(This article is part of Today’s Cache, The Hindu’s newsletter on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, innovation and policy. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.)
X to go dark in Brazil
Elon Musk-owned X is going dark in Brazil, with the country’s telecoms regulator Anatel telling internet service providers to suspend user access, due to a feud between the billionaire and Brazil’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The Brazilian judge had demanded that X name a legal representative in the country within 24 hours, while X claimed that its representative had been threatened with arrest. As a result of the feud, during which Musk shared obscene memes making fun of the judge and compared him to Lord Voldemort and toilet paper, de Moraes ordered the suspension on August 30, 2024.
X users from Brazil sadly bid good-bye on the platform, as the country’s rules made it a punishable act to access X through the use of VPNs. However, Musk urged people to continue to use X with the use of a VPN. Brazil is one of X’s largest markets and it remains to be seen how this will affect the platform’s revenue.
Telegram CEO arrest a warning to others
The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has turned the technologist into a free speech icon in the eyes of other tech leaders and privacy advocates. On the other hand, it raises the question of how complicit tech leaders are when it comes to moderating content and tackling illegal media on the platforms they have created. Durov has been charged with complicity in crimes including drug trafficking, fraud, terrorism, cyberbullying, dissemination of child abuse media, and refusal to cooperate with law enforcement.
The investigation that led to Durov’s arrest has been largely attributed to the French J3 cybercrime unit within the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is led by 38-year-old Johanna Brousse. It is also a warning for other tech leaders who have distanced themselves from both regulators and the malicious actors on their platforms. Though Durov is out on bail, he cannot leave France.
CrowdStrike exec to testify before U.S Congress
Adam Meyers, the senior vice president for counter adversary operations at the Texas-based cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, will testify before the U.S. Congress over the company’s buggy software update that triggered a worldwide IT outage in Microsoft Windows devices last month. Meyers will testify before the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection subcommittee on September 24, where he will likely face questions over the impact of the outage and the tech that powers critical industries in the U.S.
The outage on July 19 affected over 8 million Microsoft Windows devices, and brought down airports all over the world. As thousands of flights were delayed or cancelled, passengers were left stranded. The media and medical industries were also hit as systems went down that day.
