a response to Facebook’s perceived inaction over hate speech on the site. 
  • Many have doubted the efficacy of the boycott, as a majority of Facebook’s advertising comes from much smaller companies.
  • The boycott comes at a time when Facebook, together with the other tech giants are under scrutiny from the US Congress.

Twitter Criticised for not Stopping Racist Abuse Online

  • Shadow justice secretary David Lammy has called on Twitter to be “faster at stamping out racist threats” after receiving abuse online.
  • The  Labour MP reported a user to the Metropolitan Police on Sunday after getting a tweet using a racial slur and saying he would “hang from a lamppost”.
  • But the user’s account wasn’t suspended until Monday, after further tweets from Mr Lammy highlighting the abuse.
  • Twitter said racist behaviour had “no place on our service”. A spokesman for the company said it had suspended the account for violating its hateful conduct policy.
  • Home Secretary Priti Patel called for Twitter to take “decisive action” faster in such cases and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also condemned the abuse, saying: “Social media platforms must be quicker at taking action against hate’.

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