LONDON: Britain’s media regulator Ofcom said Russian broadcaster RT could lose its UK license if Theresa May’s government determines that Moscow was behind the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in England this month.
Ofcom has an ongoing duty to check that holders of broadcast licenses remain “fit and proper” to operate in Britain.
The regulator said it had written to ANO TV Novosti, the holder of RT’s UK broadcast licenses, to explain that, should Britain determine there was unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the UK, it would consider this relevant to the “fit and proper” test.
Ofcom said ANO TV Novosti was financed from the budget of the Russian Federation. Britain has given President Vladimir Putin until midnight on Tuesday to explain how a nerve agent developed by the former Soviet Union was used to strike down Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, in the city of Salisbury.
UK regulator says Russian TV channel RT could lose license over poisoning
UK regulator says Russian TV channel RT could lose license over poisoning
Telegram boss Pavel Durov describes French arrest as ‘misguided’
- Platform not an ‘anarchic paradise,’ Dubai-based entrepreneur says
- Durov is accused of allowing Telegram to be used for criminal activities
LONDON: Telegram boss Pavel Durov has publicly addressed what he calls the “misguided” charges brought against him by French authorities, defending his platform and leadership in his first comments since his arrest.
In a social media post on Thursday, Durov criticized the judicial inquiry that led to preliminary charges and accused him of allowing Telegram to be used for criminal activities.
Those charges came as part of an investigation into the platform’s alleged complicity in the publication of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.
Durov, who holds UAE, French and Russian citizenship, said the legal case should target the platform, not its CEO.
“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” he said.
“Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.”
While acknowledging that Telegram faced challenges due to its rapid growth, Durov said it was not “some sort of anarchic paradise” and that the company’s efforts to moderate harmful content included removing millions of posts daily and publishing transparency reports.
The platform was working with NGOs to address urgent moderation issues, which had become a “personal goal,” and more updates would be published soon, he said.
Durov was detained by French authorities at Le Bourget airport in Paris last month and questioned for four days.
He was released on €5 million ($5.55 million) bail but is required to report to a police station twice a week. The UAE government has engaged with French authorities on the matter.
Durov said that while in police detention he “was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram. This was surprising for several reasons.”
The platform had an official representative in the European Union who replied to EU requests and had a public email address, he said.
“Authorities had numerous ways to reach me for assistance.”
He continued: “As a French citizen, I was a frequent guest at the French consulate in Dubai. A while ago, when asked, I personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France.”
He acknowledged the challenge of creating “a consistent global process” and said that finding the right balance between privacy and security had been difficult due to varying legislation.
“We’ve been committed to engaging with regulators to find the right balance … All of that does not mean Telegram is perfect … But we’ve always been open to dialogue.”
With AP
Khaleej Times appoints Charles Yardley as new CEO
- Former Evening Standard boss to oversee all operations and company’s strategic direction
LONDON: Khaleej Times has announced the appointment of Charles Yardley as its new CEO.
Yardley joins the Dubai-based publication after serving four years as CEO of the London Evening Standard.
The Khaleej Times said in a press release that Yardley will oversee all operations and strategic direction of the business as it continues its transformation from a legacy print newspaper to a digital-first, multichannel editorial brand.
Established in 1978, Khaleej Times is the UAE’s longest-running English daily, with a circulation of 80,000 and 6.5 million monthly users.
UK watchdog accuses Google of anti-competitive behavior in digital ads business
- The Competition and Markets Authority said that the US company was giving preference to its own services to the detriment of online publishers and advertisers
LONDON: Google was slammed Friday by UK regulators who say it’s taking advantage of its dominance in digital advertising to thwart competition in Britain, ratcheting up pressure that the tech giant is facing on both sides of the Atlantic over its “ad tech” business practices.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said that the US company gives preference to its own services to the detriment of online publishers and advertisers in Britain’s 1.8 billion pound ($2.4 billion) digital ad market.
Google is a major player throughout the digital ad ecosystem, providing servers for publishers to manage ad space on their websites and apps, tools for advertisers and media agencies to buy display ads, and an exchange where both sides come together to buy and sell ads in real time at auctions.
“We’ve provisionally found that Google is using its market power to hinder competition when it comes to the ads people see on websites,” the watchdog’s interim executive director of enforcement, Juliette Enser, said in a press release.
The watchdog’s charges, known as a statement of objections, come two years after it opened its investigation. The European Union’s antitrust authorities have also been Google’s ad bidding services while and it has also been the focus of a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google that’s set to go to trial this month.
The CMA said that Google’s “anti-competitive” conduct is ongoing, but the company disputed the allegations Friday.
“Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector,” the company said in a prepared statement. “The core of this case rests on flawed interpretations of the ad tech sector. We disagree with the CMA’s view and we will respond accordingly.”
The UK watchdog alleged Google has been exploiting its dominance since 2015 to strengthen the market position of its own AdX ad exchange and protect it from rivals. AdX is where Google charges the highest fees in the ad tech system, taking about 20 percent of the amount from bids, the CMA said.
The regulator’s accusations include charges that Google manipulates advertiser bids so they have higher value when they go into AdX auctions then rival exchanges. AdX also gets to bid first in auctions run by Google’s publisher ad server, potentially shutting out rivals from the chance to bid, the watchdog said.
Google now has the chance to reply to the charges. The CMA said its considering what is needed to make sure Google ceases the anti-competitive practices. It has the power to impose a fine worth up to 10 percent of a company’s annual worldwide revenue.
Russia will impose restrictions on US media over RT row: Kremlin
- The US indicted two RT employees and slapped its top editors with sanctions on Wednesday
- They were accused of trying to influence the upcoming 2024 US presidential election
MOSCOW: Russia will impose domestic restrictions on US media outlets in response to Washington’s sanctions on Russian state-funded news network RT, the Kremlin said on Friday.
The United States indicted two RT employees and slapped its top editors with sanctions on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to influence the upcoming 2024 US presidential election.
“A symmetrical response is not possible. There is no state news agency in the US, and there is no state TV channel in the US,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state RIA Novosti news agency.
“But there will certainly be measures here that will restrict their media disseminating their information,” he said.
Peskov also justified Moscow’s unprecedented censorship during its Ukraine offensive, in a rare admission of Russia’s tight grip on information.
“In the state of war that we are in, restrictions are justified and censorship is also justified,” he said in separate remarks to the TASS news agency.
Peskov did not say what restrictions Russia would introduce against US media.
Most US media outlets downsized or pulled their staff from Russia when Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive amid laws targeting independent reporting on the conflict.
The 10 individuals and two entities sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday included RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and her deputy Elizaveta Brodskaia.
US officials have long warned of efforts by foreign powers to meddle in the upcoming US election, accusing Moscow of seeking to influence US ballots dating back to the 2016 contest between former President Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Top regional advertising group ramps up staff training programs
- Focus on skills, says Ricarda Ruecker of Middle East Communications Network
- Firm’s academy has begun collaboration with Harvard Business School Online
DUBAI: Regional advertising group Middle East Communications Network is ramping up efforts to train staff with a new platform, collaborations and programs.
The firm’s MCN Academy is “designed to advance professional and personal progression at all career stages for our people,” said Ricarda Ruecker, chief talent officer of MCN Middle East, North Africa and Turkiye, during a recent interview.
In the past, the academy has collaborated with partners including the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.
In addition, it has held an MCN AI Week, which had experts provide workshops, training and talks for all employees, she told Arab News.
Although the academy has existed for nearly 10 years, the network has “relaunched and revamped the platform with upgraded, tailored programs and new partnerships,” she added.
In June, MCN Academy announced a dedicated Harvard Business School Online learning collaboration including two programs for mid-management and executive leader talents.
The two-month-long programs focus on areas including leadership in change and innovation and “designing and delivering unique value to teams and clients,” Ruecker said.
The partnership will be continued in 2025 with “further strategic programs” as well as other “high-profile collaborations,” she added.
The academy will focus on three areas in the next two years: leadership development at all career stages, generative AI, and emotionally intelligent and inclusive leadership.
Ruecker said that these three “strategically important areas” are equally relevant to all 15 MCN agencies. This includes creative agencies FP7 McCann and MullenLowe MENA, media agencies UM and Initiative, and public relations agencies including Weber Shandwick.
Moreover, MCN Academy’s focus on these areas will complement the individual agencies’ efforts in “providing upskilling and knowledge in functional areas and technical skills,” she added.
Ruecker explained that development of talent at all career stages is crucial for the network, whether it is training the next generation of talent or upskilling its top leaders.
Referring to the third area, she said: “We believe that behavioral skills are critical in successfully leading high-performing teams and bringing out the best and unique skillsets of our teams.”
For MCN, it is important to not only form large-scale partnerships at the parent company level but also “ensure our people in market feel empowered and well equipped to integrate AI tools into day-to-day projects,” Ruecker explained.
The fast-paced nature of the AI sector has driven the need for MCN Academy to focus on it in the past and continue to do so as part of its longer-term program.
Critics often question the threat AI may pose to human talent, but Ruecker said that AI should be “the partner, enhancer and facilitator for our industry”.
“With the correct guardrails and usage, it opens the door to not only change the way we work, collaborate and create but also shape the future of our workforce with new skills and opportunities for our talent,” she added.
Ruecker’s views on generative AI are seemingly supported by data of its adoption as a crucial investment for businesses. According to a 2024 McKinsey report, 65 percent of respondents said that their organizations are regularly using generative AI.
The same report found that AI adoption has seen a massive surge this year jumping to 72 percent compared to 55 percent last year.
