Saudi Arabia arrests one of tech’s biggest investors

Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a crackdown on alleged corruption, and its dragnet has caught one of the tech world’s most important investors: the country has arrested Prince al-Waleed bin Talal over money laundering charges. He has major stakes in satellite TV providers and in recent years has been one of the largest individual investors in a number of well-known tech giants, including Apple and Lyft. The royal is particularly important to Twitter’s fate. He poured $300 million into the social network in 2011, and his stake is second only to that of Twitter co-founder Ev Williams — even CEO Jack Dorsey has a smaller financial commitment.

Whether or not the charges are valid isn’t clear. They’re coming mere hours after Saudi Arabia formed an anti-corruption agency led by crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who hasn’t made a secret of wanting to consolidate power before his aging father King Salman leaves the throne. Prince al-Waleed’s father had opposed Prince Mohammed’s rise to power. Corruption has been an issue, however, and Saudi Arabia wants to eliminate as much of it as possible as it institutes economic reforms meant to reduce its dependence on oil by 2030. It’s been making huge investments in tech, including Uber’s ridesharing and Virgin’s space tourism.

Either way, the arrest could have a significant effect on tech investments. Prince al-Waleed’s existing stakes won’t necessarily dry up, but it’s safe to say he won’t be investing more if he’s convicted. And that, in turn, dries up a significant source of funding for the tech industry. Promising startups and cash-strapped incumbents will have a harder time raising the cash they need to stay afloat.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Wall Street Journal

Qualcomm may face takeover bid from chip rival Broadcom

Qualcomm is already facing headaches between antitrust cases and its patent spat with Apple, but there’s one more that might join the pile. The Financial Times reports that Broadcom, one of Qualcomm’s main rivals in the wireless chipset space, is planning an unsolicited $100 billion takeover bid. The move would easily eclipse Qualcomm’s previous record-setting bid to buy NXP (which has yet to be cleared), and Broadcom is supposedly willing to buy NXP in the process. A formal announcement could be made public before the weekend is out, if the scoop is accurate.

Qualcomm hadn’t commented on the report, but an FT companion piece cited insiders who claimed that the company would “prefer” to remain independent. This could be a hostile takeover attempt, to put it another way.

Broadcom also hasn’t confirmed anything. However, there are hints that it could entertain a takeover. The company recently announced intentions to “redomicile” as a US-based company instead of Singapore. Many thought that was an attempt to grease the wheels for the much smaller acquisition of Brocade (by sidestepping fears about foreign takeovers), but it’d make more sense if Broadcom was using its legal relocation as a launching pad for larger moves.

There wouldn’t be any mystery behind an acquisition, at any rate. Broadcom is well-known for its many mobile chips (you’ll find some in the iPhone X, for example) and its telecom infrastructure, but it doesn’t have much in the way of LTE and 5G chips. That’s a big problem in a world where smartphones dominate and many future Internet of Things devices will have always-on cellular connections. If Broadcom snaps up Qualcomm, it’ll be ready for whatever comes next — and would virtually dominate the mobile chip space.

Source: Financial Times (1), (2)

Apple Watches were crashing when asked about the weather

We hope you didn’t ask your shiny new Apple Watch about the weather on November 4th — you probably got a rude response. Many Series 3 owners reported that their wristwear crashed (specifically, the “springboard” interface restarted) if they asked Siri how the weather was that day. It wouldn’t crash if they asked about weather in subsequent days, but the odd hiccup affected users across North America and Europe. We’ve asked Apple for comment. With that said, there’s already a potential culprit… and it’s a familiar one for iPhone users.

Reddit user rgsteele has theorized that the crashing was related to the end of Daylight Saving Time. If you asked about the time either after DST was over or in areas that don’t observe it (such as the Canadian province of Saskatchewan), you were safe. And sure enough, the issue appears to be over: we’ve checked both before and afterward, and it’s now safe to ask Siri if it’s raining. The Apple Watch didn’t have this issue in previous years, but it’s notable that iOS devices had long-running alarm and calendar bugs related to DST shifts.

There’s no guarantee that the time change is the cause, and it’s not certain how much of the fault would rest in Siri’s servers versus the watch software. However, it’s a safe bet that Apple will want to prevent this from happening again — you don’t want a common voice command bringing everything to a standstill one day out of every year.

Via: MacRumors

Source: Reddit

New Rumors of Overwatch on Mac Surface, but Blizzard Engineer Says Still ‘No Plans’ for Launch

New rumors surfaced this weekend suggesting Blizzard’s first-person shooter Overwatch could be launching soon on Mac. A Reddit user on r/macgaming (via MacGamerHQ) managed to download an unlisted installer for Overwatch on Mac — titled “Overwatch-Setup.zip” — by apparently altering the download link for the PC version of the game available on the official Battle.net website.

The installer is properly signed by Blizzard and launches Battle.net — an app that centralizes all of the player’s Blizzard games into one place — with Overwatch appearing in the “Games” tab. Redditor Heyoni shared a few images of Overwatch appearing in Battle.net on their Mac, but as of now the game is not able to launch and delivers an error message when “Play” is clicked.

Image via Heyoni on Reddit
The Reddit thread discussing the news theorized the potential for this being a bug, or that it could be a hint for an upcoming announcement related to Overwatch’s debut on Mac. Blizzard just wrapped up its annual BlizzCon event, in which it unveiled a new support class for Overwatch named Moira, a new map called Blizzard World, and a new character cinematic focusing on Reinhardt. During the event, no news was given regarding Overwatch expanding to Macs.

Unfortunately, a comment made by an Overwatch engineer in a new interview suggests Blizzard is still not planning on launching the game for Mac anytime soon. Tim Ford, the lead software engineer for gameplay systems on Overwatch, told Gadgets 360 that Blizzard has “no plans” of launching Overwatch on Mac. Ford said this is due to “several technology decisions” Apple has made on Macs, which make it “a little difficult” for Blizzard to create a Mac version of the game.

With Overwatch being available on the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC, it’s one of the rare Blizzard games that’s not on the Mac. It’s odd considering that every other Blizzard title has graced Apple’s line of computers. Ford explained why Overwatch will not be making it to the Mac.

“We have no plans of giving this game on the Mac,” says Ford. “There are several technology decisions that Apple has made that has made it a little difficult for us to release Overwatch in the way we want it to be consumed, and that is why we haven’t pursued it.”

Before Overwatch launched in May 2016, Blizzard said a Mac version was not a priority because it was “just too challenging” at that point to support Apple’s platform, due to the “technology behind Macs.” Then, in May 2017, Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan said the company is keeping an “open mind” about bringing Overwatch to Mac gamers, it just needs the “priorities of our development process to line up with the capabilities of the platform.”

As news of the Mac installer spread online, Polygon reached out to a Blizzard representative, who stated that the Overwatch development team has “nothing to announce at this time” regarding a Mac launch for the game. For now, Overwatch is available to play on Windows PCs, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Tags: Blizzard, Overwatch
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Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Instant prints from your phone, snake fences

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there – alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Prynt Pocket — Polaroid-style smartphone camera printer

Smartphones have changed photography forever — there’s no doubt about that. But despite the fact that we all walk around with a digital camera in our pockets, and can instantly access all the photos we’ve ever taken with just a few taps, there’s still something missing. That something is tangibility: the ability to hold those photos in your hand and physically interact with them. But if the latest product from SF-based startup Prynt finds success on Kickstarter, that might soon change.

The Prynt Pocket is essentially a slim dock that clips onto your phone and allows you to print the pictures you snap — much like an old-school Polaroid camera. And despite what its name would lead you to believe, the printer doesn’t actually require ink to function. Instead, it takes a page from the Polaroid playbook and uses special paper to create the image, so you’ll never have to worry about buying cartridges (you will, however, have to worry about buying the right kind of paper). Generation 2.0 is also much quicker. Early versions of the device took about 50 seconds to print an image, but the latest generation can spit ’em out in less than 20 seconds.

Atrox — Snake-proof barrier

Do you live in a place that’s infested with snakes? Are these invasive danger-noodles constantly crashing your backyard cookouts, pool parties, and picnics in the park? Well fear not, for humanity has finally invented a solution that will keep you protected from the scaly scourge of serpents that’s been tormenting you. It’s called the Atrox Snake Barrier, and it’s designed to keep out practically any snake you throw at it — figuratively speaking of course.

You start by placing a series of stakes into your yard, then affix a durable, snake-proof mesh to the stakes, thereby creating a fence. This isn’t your average fence, though. You know how the razor wire on prison fences curves inward so that it’s harder to climb over? The Atrox Barrier features a similar shape, which makes it damn near impossible for a snake to slither over. Presumably, this works for any kind of snake too — as long as they’re on the ground. You’ll still need to be wary of tree snakes. Stay vigilant, my friends!

DPS Phantom — Ski/snowboard base glide treatment

Pretty much since the dawn of skiing, snowsport enthusiasts have used wax to make their skis/snowboards slicker. Wax naturally repels water, so it’s highly effective at reducing friction between a ski’s plastic base and frozen water molecules we call snow. Over the years, skiers and snowboarders have developed a wide variety of specialized waxes for every type of snow. But despite these advances, the fact is we’re still using the same friction reduction technology that we’ve been using for decades. Isn’t it time we thought outside the box and developed something better than wax?

Well, that’s exactly what DPS went out and did. Working with a team of chemists and materials scientists, the company created a hydrophobic compound that penetrates deep into the base material of your skis. Unlike typical wax, Phantom needs to only be applied once — it permanently alters your ski or board base, making it both faster and harder for life. Phantom is also more consistent than current waxes. Most waxes have an optimal temperature range or environment. In contrast, Phantom works across a wider range of temperatures so a ski’s speed stays consistent no matter what the snow conditions are.

Spydro — fishing line action cam

There are plenty of ruggedized waterproof cameras out there, but before Spydro came along, there weren’t many designed specifically for fishermen. Like a GoPro for your fishing line, this gizmo records your underwater battles in high definition — which is way more exciting and engaging than the boring old post-catch photos that most anglers settle for. This beast features a 1080p HD color video camera, full waterproofing rated for up to 150 meters, stabilization for wobble-free underwater recording, and a wide-angle lens. It also has almost neutral buoyancy, so you won’t lose it on the lake if your line snaps.

The camera’s front and rear end attachments hook onto your leader line and casting line respectively, while a low-profile stabilization fin keeps it from spinning in the water. Once its on your line, you can see how attractive your bait is to fish and how fish are attacking the hook — which is nearly impossible to figure out without seeing it for yourself. The only caveat is that it functions best on a taught line, so it only works with three kinds of fishing: trolling (where the drag creates constant tension), casting, and bottom fishing (where the weight should be attached before the camera’s connection to the line).

Home biogas — backyard biodigester

It sounds crazy, but around 40 percent of all the food produced in the U.S. is tossed out. We put all kinds of time and energy into producing food, but we still end up sending nearly half of it away to a landfill. It’s incredibly wasteful, but HomeBiogas is here to help. For the past few years, the company has been developing an incredibly simple biodigester that takes raw food waste (and a whole lot more) and transforms it into usable cooking gas and fertilizer. Now, it’s back on Kickstarter with version 2.0.

Here’s how it works. You start by feeding food into the machine’s digestion chamber. This can be pretty much anything biodegradeable — dining room scraps, meat, grease, oil, egg shells, bones, paper products, grass clippings, and even small sticks or bits of wood. After that, you introduce some special bacteria into the chamber and mix everything up. Once that’s done, you just let the bacteria do its thing. These little buggers will gobble up all the organic material and fart out methane gas, which the HomeBiogas unit will collect and store. When you’ve built up enough gas, you can hook the tank up to a cooktop burner. Pretty nifty!

Editor’s Recommendations

• Ditch waxing your skis forever with DPS Skis’ new Phantom wax treatment
• Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Eskates, snow bikes, a better measuring cup
• The best drifting videos on the internet are smoky, brilliant, and mesmerizing
• Save your gear (and your back) with the best ski bags you can buy
• Sound Huggle headphones keep your ears warm during a winter commute

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Instant prints from your phone, snake fences

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there – alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Prynt Pocket — Polaroid-style smartphone camera printer

Smartphones have changed photography forever — there’s no doubt about that. But despite the fact that we all walk around with a digital camera in our pockets, and can instantly access all the photos we’ve ever taken with just a few taps, there’s still something missing. That something is tangibility: the ability to hold those photos in your hand and physically interact with them. But if the latest product from SF-based startup Prynt finds success on Kickstarter, that might soon change.

The Prynt Pocket is essentially a slim dock that clips onto your phone and allows you to print the pictures you snap — much like an old-school Polaroid camera. And despite what its name would lead you to believe, the printer doesn’t actually require ink to function. Instead, it takes a page from the Polaroid playbook and uses special paper to create the image, so you’ll never have to worry about buying cartridges (you will, however, have to worry about buying the right kind of paper). Generation 2.0 is also much quicker. Early versions of the device took about 50 seconds to print an image, but the latest generation can spit ’em out in less than 20 seconds.

Atrox — Snake-proof barrier

Do you live in a place that’s infested with snakes? Are these invasive danger-noodles constantly crashing your backyard cookouts, pool parties, and picnics in the park? Well fear not, for humanity has finally invented a solution that will keep you protected from the scaly scourge of serpents that’s been tormenting you. It’s called the Atrox Snake Barrier, and it’s designed to keep out practically any snake you throw at it — figuratively speaking of course.

You start by placing a series of stakes into your yard, then affix a durable, snake-proof mesh to the stakes, thereby creating a fence. This isn’t your average fence, though. You know how the razor wire on prison fences curves inward so that it’s harder to climb over? The Atrox Barrier features a similar shape, which makes it damn near impossible for a snake to slither over. Presumably, this works for any kind of snake too — as long as they’re on the ground. You’ll still need to be wary of tree snakes. Stay vigilant, my friends!

DPS Phantom — Ski/snowboard base glide treatment

Pretty much since the dawn of skiing, snowsport enthusiasts have used wax to make their skis/snowboards slicker. Wax naturally repels water, so it’s highly effective at reducing friction between a ski’s plastic base and frozen water molecules we call snow. Over the years, skiers and snowboarders have developed a wide variety of specialized waxes for every type of snow. But despite these advances, the fact is we’re still using the same friction reduction technology that we’ve been using for decades. Isn’t it time we thought outside the box and developed something better than wax?

Well, that’s exactly what DPS went out and did. Working with a team of chemists and materials scientists, the company created a hydrophobic compound that penetrates deep into the base material of your skis. Unlike typical wax, Phantom needs to only be applied once — it permanently alters your ski or board base, making it both faster and harder for life. Phantom is also more consistent than current waxes. Most waxes have an optimal temperature range or environment. In contrast, Phantom works across a wider range of temperatures so a ski’s speed stays consistent no matter what the snow conditions are.

Spydro — fishing line action cam

There are plenty of ruggedized waterproof cameras out there, but before Spydro came along, there weren’t many designed specifically for fishermen. Like a GoPro for your fishing line, this gizmo records your underwater battles in high definition — which is way more exciting and engaging than the boring old post-catch photos that most anglers settle for. This beast features a 1080p HD color video camera, full waterproofing rated for up to 150 meters, stabilization for wobble-free underwater recording, and a wide-angle lens. It also has almost neutral buoyancy, so you won’t lose it on the lake if your line snaps.

The camera’s front and rear end attachments hook onto your leader line and casting line respectively, while a low-profile stabilization fin keeps it from spinning in the water. Once its on your line, you can see how attractive your bait is to fish and how fish are attacking the hook — which is nearly impossible to figure out without seeing it for yourself. The only caveat is that it functions best on a taught line, so it only works with three kinds of fishing: trolling (where the drag creates constant tension), casting, and bottom fishing (where the weight should be attached before the camera’s connection to the line).

Home biogas — backyard biodigester

It sounds crazy, but around 40 percent of all the food produced in the U.S. is tossed out. We put all kinds of time and energy into producing food, but we still end up sending nearly half of it away to a landfill. It’s incredibly wasteful, but HomeBiogas is here to help. For the past few years, the company has been developing an incredibly simple biodigester that takes raw food waste (and a whole lot more) and transforms it into usable cooking gas and fertilizer. Now, it’s back on Kickstarter with version 2.0.

Here’s how it works. You start by feeding food into the machine’s digestion chamber. This can be pretty much anything biodegradeable — dining room scraps, meat, grease, oil, egg shells, bones, paper products, grass clippings, and even small sticks or bits of wood. After that, you introduce some special bacteria into the chamber and mix everything up. Once that’s done, you just let the bacteria do its thing. These little buggers will gobble up all the organic material and fart out methane gas, which the HomeBiogas unit will collect and store. When you’ve built up enough gas, you can hook the tank up to a cooktop burner. Pretty nifty!

Editor’s Recommendations

• Ditch waxing your skis forever with DPS Skis’ new Phantom wax treatment
• Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Eskates, snow bikes, a better measuring cup
• The best drifting videos on the internet are smoky, brilliant, and mesmerizing
• Save your gear (and your back) with the best ski bags you can buy
• Sound Huggle headphones keep your ears warm during a winter commute

Automakers unite to create an electric vehicle charging network across Europe

Why it matters to you

Competing directly with Tesla, the new stations offer a universal connection and super high-speed charging.

A new joint venture uniting prominent auto manufacturers is rolling out plans to create a network of fast-charging stations across Europe, paving the way for long-distance travel with electric vehicles.

Ionity is a collaboration between BMW, Ford, Daimler, and Volkswagen, with plans to install 400 high-power charging (HPC) stations across the continent by 2020. The network has already begun, with 20 stations planned in Norway, Germany, and Austria before the end of 2017. The charging stations will be placed at 75-mile intervals, and another 100 are planned for 2018.

The stations will be placed in partnership with European convenience stores Tank & Rast, Circle K, and OMV. CEO Michael Hajech said the effort will expand the range of electric vehicles to make long-distance electric car travel a reality.

“The first pan-European HPC network plays an essential role in establishing a market for electric vehicles,” he said in a press release. “Ionity will deliver our common goal of providing customers with fast charging and digital payment capability to facilitate long-distance travel.”

, each of the fast charging stations will cost about $233,000. The venture has drawn interest from energy specialists like ChargePoint and global conglomerates such as Siemens.

The network uses the European standard Combined Charging System and several cars can recharge at the same time. The brand-agnostic format means it can be used by a wide array of vehicles. The chargers have a capacity of 350 kilowatts (kW) per station, more than double Tesla’s current “second generation” chargers, which max out at 145 kW. Most other “fast-charging” stations have a capacity of approximately 50 kW.

With this move, the automakers are clearly trying to take on Tesla and its Supercharger Network, which already has 350 stations operating in Europe.

However, CEO David Martell of the British company Chargemaster, which has a 300-station network in the U.K., said the charging speed is a number that needs to be evaluated in context, noting that current models don’t even have that capacity. “While some vehicles in the future may be able to charge at 350kW, this will not be the case for most vehicles,” he told The Telegraph. “Unlike when refueling a car, drivers can do other things while their EV is charging, so the charging time is not as great an issue as it is sometimes portrayed.”

Currently, the four major automotive partners (with VW-owned Audi and Porsche also included) each have equal shares in the venture, although other car companies are invited to join in and add their expertise to help expand the network even further.

Editor’s Recommendations

• Tesla electric semitruck unveiling delayed while Musk assists Puerto Rico
• Every automaker’s electrification plans for the next few years explained
• Fisker’s electric EMotion will cost $130,000 and make its debut at CES 2018
• Tesla wants to test autonomous electric semi trucks in Nevada
• Plug that phone in while you navigate: Our 11 favorite iPhone car chargers

Best new songs to stream: U2 with Kendrick Lamar, Jim James, and more.

Every week, there are thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves — and it’s just too much for your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks that deserve a thumbs-down click — you want the best new songs to stream right now.

But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our five best new songs to stream this week. And don’t forget to subscribe to our Spotify page for a playlist of our weekly picks, which can also be found at the bottom of this post. Not sure which streaming service is best for you? Check out our post about the best music streaming services, or go in depth and learn the differences between Apple Music and Spotify to better weigh your options.

U2 — Get Out of Your Own Way (featuring Kendrick Lamar)

U2‘s latest single comes as part of a musical trade. Following an appearance on Kendrick Lamar‘s showstopping album DAMN, the iconic Irish rock band has enlisted the rapper for a spoken word outro on this new song from their own upcoming release, Songs of Experience. Apart from the ending, the song sounds like many of the band’s classic songs, with airy guitars joined by a simple beat and Bono’s indelible voice.

Jim James — I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James has offered up an excellent cover of The Beach Boys‘ classic single I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times that’s had us coming back to listen to it over and over again. This is a rare cover of a legendary tune that does justice to the original, with gorgeous stereo mixing, layered vocals, and an elegant string quartet creating the same intricate wall of sound.

Gorillaz — Garage Palace (featuring Little Simz)

Up-and-coming U.K. rapper Little Simz spits a series of quick-paced verses over a driving electronic beat on Garage Palace, a special bonus track from everyone’s favorite animated band, Gorillaz. The song is a perfect pick-me-up for a rainy fall day. It will have you head-bobbing your way through each second of its two-and-a-half minute runtime — and all but forcing you to hit the repeat button.

Pinegrove — Intrepid

The first new single from Pinegrove since last year’s excellent album Cardinal utilizes the same lyric-heavy, mixed-meter style that made us fall for the band in the first place. Intrepid begins as a sparse guitar-and-vocals affair before adding thick layers of bass, drums, and background vocals that lead up to a washy guitar fade-out.

Ought — These Three Things

A driving single that brings out our ’80s nostalgia in all its shoulder-padded glory, These Three Things from Canadian post-punk band Ought will help you push through the miles on your evening run or morning commute. A punchy bass line serves as the heartbeat for the track, joined by a simple and elegant drumbeat that features occasional triangle hits on the right side of the mix.

That’s it for now, but tune in next week for more songs to stream, and check out the playlist loaded with our recent selections below:

Editor’s Recommendations

• Best new songs to stream: The National, Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett, and more
• Best new songs to stream: Porches, Alvvays, Feist, Grizzly Bear, and Goon
• The best new songs this weekend from Beck, Twin Peaks, Bermuda Triangle, and more
• Best new songs to stream: LCD Soundsystem, Washed Out, and more
• Best new songs to stream: Big K.R.I.T., MGMT, Curls, and more

Afghanistan government tries to block social media apps Telegram and WhatsApp

Why it matters to you

Social media provides a platform for everyone, and censorship is never the answer in an open society.

Last week, the telecom regulator of Afghanistan attempted to block the popular messaging services Telegram and WhatsApp with a letter sent to internet service providers. The edict seemed to have little effect according to most accounts, however, as the services seemed to be operating with very few problems on both private and state-run service providers, as reported by Reuters.

Although WhatsApp was not accessible for some users, it’s unclear whether that was due to government interference or the worldwide problems plaguing that particular app.

Social media in general, and messaging services in particular,are quite popular and widely used in Afghanistan. Images of the letter quickly popped up on various sites around the world, prompting outcry from civil rights groups.

Shahzad Aryobee, acting minister for telecommunications, posted a Facebook message claiming that the telecom regulator ATRA was merely upgrading its service with gradual blocks on the two services, citing complaints about inefficiency. “The government is committed to freedom of speech and knows that it is a basic civil right for our people,” he said.

The announcement prompted the telecom regulator to issue another statement Friday, according to Voice of America, saying the ban was needed to test and implement “a new kind of technology” to address citizens’ complaints. Unconfirmed media reports placed the blame on the National Directorate for Security, as a response to the increase of encrypted messaging services by the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

Since the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country, mobile phone service has exploded in Afghanistan, although there are frequent complaints about reliability and signal strength. More than six million Afghanis can access the internet, mostly in the larger cities. Even Afghan politicians regularly use popular services such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Viber.

On the other hand, groups like the Taliban, who have their own sophisticated social media presence and encrypted messaging systems, also regularly communicate online in plots against the government or U.S. forces.

Speaking to the BBC, newspaper editor Parwiz Kawa said the country was not about to slip backwards by blocking social apps after finally achieving an open society. “The public reaction — including our own front page — is to resist,” he said. “We can’t tolerate any ban on social media or any censorship.”

The outage may be having some effect, however. Last week, a Taliban spokesman wrote to reporters and gave them his Viber number “in case WhatsApp is not working.”

Editor’s Recommendations

• Unsend, unsend! New WhatsApp feature lets you take back sent messages
• WhatsApp rolls out real-time location-sharing feature for iOS and Android
• New Truecaller iMessage filtering feature blocks spam in iOS 11
• Planning to make a drone video of the Statue of Liberty? You’d better hurry
• Protect your privacy with the six best VPN for the iPhone or iPad

Afghanistan government tries to block social media apps Telegram and WhatsApp

Why it matters to you

Social media provides a platform for everyone, and censorship is never the answer in an open society.

Last week, the telecom regulator of Afghanistan attempted to block the popular messaging services Telegram and WhatsApp with a letter sent to internet service providers. The edict seemed to have little effect according to most accounts, however, as the services seemed to be operating with very few problems on both private and state-run service providers, as reported by Reuters.

Although WhatsApp was not accessible for some users, it’s unclear whether that was due to government interference or the worldwide problems plaguing that particular app.

Social media in general, and messaging services in particular,are quite popular and widely used in Afghanistan. Images of the letter quickly popped up on various sites around the world, prompting outcry from civil rights groups.

Shahzad Aryobee, acting minister for telecommunications, posted a Facebook message claiming that the telecom regulator ATRA was merely upgrading its service with gradual blocks on the two services, citing complaints about inefficiency. “The government is committed to freedom of speech and knows that it is a basic civil right for our people,” he said.

The announcement prompted the telecom regulator to issue another statement Friday, according to Voice of America, saying the ban was needed to test and implement “a new kind of technology” to address citizens’ complaints. Unconfirmed media reports placed the blame on the National Directorate for Security, as a response to the increase of encrypted messaging services by the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

Since the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country, mobile phone service has exploded in Afghanistan, although there are frequent complaints about reliability and signal strength. More than six million Afghanis can access the internet, mostly in the larger cities. Even Afghan politicians regularly use popular services such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Viber.

On the other hand, groups like the Taliban, who have their own sophisticated social media presence and encrypted messaging systems, also regularly communicate online in plots against the government or U.S. forces.

Speaking to the BBC, newspaper editor Parwiz Kawa said the country was not about to slip backwards by blocking social apps after finally achieving an open society. “The public reaction — including our own front page — is to resist,” he said. “We can’t tolerate any ban on social media or any censorship.”

The outage may be having some effect, however. Last week, a Taliban spokesman wrote to reporters and gave them his Viber number “in case WhatsApp is not working.”

Editor’s Recommendations

• Unsend, unsend! New WhatsApp feature lets you take back sent messages
• WhatsApp rolls out real-time location-sharing feature for iOS and Android
• New Truecaller iMessage filtering feature blocks spam in iOS 11
• Planning to make a drone video of the Statue of Liberty? You’d better hurry
• Protect your privacy with the six best VPN for the iPhone or iPad