Latest Politics News

Amazon Web Services has suspended social media network Parler from its hosting services citing posts on the platform that appeared to incite violence.

Parler was founded in 2018 and markets itself as a “free speech” social network. Its popularity has surged in recent months among amid allegations that platforms like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are stifling debate by censoring certain topics and opinions.

Scaled back plans for faster broadband speeds across the UK will come as “a blow to rural communities”, internet providers have said following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spending Review.

Full-fibre and gigabit-capable broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025 was a key Conservative manifesto pledge in the 2019 general election, which brought the goal forward by eight years.

A Bill that would give the Government greater powers to shut out high-risk vendors from the UK’s telecoms infrastructure will be laid before Parliament on Tuesday.

The Telecommunications (Security) Bill would create national security powers capable of imposing controls on when – if at all – a telecoms firm could use material supplied by companies such as Huawei.

Microsoft has announced legal action seeking to disrupt a major cybercrime digital network that uses more than a million zombie computers to loot bank accounts and spread ransomware, which experts consider a major threat to the US presidential election.

A strategy to make the UK a “global champion of data” has been set out, putting it at the heart of the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Data Strategy includes five priority missions the Government must take to capitalise on the opportunities data offers, including unlocking the value of data across the economy, securing a pro-growth and trusted data regime, transforming government’s use of data to drive efficiency and improve public services, ensuring the security and resilience of the infrastructure on which data relies and championing the international flow of data.

The US Department of Defence (DoD) has reaffirmed its decision to award Microsoft with a major military cloud contract in the latest blow to Amazon’s attempts to overturn the award.

In March, the DoD said it would launch a reevaluation of its decision to address Amazon’s claims the JEDI award was based on politics instead of the merit of the respective cloud provider’s proposals.

Chinese tech giant Huawei’s equipment will be stripped from the UK’s 5G network by 2027, adding millions to the cost and delaying the delivery of the high-speed mobile network.

The National Security Council took the decision – which will increase tensions with Beijing – after the impact of US sanctions raised concerns about Huawei’s continued involvement in the UK’s 5G infrastructure.

TikTok will stop operations in Hong Kong in the wake of a sweeping national security law in the former British colony.

The short-form video app’s planned departure from Hong Kong comes amid concerns from various social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter over the possibility of providing user data to Hong Kong authorities.

The type of video streaming or advertising platform used by a website could be used as a marker to expose those producing fake news, researchers claim.

While website owners host the pages, the videos and advertising end is usually served by a third party.

Boris Johnson approved the Chinese company having a limited stake in the UK’s 5G development in January. Chinese hi-tech company Huawei has defended its role in the development of 5G in the UK. The move comes after a Tory backbench attack on the company’s involvement in the roll-out of the advanced system in the UK.

Companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed £500 million, with more than £25 million of the revenues from UK users, will fall under the digital services tax. It is expected to bring in an extra £65 million this year.With firms across the Atlantic including Google, Amazon and Facebook set to be the main targets of the tax, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has previously warned the US could retaliate with tariffs on UK-made cars. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he said President Donald Trump would raise the issue personally with Boris Johnson.

Amazon wants to depose US President Donald Trump over the tech company’s losing bid for a 10 billion dollar (£7.7 billion) military contract. The Pentagon awarded the cloud computing project to Microsoft in October. Amazon later sued, arguing that Mr Trump’s interference and bias against the company harmed Amazon’s chances of winning the contract.