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‘Letter to America’: TikTok breaks silence on viral Osama bin Laden videos

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  • TikTok to prohibit videos promoting OBL’s ‘Letter to America’.
  • US lawmakers demand ban on Chinese app.
  • The Guardian removes article from website.

TikTok will prohibit content that promotes Osama bin Laden’s 2002 letter detailing the former al Qaeda leader’s justifications for attacks against Americans, the short-form video app said on Thursday.

Discussions of the 20-year-old letter have spread on the platform this week in the context of debate over the Israel-Hamas war, with some users in the West praising its contents.

The letter, which was written after al Qaeda’s attack on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people, criticised US support for Israel, accused Americans of financing “oppression” of Palestinians, and contained antisemitic comments.

Bin Laden was killed in 2011 in Pakistan by a US military special operations unit.

“Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism,” TikTok said in a statement, adding that reports that it was “trending” on the platform were inaccurate.

A search for “Letter to America” on TikTok surfaced no results on Thursday, with a notice that said the phrase may be associated with “content that violates our guidelines.”

Some US lawmakers have called for a ban of the Chinese-owned app and had renewed their criticisms before Thursday’s announcement.

Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer said on Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, that TikTok was “pushing pro-terrorist propaganda to influence Americans.”

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement on Thursday: “There is never a justification for spreading the repugnant, evil, and antisemitic lies that the leader of al Qaeda issued just after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history.”

On Wednesday, The Guardian removed the full text of bin Laden’s letter, which it had published in 2002. The news outlet said on its website that the letter was being shared on social media without full context, and that it would instead direct readers to the news article that originally reported on the letter.

TikTok said previously its recommendation algorithm does not push certain content to users, and that the company has removed hundreds of thousands of videos since Oct. 7 for violating policies against misinformation and promotion of violence.

It is difficult to gain a full understanding of how prevalent certain content is on TikTok, partly because external researchers have limited access to its data, said Renee DiResta, a research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory. 

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Google Makes The Decision To Boost Investments And Back The Government’s Youth Skills Training Initiative

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 Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was visited in Islamabad by a four-person Google delegation led by Mr. Scott Beaumont, President of the APAC area.

Pakistan’s digital economy is about to undergo a revolutionary change, according to the prime minister, who greeted the team. Speaking on the government’s intentions to reach the goal of US$ 25 billion in exports over the next five years, the prime minister revealed that funding will be used for youth training, IT infrastructure upgrades, and regulatory environment enhancements. Pakistan’s economy is being fully digitalised, he remarked. In his attempts, he stressed the need of working together with a tech behemoth like Google.

The Prime Minister praised Google for pioneering projects that have dramatically enhanced the lives of thousands of Pakistanis in recent years, as well as for its involvement in propelling the country’s digital economy closer to reality. Noting with satisfaction that Google has helped Pakistani young land about a million jobs in 2023 alone, the Prime Minister emphasised that this is a testament to both Google’s dedication to upskilling and empowering Pakistan’s youth and Pakistan’s potential in the digital marketplace.

Informing the Prime Minister of its future involvement intentions, Mr. Scott stated that Google has made the decision to support the government’s youth skill-training initiatives and to expand its investment footprint in Pakistan. He went on to say that for a values-driven digital firm like Google, the growing economy and the sizeable youth population are crucial for optimising the economic benefits of technology. He restated that Pakistan’s IT industry will undergo a revolution when five lac Chromebooks are produced there by 2026.

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Google launches the ability to install multiple apps at once through the Play Store.

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Android users now have the ability to install or update many apps or games at once in the Play Store thanks to a feature introduced by tech giant Google.

Even if Android users downloaded or tried to update several apps or games at once, the prior capability would only process one app at a time.

In the Google Play Store, users can now download or manually update up to three apps or games at once, according to a GSMArena report.

with order to assist Android users with updating or installing multiple apps at once, Google is reportedly already starting to roll out the new feature in a few select locations, including India.

The feature will process three apps at once while sending the fourth to pending when customers install or manually update programs.

When configuring new phones or recovering from a backup, this feature is said to save a tonne of time.

It should be mentioned that Apple has long since permitted customers to download and install up to three iOS apps at once from the App Store.

According to GSMArena, the function is really available on a few cell phones in some regions, even though Google has not formally confirmed when it will appear or whether it will work with any particular handset.

Google started releasing a new AI-powered feature for Android phones a few weeks ago that locks users out of their data to prevent hackers from accessing it.

According to a Forbes story, cellphones running Android 10 or later will soon be able to use the function, which incorporates artificial intelligence.

The anti-theft feature known as “theft detection lock” is currently being rolled out to certain users, according to Mishaal Rahman, who frequently updates his followers on the most recent OS changes on X.

A restricted group of customers who registered for the beta program in Brazil are now receiving theft detection locks, according to Rahman’s post.

Rehman claims that Google Play Services will be used to provide the AI-powered feature to all Android 10 devices.

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Encouraging the IT Sector: Federal Government To Create Nationwide Network Of IT Parks

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Modern Information Technology Parks will be dotted around the nation by a network established by the federal government.

The goal of the program is to give young professionals a springboard to carry out their creative ideas and support the economy of the country.

The Ministry of Information Technology claims that these parks will increase exports and the IT industry while creating jobs for IT specialists.

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