Silicon UK Pulse: Your Tech News Update: Episode 22

Welcome to Silicon UK Pulse

This is your weekly round-up of the top tech news stories.

Every Friday, Silicon UK surveys the week’s tech news.

Stay up-to-date with what’s happening in your industry or sector.

I’m James Marriott with all the big technology news from the last week.

 
Welcome to Silicon UK Pulse

I’m James Marriott with all the big technology news from the last week.

Well of course, the big international news story of the last few days has been the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The role of technology, specifically social media, has come under intense scrutiny.

It was reported in the week that some schools have told Jewish parents to delete social media apps from their children’s phones.

That’s in response to distressing and explicit content, which has been widely shared on some sites this week.

TikTok and Instagram were singled out over it.

Meanwhile – the EU issued warnings to some platforms this week.

Meta was given 24 hours to take action over the spread of ‘disinformation’ over the conflict.

The EU says posts were being shared with doctored images and mislabelled videos.

Earlier in the week, X – formerly Twitter, of course – was also given a warning about the same sort of thing.

The EU wrote to Elon Musk, stating ‘indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation.’

X is usually in the tech news for various reasons – and this week is no exception.

It introduced a change announced a few weeks ago, changing how news headlines appear in posts.

Previously you’d see the full headline – now you just get a graphic or photo with the site’s main domain in the corner.

Musk said back in August that he’d come up with the plan himself to ‘improve aesthetics.’

Another X change this week too.

Users can now block unverified accounts from replying to their posts.

This of course, is all linked back to the old Twitter Blue – where people pay a monthly fee for a blue tick and other perks.

For a while, people have been able to block replies to posts entirely, but this new move means they can allow replies only from people who subscribe to the premium service and therefore have the blue checkmark.

Staff at an Amazon warehouse in the UK are to walk out next month – after receiving a pay rise from the e-commerce giant.

The GMB trade union said more than 1,000 workers at the Coventry factory will strike for four days in November, including on the typically busy Black Friday shopping day.

That’s despite Amazon announcing that minimum starting pay for frontline operations employees would rise to between £11.80 and £12.50 per hour, depending on location – less than the £15 unions are asking for.

Controversy this week over Snapchat’s My AI feature.

If you use the app, you’ll know all about this – it pins itself to the top of your conversation list.

Well, the UK data protection regulator has warned it may pose a risk to users, especially children aged 13 to 17.

The Information Commissioner’s Office or ICO’s preliminary investigation found the app had failed to adequately identify the risks of the feature, resulting in a preliminary enforcement notice.

The feature could get banned if it doesn’t carry out the right risk assessments.

The UK’s moved a step closer to an official antitrust investigation of the world’s two leading cloud service providers.

Ofcom confirmed it had concerns about Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance.

Now it’s asked the Competition and Markets Authority or CMA to investigate.

Earlier – Amazon Web Services contacted Silicon UK to say that it “disagrees with Ofcom’s findings and believes they are based on a fundamental misconception of how the IT sector functions, and the services and discounts on offer.”

A group of MPs and campaigners has called for a ban on using facial recognition surveillance.

Several organisations, including Amnesty and Big Brother Watch, joined politicians from across all the main parties to raise concerns about the tech. 

They’re worried about the impact on human rights, the potential for discrimination and what they describe as “the lack of a democratic mandate.”

It follows an announcement that the Home Office could allow police access to passport photos to catch criminals.

The trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has gotten underway as expected in the US.

He’s accused of fraud and money laundering – but denies all charges against him.

FTX was one of the biggest platforms in the world where crypto investors could buy and trade digital currencies.

It went bankrupt last November, with more than $8bn reported missing.

There’s a new scam doing the rounds – this time, a fake Wilko website.

South Yorkshire police say it had multiple reports of people losing cash to the website, which pretends to be that of the troubled retailer.

Each victim lost up to £200.

A police spokesperson advised online shoppers to be extra careful.

And there’ve been reports this week that Apple’s new Vision Pro headset is causing neck strain in testing because of how big and heavy it is.

The gadget was announced in June and is due to go on sale next year with a hefty $3,499 price tag.

But Apple is now apparently developing a lighter version of the headset.

That’s the latest from Silicon UK Pulse – for more tech news and features, head to silicon.co.uk