Tech

Reddit blackout: What is the reason?

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

After Reddit announced on May 31 that there would be a certain amount to be paid by the third-party application, the communities of the platform are protesting with a 48-hour blackout from June 12 (today) by going private, citing fears of going out of the business.

Going private means anyone outside the community will not be able to see their posts.

Responding to the announcement, the community outlined three demands focused on Reddit’s application programming interface (API), accessibility for blind people, and access to content that’s deemed not suitable for work (NSFW).

Reddit is one of the 20 most popular social platforms founded in 2005.

Thousands of subreddits are participating in the blackout protest, according to a Reddit post, ranging by size from 5,000 users to more than 40 million users.

Forums such as r/todayilearned, r/funny and r/gaming, with more than 30 million subscribers apiece, have signed up to join, while others with 1 million plus members, including r/iPhone and r/unexpected, went already private on the strike call.

Cumulatively, it makes more than 2.6 billion subscribers and more than 28,000 moderators.

According to a BBC report, the participating subreddits are going private and won’t be accessible during the blackout.

The changes will introduce huge charges for “premium access”, effectively killing off popular third-party Reddit apps such as Apollo, which lets users browse the site with a customisable interface.

Such apps would need to charge about $5 a user per month simply to pay the new fees to Reddit, Apollo’s sole developer, Christian Selig estimated.

But the Reddit conflict has another cause which is between the social network and AI companies such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI, which have used huge data from the service to train their systems.

“The Reddit corpus of data is really valuable,” Steve Huffman, founder and chief executive of Reddit, told the New York Times in April.

“But we don’t need to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free.”

In a group statement, the moderators of the thousands of subreddits that were joining the protest said: “On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed since many moderators aren’t able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app.”

The statement also added: “This isn’t something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.”

By uniting in this way, moderators hope to exert pressure on Reddit’s administration to reconsider the new charges and address their concerns.

The blackout signifies the importance of third-party apps in enhancing the Reddit user experience and providing additional features not found in the official app.

Latest News

Bitcoin makes its first breach of $94,000.

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

As news broke that Donald Trump’s social media company was in negotiations to acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt (BKKT.N), Bitcoin surged to a record high above $94,000, adding to optimism that the next Trump administration would be cryptocurrency-friendly.

This year, Bitcoin, the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency in the world, has more than doubled in value. Just before the close of the previous session, it reached a record high of $94,078 before closing at $92,104 in Asian hours on Wednesday.

According to the Financial Times, which cited two persons with knowledge, NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N) is supporting Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab, which runs Truth Social, in its pursuit of an all-stock purchase of Bakkt.

In addition to traders taking advantage of the first day of options trading on the Nasdaq over BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT.O), Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, stated that the Trump deal chatter had helped push bitcoin to a record high.

As traders hoped that President-elect Trump’s pledged support for digital assets would result in a less stringent regulatory framework and give bitcoin a boost after a sluggish few months, cryptocurrencies have surged since the U.S. election on November 5.

According to data and analytics aggregator CoinGecko, the global cryptocurrency market is now worth over $3 trillion, a new high, due to the growing excitement.

Australian online broker Pepperstone’s head of research, Chris Weston, stated that there is genuine underlying purchasing pressure on bitcoin and that “another kick higher should bring in a fresh chase from those who like to buy what’s strong.”

Latest News

The PTA discloses how many VPNs are registered in Pakistan.

Published

4 days ago

Farwa

Speaking at the Senate Standing Committee on IT meeting in Islamabad, which was presided over by Palwasha Khan, was the PTA chief.

The continuous regulation of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in Pakistan was the main topic of discussion. The committee called for the next meeting and voiced concerns about the Minister of State for IT’s absence for the third consecutive session.

“We have spent the last two years developing VPN legislation. Uninterrupted internet connection is guaranteed by registered VPNs without sacrificing privacy, according to the PTA chairman.

During the session, Senator Muhammad Humayun criticized the measures, saying, “Shutting down platforms like X (formerly Twitter) is jeopardizing the entire IT industry and impacting the livelihoods of over 2.5 million individuals in Pakistan.”

He opposed laws that would hurt independent contractors and small companies.

Although the PTA promised that registered VPNs would not experience internet outages, committee members wanted to know the exact legal foundation for these regulations. Senator Kamran Murtaza asked for documents that detailed the requirements for registration.

“If VPN services are abruptly halted, there will be a major backlash,” Senator Afnan Ullah said. While pointing out that Pakistan’s IT exports had increased by 20% in the previous year, he emphasised that the sector was still lagging behind India.

Concerns over the viability of the existing VPN whitelist method were voiced by the committee. While IT officials admitted that more than 1 million freelancers in Pakistan rely significantly on VPNs for their business, Senator Humayun pointed out that the laws should be more beneficial than harmful.

Latest News

Pakistan declares AI chatbots to be dangers to security.

Published

1 week ago

Farwa

The National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has released a security advisory concerning the increasing utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, emphasizing potential hazards related to the exposing of private data.

The recommendation recognizes that AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, have gained significant popularity for personal and professional duties owing to their capacity to improve productivity and engagement. Nonetheless, the CERT cautions that these AI systems frequently retain sensitive information, so posing a danger of data breaches.

Engagements with AI chatbots may encompass sensitive information, such as corporate strategy, personal dialogues, or confidential correspondence, which could be compromised if inadequately safeguarded. The warning emphasizes the necessity for a comprehensive cybersecurity framework to alleviate concerns associated with AI chatbot utilization.

Users are advised against inputting critical information into AI chatbots and are encouraged to deactivate any chat-saving functionalities to mitigate the danger of unwanted data access. The CERT additionally advises performing routine system security checks and employing monitoring tools to identify any anomalous behavior from AI chatbots.

Organizations are urged to adopt rigorous security protocols to safeguard against possible data breaches resulting from AI-driven interactions.