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France has banned not only TikTok from government phones, but Facebook and Twitter, too. Could this be a tipping point for big tech? Plus, AI-generated pictures of the pope signal a new type of viral image
Government workers in the UK, US, Canada and European Union (the list will have grown by the time you read this) are banned from installing TikTok on their phones.
On Friday, France joined that list, preventing its civil servants from installing TikTok – and everything else. From the government’s press release ():
After an analysis of the issues, in particular security, the government has decided to ban the downloading and installation of recreational applications on professional telephones provided to public officials from now on.
Recreational applications do not have sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection to be deployed on government equipment. This ban applies immediately and uniformly. Exemptions may be granted on an exceptional basis …

Eastwind Books of Berkeley, an Asian American bookshop that opened in 1982, is set to shut its doors permanently April 30, as first reported by Berkeleyside. The store carries an extensive collection ...

Ng, a U.S. citizen for 35 years who is well-known in L.A. philanthropic circles for his support of the arts and Asian American initiatives, called the allegations baseless. “It was disheartening to ...

Victoria’s opposition accuses premier of snubbing education leaders while union says absence of journalists on China trip is ‘disturbing’
Daniel Andrews has begun a series of meetings in Beijing as part of a four-day trip to China amid criticism from home over the exclusion of Australian journalists and education leaders, and the limited information provided about the visit.
The Victorian opposition has accused the premier of snubbing industry leaders from the higher education sector by not having them join him on a visit designed to entice Chinese students back to the state.

Ma Ying-jeou’s ‘we are all Chinese’ message starkly at odds with vision of Tsai Ing-wen, who seeks support from Washington
Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou stood in front of the Sun Yat-sen mausoleum in Nanjing on Tuesday and called for people on both sides of the Taiwan strait to work together for peace, because, he said: “We are all Chinese.”
The 73-year-old is in China on a historic visit, the first by a current or former Taiwanese president since 1949. In the decades since, tensions have increased as Beijing vows to annex Taiwan under what it calls “reunification”. Taiwan’s government and people have become , and few identify themselves as Chinese.

Democracies should be maturely debating online safety and data, not making kneejerk responses that risk an idea we all cherish
TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, discovered during his five-hour what Huawei could have told him all along: being owned by a Chinese company is bad for business.
In fact, is a lot like like Huawei and 5G all over again. The security and privacy risks are plausible, but largely without evidence. What this is really about is trust, trade and geopolitics.
Emily Taylor is an associate fellow in the International Security Programme, Chatham House, CEO of Oxford Information Labs and editor of the Journal of Cyber Policy

Ng, a U.S. citizen for 35 years who is well-known in L.A. philanthropic circles for his support of the arts and Asian American initiatives, called the allegations baseless. “It was disheartening to ...

Me, with my herbal tea and cat-fur-covered Patagonia backpack, my wallet full of Trader Joe’s receipts. Me, an Asian American woman in her 30s who hates roller coasters, who’s never finished an entire ...

Eastwind Books of Berkeley, an Asian American bookshop that opened in 1982, is set to shut its doors permanently April 30, as first reported by Berkeleyside. The store carries an extensive collection ...

Last week, lawmakers from both parties sought to tie TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew personally to the Chinese Communist Party. Despite his pledge to keep safe the data of American users and shield TikTok ...

Head of Norwegian manufacturer Nammo says plans to increase production at its largest factory are affected by demands of nearby data centre
One of Europe’s largest ammunition manufacturers has said efforts to meet surging demand from the war in Ukraine have been stymied by a new TikTok data centre that is monopolising electricity in the region close to its biggest factory.
The chief executive of Nammo, which is co-owned by the Norwegian government, said a planned expansion of its largest factory in central Norway hit a roadblock due to a lack of surplus energy, with the construction of TikTok’s new data centre using up electricity in the local area.

This summer, Hsu is slated to appear in comedy film Joy Ride, directed by Crazy Rich Asians' screenwriter Adele Lim, and in American Born Chinese, a new Disney+ series, alongside Michelle Yeoh The ...