Indian startups are deferring IPO plans, cutting investment round sizes, and accepting unfavorable bridge rounds with compressed valuations amid the pandemic — Many consumer businesses may also have to rejig their business models to stay relevant, investors and founders told ET.
Facebook's Jio investment may pave the way for WhatsApp to connect with Indian businesses via JioMart, Jio's small-business marketplace, for mobile shopping — It was the largest bet by the social network on the developing market, where millions of people have gone online in recent years.
UK-based Blue Prism, a robotic process automation company that helps businesses automate HR, personnel, and more, raises €100M at a valuation of ~€1B — In a sign of the robotic process automation market's continued strength in the face of an economic downturn …
Sources say Palantir's data suites are a primary contributor to HHS Protect Now, a US government tool to track the spread of coronavirus in use since April 10 — Palantir, a longtime partner of intelligence agencies, co-founded by major Trump backer Peter Thiel, is helping build “the single source for [coronavirus] testing data.”
Vercel, formerly known as ZEIT, raises $21M Series A led by Accel and CRV for its front-end developer suite built on open source Next.js — Vercel's $21 million in funding could go a long way toward improving front-end development. — Cloud companies have thrived by making complicated …
Google says it is gradually rolling out a “Hey Google” feature that lets users adjust the listening sensitivity of Assistant devices in detecting the command — No, Google, I wasn't talking to you — Google is starting to “roll out gradually” a feature allowing …
Facebook has agreed to block access to certain anti-government content to users in Vietnam, following months of having its services throttled there, reportedly by state-owned telecoms.
Reuters, citing sources within the company, reported that Vietnam requested earlier in the year that Facebook restrict a variety of content it deemed illegal, such as posts critical of the government. When the social network balked, the country used its control over local internet providers to slow Facebook traffic to unusable levels.
An explanation at the time that the slowdown was owing to maintenance of undersea cables likely did not convince many, since it was specific to Facebook (and related properties Messenger and Instagram).
All things being equal, Facebook has shown in the past that it would prefer to keep discourse open. But all things are not equal and in this case millions of users were unable to access its services — and consequently, it must be said, unable to be advertised to.
The slowdown lasted some 7 weeks, from mid-February to early April, when Facebook conceded to the government’s demands.
One Reuters source said that “once we committed to restricting more content… the servers were turned back online by the telecommunications operators.”
Facebook offered the following statement confirming general, though not specific, aspects of the story reported by Reuters:
The Vietnamese government has instructed us to restrict access to content which it has deemed to be illegal in Vietnam. We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and work hard to protect and defend this important civil liberty around the world. However, we have taken this action to ensure our services remain available and usable for millions of people in Vietnam, who rely on them every day.
Facebook is no stranger to government requests both to restrict and to hand over data. Although the company inspects these requests and sometimes challenges them, it’s Facebook’s stated policy to comply with local law — even if that means (as it often does) complicity with government censorship practices.
The justification usually offered (as here) is that people in a country with such restrictions are better served with an incomplete set of Facebook’s communications tools rather than none at all.
Facebook invests $5.7B in Jio for a 9.99% stake, making it the largest minority shareholder in the subsidiary of India's most valued firm, Reliance Industries — Facebook has enjoyed unparalleled reach in India for more than a decade. But as China's fast-growing ByteDance emerges …
Enlarge / Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza is flanked by Donald Trump and Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin on April 2, 2020. (credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Almost 8,000 business owners who applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration may have had their personal information exposed to other applicants, the SBA admitted on Tuesday.
The breach relates to a long-standing SBA program called Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). It has traditionally been used to aid owners whose businesses are disrupted by hurricanes, tornadoes, or other disasters. It was recently expanded by Congress in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. In addition to loans, the law authorized grants of up to $10,000 that don't need to be paid back.
The EIDL program is separate from the larger Paycheck Protection Program that was also part of the CARES Act. The SBA says that PPP applicants were not affected by the breach.
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New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...
