Here's a wrap of the top startup stories today (February 10).

Withheld some accounts within India, to continue advocating right of free expression, says Twitter

Microblogging site Twitter on Wednesday said it has withheld some of the accounts flagged by the government for blocking "within India only", but has not blocked handles of civil society activists, politicians and media as ”it would violate their fundamental right to free expression” guaranteed under country’s law. Twitter emphasised that it will continue to advocate for the right of free expression of its users and that it is actively exploring options under Indian law both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted. The microblogging platform had been asked by the government to take down multiple accounts that were sharing misinformation and provocative content around the ongoing farmers’ agitation. It had also been warned of penal action for non-compliance.

Seeking to clarify its stance, Twitter – in a blogpost – said it had taken steps to reduce visibility of the hashtags containing harmful content that included prohibiting them from trending on Twitter and appearing as recommended Search terms. Twitter has also informed the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) of its enforcement action. Twitter noted that it has taken a range of enforcement actions against more than 500 accounts escalated across all MeitY orders – including permanent suspension in certain cases for violation of Twitter rules. …Today, we have withheld a portion of the accounts identified in the blocking orders under our Country Withheld Content policy within India only. These accounts continue to be available outside of India, Twitter said.

It, however, did not provide details of the handles against whom action had been taken. Emphasising that it believes transparency to be the foundation to promoting healthy public conversation on the platform and to earn trust, Twitter said it is critical that people understand its approach to content moderation and how it engages with governments globally.

Twitter said, following the reports of violence in New Delhi in recent weeks, it wanted to share a granular update on its proactive efforts to enforce its rules and defend its principles in India. Starting January 26, Twitter said its global team took enforcement action judiciously and impartially on content, trends, Tweets, and accounts that were in violation of its rules and took action on hundreds of accounts that violated its policy framework.

Twitter’s blog post prior to formal meet 'unusual': MEITY

The ministry of electronics and information technology has put out a post on the Koo app saying that Twitter’s blog post ahead of a formal meeting with the IT secretary was ‘unusual’. It said the government will share its response soon. Earlier, the ministry had directed Twitter to block or suspend around 1,200 accounts, saying they had been flagged by security agencies as accounts of Khalistan sympathisers or backed by Pakistan.

"Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the Govt., the secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light, a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual. Govt. will share its response soon," the MEITY post said. Meanwhile, union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has turned down the request for a meeting with Twitter, government sources informed CNBC-TV18.

Ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) Secretary is likely to lead talks, who will be meeting VP of Global Public Policy of Twitter through video conferencing This meeting is likely to take place this week, sources said. "Twitter is likely to seek protection from any coercive action against the company and employees. It is likely to convey its internal policy on the implementation of valid government orders for blocking content and accounts," they added. The government had warned of a 7-year jail term in case of non-compliance with directions for blocking the red-flagged account.

Earlier, Twitter reached out to IT minister Prasad for a formal dialogue to resolve the deadlock over the removal of bad accounts amid the ongoing farmer protests. The ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) had sent three notices to Twitter, the latest one asking the company to block 1,178 accounts, according to news agency IANS report.

Twitter user base, revenue jump in Q4

Twitter posted a stellar set of results for Q4, capping what CEO Jack Dorsey called “an extraordinary year” for the platform. The social media company earned $222.1 million up 87 percent from $118.8 million, a year earlier.

Revenue grew 28 percent to $1.29 billion from $1 billion.

TikTok sale to Walmart, Oracle takes back seat as Biden reviews security: WSJ

Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc's plan to buy TikTok's US operations has been pushed back indefinitely, as President Joe Biden reviews Donald Trump's efforts to address potential security risks from Chinese tech companies, the Wall Street journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Trump administration had cited national security concerns in its targeting of TikTok, arguing that the personal data of US users could be obtained by China’s government. TikTok, which has over 100 million users in the United States, denies the allegation according to a Reuters report.

Google to start paying UK publishers for news

Tech giant Google has launched its News Showcase product in the U.K., meaning the tech giant will now pay for news content in the country for the first time as per a CNBC report. The Silicon Valley firm has signed a deal with 120 British publications, including The Financial Times and Reuters, who will be paid a licensing fee to produce news extracts that appear in Google News Showcase. Reports suggest publishers will receive a few million dollars a year from Google. The feature will sit in the Google News mobile app and Google Discover, which is a feed curated by Google on mobile devices containing articles and videos.

Tesla rival Rivian aims for IPO this year: Bloomberg News

Amazon.com and Ford Motor Co backed electric-vehicle startup Rivian is looking to go public in September at a valuation of over $50 billion according to a Bloomberg News report. Rivian aims to put an electric pickup and SUV in production this year. The company raised $2.65-billion funding led by T. Rowe Price in January. The startup has has raised $8 billion since the start of 2019. The company’s deliveries of pickups would start in June, while those of SUVs would begin in August as per Reuters.

Launch editions of the vehicles are priced at $75,000 and $77,500, respectively, with a 300-mile (480 km) driving range for both. In 2019, Amazon ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian. The first Amazon vehicles go into production at Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois in late 2021, with all deliveries to be completed by 2024. Rivian plans to follow those products with smaller models targeted at China and Europe, founder and Chief Executive Officer R.J. Scaringe told Reuters in November

(Edited by : Jomy)

First Published:Feb 10, 2021 7:53 PM IST