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Benin Govt abandon social media tax decree after protests

September 25, 2018 Staff Writer

After 10 days of mobilisation with more than 500 000 people being affected by the social media tax, the government in Benin have decided to cancel the tax. The government passed the decree in late August taxing its citizens for accessing the internet and social media apps reports Mail & Guardian. It taxed the use of Over The Top services like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Mylène Flicka, an Beninese activist, working on IRAWO, a digital media platform spoke to The Daily Vox about the decree and the cancellation of the…

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WhatsApp Users can now Call Without Internet.

February 20, 2018October 22, 2024 Staff Writer

It is easier for a WhatsApp user in diaspora to audio or video call or chat with his or her counterpart in Africa who has the same application than traditional telephone calls and text messages. The situation is the same for people who use Skype, Facebook Messenger, Viber and WeChat, to mention a few. But at the moment, the number of smartphone holders is very small in many developing countries especially in Africa. For instance, the number of smartphone holders in Rwanda is below 1.2 million. This challenges service providers…

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Doctors warn against internet, gaming disorders in UAE

April 28, 2017 Staff Writer

Medical professionals in the UAE are warning that addiction to smartphones and technology among young people can be as powerful as addiction to gambling and drugs, with its own host of health and psychological problems. In many developed nations – the UAE included – it isn’t uncommon to see young children on a tablet or smartphone, with their parents besides them seemingly oblivious to any potential health risks. “Mental health risks of increasing addiction to technology are clear and present,” said Dr Binu George, Consultant Paediatrician (paediatric neurodevelopment and neurodisability)…

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WhatsApp to End Support Of Devices With Old Versions Of iOS And Android

December 9, 2016 Staff Writer

WhatsApp launches end-to-end encryption on messages for all its users

Instant messaging App Whatsapp, will pull plug for devices running the older versions of mobile operating systems by the end of 2016. WhatsApp, the leading instant messaging client in the entire world, connects people globally without geographical barriers. In February this year, the application administrators announced that its services are being used by 1 billion users across the world but will be unavailable for some users. According to Apple, 63% of iOS devices are running on iOS 10, 29 % on iOS 9 and only 8 % on previous versions of…

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European Union privacy officials asks Facebook told to stop exploiting WhatsApp data

October 28, 2016

European Union privacy chiefs said Facebook must stop processing user data from its WhatsApp messaging service while they are investigating the privacy policy changes the company announced in August. The Article 29 Working Party, made up of privacy chiefs from across the 28-nation EU, told Facebook it had “serious concerns” about the sharing of WhatsApp users’ data for purposes that were not included in the terms of service and privacy policy when existing users signed up to the service, according to a statement e-mailed on Friday. European privacy watchdogs don’t…

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Cybersecurity firms greenlit to decrypt Viber, WhatsApp traffic

October 4, 2016

Russian cybersecurity companies have a greenlight to decrypt traffic of such popular communication tools as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger, a popular business daily reports. The measure is connected to a recently-adopted anti-terrorism law. “We are going to look into the main messengers — WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Skype both for iOS and Android,” Kommersant cites a letter from an employee of Con Certeza, a company dealing with the development of tools necessary for enforcing law in the telecommunications field. The employee wrote that the company aims to make…

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WhatsApp Calling Hits 100 Million Calls Daily

June 28, 2016 Staff Writer

A few years after WhatsApp Calling was introduced, it has hit the 100 million mark. Today, 100 million people use WhatsApp to make calls. A figure that is worrying telcos the world over. WhatsApp announced the great news in a blog post that read: For more than a year, people have used WhatsApp Calling to talk with friends and family around the world. It’s a great way to stay in touch, especially when connecting with people in other countries, or when messages alone won’t do. Today, more than 100 million…

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WhatsApp launches end-to-end encryption on messages for all its users

April 6, 2016

Instant messaging service WhatsApp in seeking to reassure its users about their privacy will be encrypting all messages sent via its app. WhatsApp’s announcement comes in the heels of one of the most high-profile clashes in the debate over encryption and data privacy between the government and a technology company. In February, the FBI asked Apple to unlock one of the San Bernardino shooters’ iPhones so authorities could access his data. Apple refused, stating a breach of privacy; the FBI took Apple to court but was eventually able to unlock…

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