Turkish antitrust authority ends Meta probe over Threads data-sharing

Turkey's competition board said on Thursday that it has decided to terminate an investigation of Meta Platforms regarding data-sharing between social media platforms Threads and Instagram.

Commitments presented by the company to address competition concerns are sufficient and hence the authority decided to end the investigation, it said in a statement.

As part of the commitments Meta sent to the authority, both existing Threads users and new users will be able to use the platform by opening a Threads profile without requiring an Instagram account, when the app is reinstated for access in Turkey.

Meta told the antitrust authority that unless the users in question choose to merge their accounts, their data obtained through Threads will not be merged with Instagram.

The board launched the investigation into Meta last year over a possible violation of competition law related to the linking of its social media platforms.

In April, Meta temporarily shut down its Threads social media platform in Turkey to comply with an interim order from the Turkish competition authority.

South Korea’s defence minister resigns over martial law crisis

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol has accepted the resignation of the country’s Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and nominated the country’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Choi Byung-hyuk, as the new defence minister.

The president’s office confirmed the nomination of Choi, a former army general, as the new defence minister on Thursday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.

Yonhap said that Kim had proposed to President Yoon that he declare martial law on Tuesday night, a move that was quickly cut short after South Korea’s parliament voted for Yoon to reverse his decision.

Yoon’s nomination of a new defence minister is his first official act since revoking the declaration of martial law in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The reversal sent hundreds of South Korean troops, who had briefly stormed into the National Assembly compound in Seoul, back to their barracks.

Amid public outrage at the attempt to impose martial law and condemnation of Yoon by opposition parties, South Korea’s parliament introduced a motion early on Thursday to impeach the president.

South Korean police also announced on Thursday they were investigating Yoon for “insurrection” – a crime that transcends presidential immunity and can carry the death penalty – after the opposition filed a complaint against him and other key figures involved.

Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, told lawmakers that “the case has been assigned,” footage showed.

The crisis in South Korea has unfolded as a mutual defence treaty between North Korea and Russia comes into force.

The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which was signed in June between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, came into force on Wednesday, North Korean state media said on Thursday.

The agreement includes a mutual defence pact for immediate military assistance if either Russia or North Korea faces armed aggression.

Chung Jin-suk, Yoon’s chief of staff, said Choi was a fitting choice for the role of new defence minister as he was a retired four-star army general who had served as deputy commander of the South Korea-United States Combined Forces Command from 2019 to 2020.

He described Choi as being a defence minister who would “fulfil the military’s core responsibilities, including maintaining a firm readiness posture based on the robust South Korea-US alliance”, Yonhap reports.

Amnesty International accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza

Amnesty International has released a damning report accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The report, titled ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza“ details the devastation and violence inflicted upon Palestinians during Israel’s military operations following Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

The report alleges that Israel is engaging in acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, specifically aiming to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza. Amnesty International cites killings, causing serious bodily harm, and creating conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction as evidence of Israeli actions constituting genocide.

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, stated that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians constitutes crimes against humanity and demonstrates intent to physically destroy them. Callamard emphasized that these findings should alert the international community to the reality of genocide and necessitate immediate action to prevent further atrocities.

Callamard further warned that countries supplying Israel with weapons are complicit in violating their responsibilities to prevent genocide and risk involvement in these crimes. She appealed to influential nations, including the United States, Germany, and members of the European Union, to swiftly act to halt Israel’s operations in Gaza.

Israel maintains that its military actions are legitimate and aimed at eliminating Hamas. However, the report contends that the intent to commit genocide against Palestinians is evident, separate from stated military objectives. The report’s findings are expected to further inflame the already tense international debate surrounding the conflict.

South Korean opposition submits impeachment bill for President Yoon

Opposition parties have submitted an impeachment motion against South Korea‘s President Yoon Suk-yeol over his declaration of martial law.

Six opposition parties lodged the bill in parliament on Wednesday, local media reported. The opposition had earlier threatened to launch the process should Yoon not immediately step down over the botched order, which prompted chaotic scenes overnight as lawmakers tussled with troops in order to enter the National Assembly to vote it down.

“Yoon’s declaration of martial law is a clear violation of the constitution,” the Democratic Party, the main opposition that holds a parliamentary majority, said in a resolution issued following an emergency meeting at the National Assembly, according to the state-funded Yonhap News Agency.

The resolution described Yoon’s actions as a “serious act of rebellion” and “a perfect reason for impeachment”.

The opposition parties are understood to be planning to report the motion to a parliamentary plenary session on Thursday and to put it up for a vote on Friday or Saturday.

Under South Korea’s constitution, impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the 300-member National Assembly.

The Democratic Party currently holds 170 seats in parliament, meaning it would need some members of Yoon’s governing People Power Party to support the bid to remove the president.

The leader of the ruling party on Wednesday slammed the incident and called for those involved to be held accountable.

“The president must directly and thoroughly explain this tragic situation,” Han Dong-hoon told reporters in a televised broadcast.

If the National Assembly does agree to impeach, Yoon will be temporarily stripped of his presidential authority while the constitutional court considers his fate.

Several senior officials have offered their resignations in the wake of the bungled events, including Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk, National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik, and Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Sung Tae-yoon.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo pledged to continue serving the people “until the last moment” and asked the cabinet to fulfil its responsibility together with the public officials of all ministries.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the country’s largest labour organisations, had called for a strike until the president’s resignation.

Yoon announced he would lift the martial law order hours after he announced it on Tuesday.

He had said he was forced to issue the order “to defend the free Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces” and accused the political opposition of “paralysing” his government and “undermining” the constitutional order.

Lawmakers then tussled with soldiers in order to enter parliament where they passed a unanimous, legally binding motion forcing Yoon to reverse the order.

A Democratic Party leader, Park Chan-dae, warned soon after the martial law order ended that Yoon “cannot avoid the charge of treason”.

WhatsApp may soon allow users to share media files directly to other apps

WhatsApp, a widely used messaging platform that also shares files and documents, is reportedly preparing to introduce a new feature that will enable users to share messages, photos, videos, and GIFs directly with other applications, eliminating the need to save or re-upload media files.

As indicated by a WABetaInfo report, this enhanced sharing functionalities within WhatsApp channels, the forthcoming beta update is anticipated to expand these capabilities, facilitating a more integrated approach to content management across different applications.

The Meta-owned messaging service is developing a bottom-bar interface designed to streamline the process of forwarding content to other applications, including Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, and others.

This enhancement will also simplify the posting of stories on Meta platforms, allowing users to share photos and videos from their WhatsApp conversations directly into their stories.

Reports suggest that the update will feature a “More” option, indicating that users will have the ability to share media with platforms beyond those owned by Meta. To enhance the visibility of WhatsApp channels, the application will generate a special link for updates shared from a channel, enabling users to disseminate channel information to a wider audience.

It is important to note that this feature is currently under development and may soon be available in the beta version. However, the timeline for its full development, testing, and public release remains uncertain.

If the information is accurate, the new cross-platform sharing feature is expected to provide significant advantages to users by removing the necessity to manually download media files for distribution across various platforms.

No grounds for Russia-Ukraine talks at present: Kremlin spokesman

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated in an interview, " Indeed, the emirate (Qatar) is playing a very active role in mediation efforts on a wide range of issues, and is doing so in a very effective manner. Apart from that, our bilateral relations with Qatar are developing very well. And we are grateful to all countries, including Qatar, for their good will".

"There are no grounds for negotiations at this point. A number of countries have already offered to host such talks, including Qatar", Dmitry Peskov told Izvestia newspaper.

On October 27 and 28, the embassy of Qatar in Moscow hosted two ceremonies to hand over children to their relatives in Russia and Ukraine. At present, Qatar is in talks about expanding its role of a mediator, including on the issue of prisoner swaps.

Other countries that mediate efforts to resolve humanitarian issues between Russia and Ukraine are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Meta says gen AI had muted impact on global elections this year

Despite widespread concern that generative AI could interfere with major elections around the globe this year, the technology had limited impact across Meta Platforms' META.O apps, the tech company said on Tuesday.

Coordinated networks of accounts seeking to spread propaganda or false content largely failed to build a significant audience on Facebook and Instagram or use AI effectively, Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, told a press briefing. The volume of AI-generated misinformation was low and Meta was able to quickly label or remove the content, he said.

The snapshot from Meta comes as misinformation experts say AI content has so far failed to significantly sway public opinion, as notable deepfake videos and audio, including of President Joe Biden's voice, have been quickly debunked.

Coordinated networks of accounts attempting to spread false content are increasingly shifting their activities to other social media and messaging apps with fewer safety guardrails, or are operating their own websites in order to stay online, Clegg said.

Even as Meta said it was able to take down about 20 covert influence operations on its platform this year, the company has retreated from more stringent content moderation it employed during the previous US presidential election in 2020.

The company heard feedback from users who complained that their content had been removed unfairly, and Meta will aim to protect free expression and be more precise in enforcing its rules, Clegg said.

"We feel we probably overdid it a bit," he said. "While we've been really focusing on reducing prevalence of bad content, I think we also want to redouble our efforts to improve the precision and accuracy with which we act on our rules."

The move is also in response to push-back from some Republican lawmakers who have questioned what they say is censorship of certain viewpoints on social media. In an August letter to the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he regretted some content take-downs the company made in response to pressure from the Biden administration.