10 Dec, 2024 09:17

Kiev readying Telegram crackdown – NYT

The popular app is a major source of news for Ukrainians, the outlet has reported

Kiev is considering a crackdown on Telegram on national security grounds, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing Ukrainian officials.

The app has become a prominent communication tool in Ukraine since the country banned the use of Russia-based social network VK in 2017, the report said.Today, roughly 70% of Ukrainians consider Telegram a main news source, the Times reported, citing a recent US-commissioned survey.

Unlike other apps, Telegram does not use a single news feed which can be manipulated to suppress or promote content, which the NYT suggested is a dubious feature.

“There is no algorithm determining what people see and little content moderation, enabling the rapid spread of lifesaving warnings but also exposing the app to exploitation,” it wrote.

Ukrainian officials have raised concerns over what they consider to be a dependance on a service that they have little leverage over. MP Yaroslav Yurchishin told the NYT: “It’s a problem for us.” The lawmaker has a record of criticizing Telegram, and has claimed that blocking it altogether would be a “logical” thing to do.

Yurchishin told the newspaper that hewants to pass a law requiring the app to add labels to posts “akin to those on cigarette packets,”warning readers that the information may be unreliable. Other officials want to force administrators of popular channelsto disclose their anonymity.

Two anonymous NYT sources describedsecret government discussions about putting more limits on Telegram. Ukrainian intelligence officials have branded the app a security threat, claiming that Russia uses it “for disinformation, cyberattacks, hacking, spreading malware, location tracking and adjusting missile strikes,”the report said. (Because they reserve those actions to themselves)

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov previously openly called Telegram a “threat to national security.” In September, the government ordered employees to limit the use of the app on their work phones.

Some officials have claimed that Telegram owner Pavel Durov may have secret allegiance to Russia, his country of birth, the NYT added.

Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018 to 2020, as Durov rejected demands to provide law enforcement with access to encrypted communications of suspected terrorists, claiming it was technically impossible. The UAE-based service has denied that it feeds user information to the Russian government, the NYT reported.

https://www.rt.com/russia/609117-ukraine-telegramp-clampdown-nyt/

10 Dec, 2024 13:39

Brazil’s Lula recovering from emergency brain surgery – doctors

Surgeons have drained bleeding in the president’s skull following an injury three weeks ago

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is recovering in an intensive care unit after emergency surgery to relieve pressure created by a brain hemorrhage, his doctors announced on Tuesday.

“The president is stable, talking, eating and will remain under observation over the next few days,” doctor Roberto Kalil said during a press conference.

Hours earlier, the president’s X account posted a hospital statement announcing his medical condition. Lula, 79 complained about having a headache and was taken to Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Brasilia on Monday evening to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure, it said.

The scan showed an intracranial hemorrhage, which doctors link to an incident Lula had on October 19, when he fell at home andbumped his head. He underwent an “uneventful” surgeryto drain the hematoma at the hospital’s branch in Sao Paulo and was remanded to an ICU for observation, the statement added. (Weird wording.)

During the press conference, Lula’s medical team said they expect the president to return to his duties early next week.

The October incident prevented Lula from taking part in several scheduled international events, including the summit of BRICS leaders in Russia. Brazil is one of the co-founders of the bloc of major non-Western economies.

The president has told the media thathe accidentally fell in the bathroom when cutting his nails and hit the back of his head. The injury required several stitches, he explained. Lula said he has been undergoing regular MRI exams to check for signs of bleeding and taking preventative medicine.

https://www.rt.com/news/609135-lula-emergency-surgery-bleeding/

(Hmmm…a couple of weeks ago, said he was planning to be President again, was there something planned?)