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Tech Tent: Trump versus Twitter

For years, Twitter resisted calls to treat President Trump just like any other user. Then this week, everything changed.
It began on Wednesday. Twitter had been under fire for allowing tweets in which the president shared a far-fetched conspiracy theory about an alleged crime involving a TV presenter and former Republican congressman. But instead of taking action on those tweets, it fact-checked two others - about postal voting under a new policy which seeks to deter content which might suppress voting. Social media expert Chris Stokel-Walker tells Tech Tent that if Twitter thought limiting action to the area of elections was a cautious first step, it was wrong. "As soon as you start engaging in any sort of moderation or comment on politics, you run the risk of potentially alienating 50% of your audience - and given our very politically fractious times, that is more of a risk than ever," he said. Having taken that first step, and seeing President Trump immediately go nuclear and threatening to go so far as to shut the social media platform down, Twitter might have been tempted to go quiet for a bit.

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George Floyd death: Ex-officer charged with murder in Minneapolis

A police officer fired following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis has been arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter.
Derek Chauvin is one of four police officers who were fired after Mr Floyd's death in custody on Monday. There have been days of protests, looting and arson after Mr Chauvin and other officers were shown in a video kneeling on George Floyd. The case has added to US anger over police killings of black Americans. Hennepin County Prosecutor Mike Freeman said Mr Chauvin was charged with third degree murder and noted that the investigation of the other officers is ongoing. He said he "anticipates charges" for the three other officers but would not offer more details.

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Googlers can start returning to work July 6, but on limited basis

Search giant Google will start welcoming employees back to offices beginning July 6 but on a volunteer and limited basis.
"This will give Googlers who need to come back to the office – or, capacity permitting, who want to come back – the opportunity to return on a limited, rotating basis (think: one day every couple of weeks, so roughly 10 percent building occupancy)," wrote Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in a Tuesday blog post. Alphabet is the parent company of Google. "We’ll have rigorous health and safety measures in place to ensure social distancing and sanitization guidelines are followed, so the office will look and feel different than when you left. Our goal is to be fair in the way we allocate time in the office while limiting the number of people who come in, consistent with safety protocols."

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Coronavirus live updates: US hits 100,000 deaths from coronavirus as states continue to cautiously reopen

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 100,000 Wednesday
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 100,000 Wednesday, according to NBC and the New York Times. Yet about half of Americans are unsure they would get vaccinated if a vaccine becomes available, a new poll shows. As of the end of March, the U.S. had registered about 4,000 deaths. But the figure took a drastic upward turn in April, when the disease killed nearly 60,000 Americans, and has continued at a slower but still devastating pace. States continue to cautiously reopen their economies while attempting to control the number of new infections, hospitalizations and fatalities. In New York state, where almost 30,000 people have died, Long Island began reopening Wednesday, leaving New York City as the only area remaining essentially locked down. In California, barbershops and hair salons are being allowed to reopen across most of the state.

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Meng Wanzhou: Huawei executive suffers US extradition blow

A Canadian court has ruled that the case of senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is fighting extradition to the United States, can go forward.
A judge found that the case meets the threshold of double criminality - meaning the charges would be crimes in both the US and Canada. The US wants Ms Meng to stand trial on charges linked to the alleged violation of US sanctions against Iran. Her case has created a rift between China and Canada. Her lead defence lawyer, Richard Peck, has argued in court that Canada is effectively being asked "to enforce US sanctions". But Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes ruled Wednesday in British Columbia's Supreme Court in Vancouver that the crimes she is charged with in the US would also have been crimes in Canada in 2018.

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Hong Kong 'no longer autonomous from China' - Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has certified to Congress that Hong Kong no longer merits special treatment under US law.
The declaration could have far-reaching implications for US-Hong Kong trade. "No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground," he said in a statement. It comes hours before Beijing is expected to impose a controversial new security law on the territory. The security law was "only the latest in a series of actions that fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms," Mr Pompeo said. "It is now clear that China is modelling Hong Kong after itself," he added.

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Google deletes millions of negative TikTok reviews

Google has deleted millions of negative TikTok reviews from its Play store after the app's rating fell from 4.5 to 1.2 stars overnight.
The video-sharing platform was inundated with one-star reviews after an Indian creator posted a spoof video of an acid attack. Faizal Siddiqui has apologised, and TikTok has deleted copies of his clip. But Google intervened after it determined that critics had set up fake accounts to amplify their protests. Even so, the move has had limited effect, and TikTok's rating remains below two stars on the official Android marketplace.

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Coronavirus: First Google/Apple-based contact-tracing app launched

The team developing Switzerland's coronavirus contact-tracing app says it has become the first to have launched a product incorporating a technology provided by Apple and Google.
Members of the Swiss army, hospital workers and civil servants can now install the SwissCovid app ahead of a planned wider rollout. A Latvian coalition says it is running close behind. But the US tech firms face criticism for their prescriptive approach. Automated contact tracing involves using smartphones to detect when two people are close to each other for long enough that there is a significant risk of contagion, so that one can be warned if the other is later diagnosed with having the disease.

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JK Rowling unveils The Ickabog, her first non-Harry Potter children's book

JK Rowling has surprised fans with the announcement of a brand new children's book, which she is publishing in daily instalments on her website for free.
The Ickabog is her first children's story not to be linked to Harry Potter. She wrote it over a decade ago for her own children and has now dusted it off. It's for "children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times", she said. She had previously referred to it only as an unnamed "political fairytale". Chapters of The Ickabog are being published daily until 10 July on The Ickabog website. The first two chapters, which went online on Tuesday, introduced King Fred the Fearless, ruler of Cornucopia, and five-year-old Bert Beamish.

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Coronavirus: Denmark opens borders to divided lovers

Denmark has opened its borders to couples who were separated from their partners by the coronavirus lockdown.
As of Monday, cross-border couples who reside in the Nordic countries or Germany can now visit Denmark. Rules currently require people to prove their relationship with photos, text messages and emails. But the justice minister has announced these regulations will be relaxed in the coming days, so all that is needed is a letter signed by both parties. "If you say you are a boyfriend and sign [the letter], we will assume it [is true]," Justice minister Nick Hækkerup told broadcaster TV2.