Media watchdog condemns arrest of 11 journalists by Turkish authorities

Journalists hold placards outside an Istanbul court in 2017, calling for the release of jailed colleagues. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned on Tuesday the arrest of 11 Kurdish journalists by Turkish authorities. (AP/File)

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Updated 26 October 2022

Arab News

October 26, 2022 19:45

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Media watchdog condemns arrest of 11 journalists by Turkish authorities

Raids are part of secret investigation that has been conducted across 6 cities
“Turkish authorities once again deprived several journalists of their freedoms under a court-ordered secret investigation,” said Gulnoza Said, of CPJ

Updated 26 October 2022

Arab News

October 26, 2022 19:45

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LONDON: Media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists condemned on Tuesday the arrest of 11 Kurdish journalists and called on Turkish authorities to stop all prosecution of them.
As part of a secret investigation by the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office, Turkish police raided six residences and one newsroom in the cities of Ankara, Diyarbakır, Istanbul, Mardin, Urfa and Van early Tuesday morning.
At least 11 journalists were held in police custody, several media sources reported.
“Turkish authorities once again deprived several journalists of their freedoms under a court-ordered secret investigation,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.
“These journalists behind bars are unaware of what they are accused of, just like the journalists who were arrested in Diyarbakır in June who remain detained and uninformed.
“Turkish authorities must immediately release the journalists in custody, return their confiscated property, and stop harassing the Kurdish media in Turkey with baseless charges that typically end up being related to their journalism,” she added.
Police stormed the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Ajansı’s newsroom in Ankara in the early hours of the morning when no staff was present. Authorities entered the workplace with a lock pick early and searched the office for six hours, according to MA.
During the raids, police arrested MA’s news editor Diren Yurtsever and MA reporters Emrullah Acar, Zemo Ağgöz, Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Deniz Nazlım, Ceylan Şahinli and Hakan Yalçın.
Multiple news outlets also reported the arrest of pro-Kurdish website Jin News journalists Öznur Değer and Habibe Erenare.
According to MA, the Criminal Court of Peace decided to restrict journalists from meeting with their lawyers for 24 hours. The reason for the decision was “the nature of the crime.”
As part of the investigation, the police also raided the house of another Jin News reporter Derya Ren in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır. According to her employer, she has been taken to the nearby Diyarbakır women’s prison.
In recent months, Turkish authorities have intensified their prosecution of pro-Kurdish media.
In June, a court in Diyarbakır ordered the detention of 15 journalists and a media staffer from pro-Kurdish publications as part of another secret probe. The journalists are still imprisoned without being indicted.

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British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices

Updated 23 March 2023

AFP

March 23, 2023 17:39

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British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices

Britain last week banned the Chinese-owned video app on government phones
The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices

Updated 23 March 2023

AFP

March 23, 2023 17:39

LONDON: Britain’s parliament will block TikTok on all devices on its network following a similar ban on government devices, becoming the latest Western institution to bar the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.
“Following the government’s decision to ban TikTok from government devices, the commissions of both the House of Commons and Lords have decided that TikTok will be blocked from all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network,” a parliament spokesperson said.
Britain last week banned the Chinese-owned video app on government phones.
“Cyber security is a top priority for parliament,” the spokesperson added.
The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices.
TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny due to fears that user data from the app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.
The British parliament’s ban was announced as TikTok’s chief executive
faced questions
from US lawmakers who are convinced the app should be barred for being a potential national security threat to the United States.

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Topics: UK Parliament TikTok

OpenAI tech gives Microsoft’s Bing a boost in search battle with Google

Updated 23 March 2023

Reuters

March 23, 2023 14:49

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OpenAI tech gives Microsoft’s Bing a boost in search battle with Google

Page visits on Bing have risen 15.8 percent since Microsoft unveiled its artificial intelligence-powered version
BingAI represents a rare opportunity for Microsoft to take on Google Search near-market dominance

Updated 23 March 2023

Reuters

March 23, 2023 14:49

LONDON: The integration of OpenAI’s technology into Microsoft-owned Bing has driven people to the little-used search engine and helped it compete better with market leader Google in page visits growth, according to data from analytics firm Similarweb.
Page visits on Bing have risen 15.8 percent since Microsoft Corp. unveiled its artificial intelligence-powered version on Feb. 7, compared with a near 1 percent decline for the Alphabet Inc-owned search engine, data till March 20 showed.

The figures are an early sign of the lead the Windows maker has taken in its fast-moving race with Google for generative AI dominance, thanks to the technology behind ChatGPT, the viral chatbot that many experts have called AI’s “iPhone moment.”
They also underscore a rare opportunity for Microsoft to make inroads in the over $120 billion search market, where Google has been the dominant player for decades with a share of more than 80 percent.
Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co, said that he expects Bing to gain market share in search over the next coming months, especially if Google continues to delay the integration of generative AI into its product.
While Bing AI has been available to most users around the world since February, Google began the public release of its chatbot Bard only on Tuesday.
“Bing has less than a tenth of Google’s market share, so even if it converts 1 percent or 2 percent of users it will be materially beneficial to Bing and Microsoft,” Luria said.
App downloads for Bing have also jumped eight times globally after AI integration, according to app research firm Data.ai. Downloads for the Google search app fell 2 percent in the same period, the data showed.

Still, some analysts said that Google, which in the early 2000s unseated then leader Yahoo to become the dominant search player, could overcome the early setbacks to maintain its lead.
“Google’s ranking algorithm can have a competitive edge over that of competitors,” Yongjei Jeong, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in South Korea said, referring to how Google’s algorithm helped it beat Yahoo Search.

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Topics: ChatGPT Microsoft Bing Google OpenAI

TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers

Updated 23 March 2023

Reuters

March 23, 2023 10:00

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TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers

CEO Shou Zi Chew said TikTok is at pivotal moment as he prepares to testify before Congress to address platform security concerns
US could demand TikTok's Chinese owners to divest their stakes or face a potential ban

Updated 23 March 2023

Reuters

March 23, 2023 10:00

WASHINGTON: TikTok’s chief executive faced tough questions on Thursday from lawmakers who are convinced the Chinese-owned short video app should be barred for being a “tool” of the Chinese Communist Party and because it carries content that can harm children’s mental health.

CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before Congress capped a week of actions by the Chinese company aimed at convincing Americans and their lawmakers that the app creates economic value and supports free speech. Instead, members of Congress accused the company of spying and deception, adding to calls to ban the app.

TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, was repeatedly hammered in the ongoing hearing where no lawmaker offered any support. Many, who often noted they themselves were parents, talked of a need to rein in the power held by the app over US children.
Overall, lawmakers called Chew’s answers on China and content aimed at children as evasive, with Democratic Representative Tony Cardenas saying Chew was a “good dancer with words” at the top of his comments about Chew’s answers throughout the testimony.
“TikTok could be designed to minimize the harm to kids, but a decision was made to aggressively addict kids in the name of profits,” said Representative Kathy Castor, a Democrat, at the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce committee hearing.
Chew responded to many pointed questions by saying the issues were “complex.” He did not announce any new efforts to safeguard privacy, falling back on explanations of ongoing efforts, which have failed to appease critics.
Republicans and Democrats also raised numerous concerns about its potential to threaten US national security by sharing its data with the Chinese government. TikTok has said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on what it calls rigorous data security efforts under the name “Project Texas” that currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees and is contracted with Oracle Corp. to store TikTok’s US user data. It also says it strictly screens content that could harm children.

PARENTS UNHAPPY

Representative Diana DeGette, a Democrat, said TikTok’s efforts to prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform were not working.
Chew said the company was investing in content moderation and artificial intelligence to limit such content.
DeGette said TikTok’s actions were not enough.
“You gave me only generalized statements that you’re investing, that you’re concerned, that you’re doing work. That’s not enough for me. That’s not enough for the parents of America,” DeGette said.

Shares of US social media companies rose on Thursday, with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. up 3.4 percent and Snap Inc. up 4.2 percent.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives on Twitter said, “TikTok CEO testimony so far we would characterize as a ‘mini disaster’ for this key moment for TikTok. TikTok is now poster child of the US/China tensions and lawmakers have a lot of q’s with not enough concrete answers.”

MANIPULATION?
Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, set the tone of the hearing by saying, “TikTok collects nearly every data point imaginable — from people’s location to what they type and copy, who they talk to, to biometric data and more.
“We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values — values for freedom, human rights and innovation,” she said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party “is able to use (TikTok) as a tool to manipulate America as a whole.”
Chew, who began his testimony speaking about his own Singaporean roots, said, “We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government.”
He added: “It is our commitment to this committee and all our users that we will keep (TikTok) free from any manipulation by any government.”
But the top Democrat on the panel, Representative Frank Pallone, argued with that statement, saying, “You’re gonna continue to gather data, you’re gonna continue to sell data ... and continue to be under the aegis of the Communist Party.”

TikTok last week said President Joe Biden’s administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban. When asked about divestiture, Chew said the issue was “not about the ownership.”
China’s Ministry of Commerce at a briefing on Thursday said that “forcing the sale of TikTok will seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world, including China, to invest in the United States. If the news is true, China will firmly oppose it.”
“The sale or divestiture of TikTok involves technology export, and administrative licensing procedures must be performed in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, and the Chinese government will make a decision in accordance with the law,” the ministry representative added.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner on Wednesday said two additional senators backed his bipartisan legislation with Republican John Thune to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok — raising the total to 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

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Topics: TikTok Bytedance US China Ban

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions

Updated 23 March 2023

AFP

March 23, 2023 05:21

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‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions

With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content

Updated 23 March 2023

AFP

March 23, 2023 05:21

HELSINKI, Finland: Marie Kondo may have admitted defeat, but a new generation of “cleanfluencers” is taking social media by storm, with millions watching them scour filthy homes and dole out cleaning hacks.
Digging through a mountain of trash, Auri Kananen uncovered a rotten piece of pizza on the floor of a Helsinki flat, with insects devouring it.
“I love cleaning, I love dirt,” declared the 30-year-old Finn, who has far more social media followers than Kondo, the Japanese tidying guru who has admitted embracing the messier side of life since having her third child.
Kananen has quickly become one of the world’s most successful “cleanfluencers,” traveling the globe hunting for “the dirtiest homes possible.”
“I remember when I had 19 followers. Even then it felt really cool to have 19 strangers wanting to see me clean,” said Kananen, or aurikatariina as she is known to her nine million followers on TikTok, with two million on YouTube.
In her upbeat videos, she dusts, scrubs and sorts, wearing her signature hot pink rubber gloves as zippy pop music plays in the background.
Her voiceovers often explain how the person she is helping ended up living in squalor.
“Usually people have some mental health problem or other tragedy that has happened in their lives,” Kananen told AFP.
The flat in Helsinki is the home of a depressed young man whose brother suffers from multiple sclerosis, she explained.
She can relate to people living in miserable conditions because she went through a period of depression herself, she said.
“I know how overwhelming it is,” she said.
But her experience has shown her that no situation is hopeless.
The comments sections of her videos are filled with people saying how her videos have helped them cope with their difficulties, praising her non-judgmental manner.
“I love how she is understanding the person in this situation and helping them instead of blaming them,” one commenter wrote.

With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content.
“I was watching videos and I thought, that’s what I do at home, I can just film myself doing it,” recalled 27-year-old Abbi, known as cleanwithabbi to her two million followers.
The English single mum films herself cleaning, doing the dishes and hoovering in her red brick home in Huyton near Liverpool.
Cleaning has always been an important part of her life as her youngest son Billy lives with sensory processing disorder.
“He really loves his routine and he does like things to be clean,” she said.
Now Abbi, who does not wish to reveal her full name, posts TikTok videos for a living. Brands sponsor her to use their products, and she earns between $720 and $1,200 a video.
Abbi — whose sons Jack and Billy are six and five — hits the record button on her phone and swiftly makes their beds, arranging the soft toys nicely.
“It relaxes me, it’s like therapy,” she told AFP.
“For me it’s like an escape from any worries I’ve got.”

Ann Russell, a 59-year-old full-time cleaner from the south of England, has a different approach.
Sitting on her sofa with her black dog Hollie, she answers a question from one of her TikTok followers, holding her phone up to her face.
To remove a felt tip mark from a wooden table without removing the varnish she recommends isopropyl alcohol: “Dip a cotton bud in it and just rub it gently.”
She said people need to be taught how to clean properly.
“If nobody told you, how on earth are you supposed to know?” she told AFP.
Russell makes between four and 12 videos every day, answering questions from her 2.3 million followers in a no-nonsense fashion.
“I turn the phone on, I talk to the phone, and that’s it. That’s about as good as it gets. I am not very proficient,” she said with a laugh.
The fact that cleaning “is satisfying” may be behind the videos’ success, Russell said.
Most of her and Abbi’s viewers are women and millennials, as well as people struggling to find the motivation to clean.
“Washing your socks, pairing them up and putting them in the drawer (gives) a sense of a good job well done,” she said.
“It makes people feel in control. And because they feel in control in their personal life, they feel that the outside world is a safer place.”

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Topics: TikTok cleanfluencers social media

Media has key role to play in promoting Palestinian cause, says leading Muslim official

Updated 22 March 2023

Arab News

March 22, 2023 22:50

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Media has key role to play in promoting Palestinian cause, says leading Muslim official

Hissein Brahim Taha, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said news organizations have a duty to ensure accurate coverage of Palestinian issues
He was speaking during a virtual workshop titled ‘Media Circulation of Terms of the Palestinian Cause,’ which addressed the role of the media in discourse on Palestinian issues

Updated 22 March 2023

Arab News

March 22, 2023 22:50

LONDON: The media has a critical role to play in helping to promote the Palestinian cause, according to Hissein Brahim Taha, the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

He was speaking during a virtual workshop titled “Media Circulation of Terms of the Palestinian Cause,” which was organized on Tuesday by the Union of OIC News Agencies to address the role of media in discourse on Palestinian issues. The participants included diplomats and representatives of news agencies and media groups.

In his opening speech, Taha said the media can play a vital role in raising awareness of Palestinian issues and mobilizing support for the Palestinian people. It is important to ensure that Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif remain at the forefront of the political and the media agendas, he added.

He said his organization is following, with great concern, the escalation of a media war waged by the Israeli occupation, whether in the form of systematic attacks against news organizations and their staff, or through the promotion of false narratives that deny the very existence of Palestinians and their rights.

On Tuesday, the OIC condemned remarks made by Israeli Minister of Finance Betzalel Smotrich in which he denied the existence of the Palestinian people, their history and their legitimate rights. The organization called on the international community “to reject and condemn these dangerous, racist allegations, which will undermine security and stability and fuel violence, tension and hatred.”

In Taha’s speech during the workshop, which was delivered on his behalf by Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs Samir Bakr Diab, he also called on the media to use accurate and balanced language when reporting on Palestinian issues, and to avoid rhetoric that might incite violence or hatred while offering a correct narrative. He urged news organizations to emphasize terms such as occupation, racism, ethnic cleansing, the Nakba, and colonial settlement.

During the workshop, the participants discussed a number of issues, including the importance of using unified terminology when reporting on the Palestinian cause and the need to avoid media bias.

They also called for the development of a reference guide for terminology related to discourse on Palestinian issues, and talked about how news agencies can confront misinformation and media manipulation through the use of terminology.

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Topics: Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha Palestine

Media watchdog condemns arrest of 11 journalists by Turkish authorities

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Media watchdog condemns arrest of 11 journalists by Turkish authorities

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