Latest news with #GOOGL.OYouTube
Daily Maverick
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
WhatsApp accuses Moscow of trying to block secure communication for millions of Russians
Russia said on Wednesday that it had started restricting some WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms META.O, and Telegram calls, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases. Text messaging services and voice notes are currently unaffected. A simmering dispute with foreign tech providers intensified after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Russia blocking Meta's Facebook and Instagram, slowing the speed of Alphabet's GOOGL.O YouTube and issuing hundreds of fines to platforms that failed to comply with Russian rules on online content and data storage. 'WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people's right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people,' WhatsApp said late on Wednesday. 'We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia.' Telegram said its moderators were using AI tools to monitor public parts of the platform to remove millions of malicious messages every day. 'Telegram actively combats harmful use of its platform including calls for sabotage or violence and fraud,' Telegram said. In July 2025, WhatsApp's monthly reach in Russia was 97.3 million people, compared to 90.8 million for Telegram, according to Mediascope data. Third-placed VK Messenger, an offering from state-controlled tech company VK reached 17.9 million people. Russia has a population of more than 140 million people. STEADY DEGRADATION Russia banning WhatsApp and Telegram users from making calls comes as the government is actively promoting a new state-controlled messaging app, MAX, that will be integrated with government services and which critics fear could track its users' activities. Senior politicians are migrating to MAX, urging their followers to come with them. Anton Gorelkin, a leading regulator of Russia's IT sector in parliament, said he would post to his MAX followers first and said many other lawmakers would soon follow suit. WhatsApp's other services remain available for now, but the steady degradation of a service is a tactic Russia has employed before, notably with YouTube, where slower download speeds have made it harder for people to access content. Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that Russia has been 'meticulously expanding [its] legal and technological tools to carve out Russia's section of the internet into a tightly controlled and isolated forum '. Lawmakers have approved a new law that tightens censorship and could have sweeping ramifications for digital privacy, with Russians facing fines if they search online for content Moscow considers 'extremist', including via virtual private networks that millions use to bypass internet blocks.
GMA Network
30-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Australia adds YouTube to social media ban for children
SYDNEY —Australia said on Wednesday it will include Alphabet-owned GOOGL.O YouTube in its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the video-sharing platform. Australia's internet watchdog last month urged the government to overturn the proposed exemption for YouTube after its research found 37% of children aged 10 to 15 reported seeing harmful content on the platform, the most of any social media site. Other social media companies such as Meta's META.O Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat SNAP.N, and TikTok had argued an exemption for YouTube would be unfair. "Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I'm calling time on it," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. "Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs." Social media firms will be fined up to A$49.5 million ($32.2 million) from December if they break the law, which passed through parliament in November. A YouTube spokesperson said the company would consider next steps and would continue to engage with the government. "We share the government's goal of addressing and reducing online harms. Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It's not social media," the spokesperson said by email. Online gaming, messaging apps, and health and education sites will be excluded from the centre-left government's minimum age rules as they pose fewer social media harms to teens under 16, or are regulated under different laws, Communications Minister Anika Wells said. "The rules are not a set and forget, they are a set and support," Wells said. —Reuters
GMA Network
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Streaming surpasses broadcast and cable TV viewing in US for first time
The logo of Netflix the American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media is seen during a photocall in Paris, France, April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo LOS ANGELES —Streaming services, which have been steadily gaining in popularity, have finally dethroned broadcast and cable television in the U.S., winning more viewers in May than broadcast and cable combined, audience measurement firm Nielsen reported on Tuesday. Nielsen, in its monthly report The Gauge, said streaming captured 44.8% of total TV usage in the U.S. in May, highlighting the growing dominance of streaming platforms like YouTube and Netflix NFLX.O over the past four years. Google's GOOGL.O YouTube alone accounted for 12.5% of all television viewing in May, representing the largest audience share for a streaming service. Free ad-supported streaming services, such as Paramount Global's PARA.O PlutoTV, Roku Channel ROKU.O and Fox's FOX.O Tubi, also have gained popularity, collectively capturing 5.7% of TV viewership, Nielsen reported. Broadcast accounted for 20% of TV viewership in May, while cable accounted for 24%, Nielsen said. The rise of streaming, which received a big boost during the COVID pandemic when people were forced to seek entertainment at home, reflects the broader transformation in media consumption, as viewers increasingly favor on-demand content over traditional TV schedules. The trend is reshaping the television landscape, with implications for advertisers and content creators alike. —Reuters
