https://www.scmp.com/rss/312422/feed The latest news, analysis and opinion on WhatsApp. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Danny Mok Danny Mok A Hong Kong car owner has lost HK$500,000 (US$63,800) to scammers posing as petrol company staff who exploited surging fuel prices by offering bogus top-up deals for membership cards, police have said. The victim received unsolicited WhatsApp messages from fraudsters claiming to represent a fuel company, according to a post on the force’s CyberDefender Facebook page on Wednesday. The scammers promised discounts through prepaid petrol cards and lured the victim into making immediate... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3349398/hong-kong-car-owner-loses-hk500000-fuel-membership-card-scam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3349398/hong-kong-car-owner-loses-hk500000-fuel-membership-card-scam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:30:41 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman because of an addictive design of their social media platforms, ordering the companies to pay US$6 million in damages, including US$3 million in punitive damages. The verdict handed plaintiffs in more than a thousand similar pending cases significant leverage - and signalled to the broader tech industry that juries were prepared to hold social media companies accountable for the mental health toll of their... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347912/jury-finds-meta-and-google-liable-us3-million-damages-social-media-addiction-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347912/jury-finds-meta-and-google-liable-us3-million-damages-social-media-addiction-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 18:07:28 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A New Mexico jury on Tuesday found social media giant Meta liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms and other dangers. The verdict came after roughly a day of deliberations following a six-week trial in which the state accused Facebook and Instagram’s parent company of failing to protect minors from sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking. The state had sought the maximum US$2.2 billion in damages, but the jury awarded a lesser... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347773/meta-ordered-pay-us375-million-over-child-exploitation-and-user-safety-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347773/meta-ordered-pay-us375-million-over-child-exploitation-and-user-safety-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 22:10:00 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Tencent Holdings is rolling out a “ClawBot” plug-in for China’s most popular app WeChat as it seeks to capitalise on the OpenClaw craze, even as authorities continue to warn about risks. The move announced on Sunday will allow WeChat’s more than 1 billion monthly active users to command their OpenClaw artificial intelligence agents directly through the app, which is deeply embedded in daily life in China. In recent weeks, almost every Chinese tech giant has announced new offerings based on... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3347590/tencent-adds-clawbot-plug-wechat-amid-openclaw-boom-and-privacy-warnings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3347590/tencent-adds-clawbot-plug-wechat-amid-openclaw-boom-and-privacy-warnings?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:30:07 +0000 Agencies Agencies Most of Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region was ‌left without power on Saturday after a Russian drone attack, local governor Viacheslav Chaus said. He ⁠said repair works were under way ‌to fix the damage. The region, which ‌borders Russia and Belarus, ⁠had ⁠a pre-war population of nearly ‌a million. The regional capital, also called ‌Chernihiv, ‌was fully without power, ‌the city administration there ⁠said. Russia has conducted a vast ⁠bombardment campaign against Ukrainian energy facilities... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3347437/most-ukraines-chernihiv-region-has-no-power-after-russian-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3347437/most-ukraines-chernihiv-region-has-no-power-after-russian-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 12:15:29 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Meta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on Southeast Asian criminal scam centres that targeted people around the world, the social media giant said on Wednesday. The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai Police Anti-Cyber Scam Centre alongside the FBI and the US Justice Department’s Scam Centre Strike Force, with Meta investigators acting on intelligence shared in real time by law enforcement. Online scam networks –... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3346280/meta-disables-150000-accounts-global-sting-southeast-asian-scam-centres?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3346280/meta-disables-150000-accounts-global-sting-southeast-asian-scam-centres?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 01:12:19 +0000 Reuters,Bloomberg Reuters,Bloomberg US messenger app WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, accused authorities in Russia on Thursday of trying to fully block its service to drive Russians to a state-owned app, which it alleged was used for surveillance. “Trying ‌to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” the world’s most popular messaging service said in a statement. “We continue to do everything we can to keep users... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3343343/metas-whatsapp-accuses-russia-blocking-its-service-force-users-state-super-app?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3343343/metas-whatsapp-accuses-russia-blocking-its-service-force-users-state-super-app?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:57:11 +0000 Reuters Reuters India’s government said on Tuesday ‍social media companies would have to take down unlawful content within three hours of being notified, tightening an earlier 36-hour timeline in what could be ⁠a compliance challenge for Meta, YouTube and X. The changes amend India’s 2021 IT rules, which have already been a flashpoint between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and global technology companies. The amended rules also relaxed ‍an earlier proposal that would have required platforms to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343097/india-tightens-social-media-grip-x-youtube-meta-face-3-hour-takedown-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343097/india-tightens-social-media-grip-x-youtube-meta-face-3-hour-takedown-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 13:38:52 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow China’s artificial intelligence hyperscalers have quickly added cloud support for Moltbot, formerly known as Clawdbot, an open-source AI agent that has exploded in popularity globally. Billed as the “AI that actually does things”, Moltbot’s ability to autonomously execute tasks without the user directing each action has caused waves in the global developer community, briefly lifting shares of US web infrastructure giant Cloudflare in pre-market trading on Tuesday before they later... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3341701/chinas-cloud-giants-race-support-moltbot-ai-actually-does-things?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3341701/chinas-cloud-giants-race-support-moltbot-ai-actually-does-things?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 12:00:12 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia on Thursday moved to bring some of the world’s biggest social media and messaging platforms under its licensing regime, closing a year-long gap in which several tech giants had operated without formal approval. From January 1, platforms with more than eight million users in Malaysia are automatically treated as licensed under local law, even if they had not applied, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The shift coincides with the Online Safety Act... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3338411/malaysia-tightens-grip-major-social-media-platforms-will-it-make-internet-safer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3338411/malaysia-tightens-grip-major-social-media-platforms-will-it-make-internet-safer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2026 09:50:05 +0000 Matthew Cheng Matthew Cheng Hong Kong recorded a 20 per cent increase in online investment scams in the first 10 months of the year, with victims losing HK$3.08 billion (US$395.9 million), according to police. Superintendent Theodora Lee Wai-see of the force’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre also revealed on Monday that 83 per cent of all fraudulent messages were disseminated through Meta-owned platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Overall, Hong Kong residents lost HK$6.43 billion to various scams over... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3337355/hong-kong-online-investment-scams-surge-20-losses-hit-hk308-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3337355/hong-kong-online-investment-scams-surge-20-losses-hit-hk308-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:29:56 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran As Australia’s new restrictions on social media use by children under 16 take effect this month, governments across Southeast Asia are rolling out or weighing their own measures aimed at protecting young users online. From platform licensing rules in Malaysia to age-based access limits in Indonesia, the moves reflect a broader global push to rein in tech companies over child safety, cyberbullying and harmful content. But analysts say such policies can also open the door to wider regulatory... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3336820/southeast-asia-follows-australia-tightening-social-media-rules-safety-or-censorship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3336820/southeast-asia-follows-australia-tightening-social-media-rules-safety-or-censorship?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:24 +0000 dpa dpa A massive international grey market in mobile phone SIM cards is fuelling large-scale manipulation and fraud online, a University of Cambridge study has found. The researchers say physical and virtual SIMs from providers like SMSActivate, 5Sim, SMShub and SMSPVA were being used to verify fake accounts on social media platforms and e-commerce services. “We find a thriving underground market through which inauthentic content, artificial popularity and political influence campaigns are readily and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3336187/how-global-grey-market-sim-cards-powers-fraud-and-influence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3336187/how-global-grey-market-sim-cards-powers-fraud-and-influence?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 06:29:24 +0000 Sonal Dhanani Sonal Dhanani Hong Kong has been talking more openly about youth mental health than ever before – and with good reason. Student suicides climbed to a decade high of 32 cases in 2023, and there were 28 more last year. The number of students struggling with mental health issues rose 27 per cent between 2023 and 2024. Beyond schools, the city recorded 1,092 suicides in 2023, almost three people a day. Researchers note worrying trends among younger adults, particularly men aged 25-39. The policy response has... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3335457/why-hong-kongs-youth-must-be-key-part-citys-mental-health-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3335457/why-hong-kongs-youth-must-be-key-part-citys-mental-health-support?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 21:30:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters Google’s YouTube said it would obey Australia’s world-leading ban on social media accounts for children under 16, a capitulation which means all the most popular platforms with young users have agreed to comply after campaigning against the law. Google initially received an exemption on grounds its main purpose was video viewing and education, not social networking. Canberra later broadened the scope of the ban to include it following complaints by other platforms. “We will comply with the law... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3334977/youtube-capitulates-australias-age-rule-becomes-last-major-platform-accept?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3334977/youtube-capitulates-australias-age-rule-becomes-last-major-platform-accept?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 01:15:47 +0000 Natalie Wong Natalie Wong Scores of people, including infants and the elderly, remain unaccounted for a day after Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. Families and friends are racing against time, issuing appeals at the scene and on social media to find their loved ones. The Post put together some of the appeals as the search and rescue operation continues, after authorities reported that 279 people were missing. Six-month-old Ho Tsz-yan and her grandparents Winnie Hui tells the Post... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3334385/families-appeal-information-loved-ones-scores-missing-hong-kong-fire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3334385/families-appeal-information-loved-ones-scores-missing-hong-kong-fire?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 10:46:40 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Snapchat has begun asking teenage Australians to verify their ages, the company said on Monday, just weeks before Canberra enforces sweeping laws banning under-16s from social media. From December 10, Australia will force social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, to remove users under the age of 16 or face hefty fines. “Starting this week, many users will be asked to verify their age to continue accessing Snapchat,” the company said. Users will be able to do so using an... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3333875/snapchat-makes-australian-teens-verify-age-social-media-ban-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3333875/snapchat-makes-australian-teens-verify-age-social-media-ban-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:37:43 +0000 CNA CNA Singaporean Amos Yee on Thursday was released from a United States prison on parole. Yee, now 27, was serving time at Danville Correctional Center in Illinois after being sentenced in 2021 to six years’ jail by a US court for possession of child pornography and grooming. According to a victim’s information network, Yee had been released on November 7 and immediately taken back into custody. He was then released again on November 20. Yee has been registered as a sex offender, according to checks... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3333594/singaporean-amos-yee-released-parole-us-prison-after-child-porn-sentence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3333594/singaporean-amos-yee-released-parole-us-prison-after-child-porn-sentence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:43:24 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Indonesian police have dismantled an Islamic State-linked network that used online video games and social media to radicalise more than 100 children, arresting five suspects including a convicted terrorist. The elite counterterrorism unit Densus 88 revealed on Tuesday that the cell had targeted 110 minors aged between 10 and 18 across 23 provinces this year alone – a figure authorities described as a “massive” spike compared with previous decades. “In the years 2011 to 2017, we secured about 17... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3333396/isis-linked-group-used-online-games-chat-apps-radicalise-indonesian-children-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3333396/isis-linked-group-used-online-games-chat-apps-radicalise-indonesian-children-police?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 08:34:11 +0000 Reuters Reuters Facebook parent company Meta Platforms defeated a US attempt to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp on Tuesday when a federal judge ruled the company did not hold a social media monopoly. The ruling gives Big Tech its first decisive win against the antitrust crackdown started in US President Donald Trump’s first term, and is a major setback for the Federal Trade Commission, which is pursuing a separate antitrust case against Amazon.com. The agency sought to force Meta to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333322/meta-defeats-us-antitrust-case-over-instagram-and-whatsapp-acquisitions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333322/meta-defeats-us-antitrust-case-over-instagram-and-whatsapp-acquisitions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 23:19:58 +0000 Surachanee Sriyai Surachanee Sriyai When governments block or restrict access to social media, the backlash is often swift. Such actions rarely amount to mere censorship or content moderation; rather, they form part of a broader arsenal of digital repression. States now routinely deploy surveillance, disinformation, targeted arrests and disruptions to connectivity to shape the public information sphere and discourse. But the effectiveness of these measures hinges on the state’s ability to calibrate its actions, particularly in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3332863/nepal-found-out-what-thailand-already-knew-digital-repression-risky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3332863/nepal-found-out-what-thailand-already-knew-digital-repression-risky?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 05:00:09 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen A former research scientist at Meta Platforms, Tian Yuandong, has shed some light on the US social media giant’s restructuring of its artificial intelligence team, while casting doubt on traditional scaling laws used in AI model development. In an interview on the Chinese video channel Silicon Valley 101 broadcast on Wednesday, Tian – previously research scientist director at Meta FAIR, the Facebook parent’s legacy Fundamental AI Research team – said limited computing resources had triggered... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3332532/meta-platforms-ai-lay-offs-triggered-battle-resources-ex-research-scientist-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3332532/meta-platforms-ai-lay-offs-triggered-battle-resources-ex-research-scientist-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 01:00:14 +0000 CNA CNA Two Malaysian men have been arrested in Singapore for their suspected involvement in separate government official impersonation scams targeting a woman. Police said on Sunday that they received a scam report two days earlier involving the impersonation of government officials claiming to be from the Ministry of Law and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The victim had received a call from an unknown person claiming to work for a bank. When informed that a credit card had been applied for under... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3332133/singapore-police-arrest-2-malaysians-after-woman-gives-fortune-gold-fake-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3332133/singapore-police-arrest-2-malaysians-after-woman-gives-fortune-gold-fake-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 01:58:42 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Meta, the tech firm behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it continues to disagree with Malaysia’s social media licensing rules despite criticisms that its platforms carry content damaging to children and young people, and wants to hold talks with the government on the matter. Malaysia imposed the framework for all social media and online messaging platforms in January that have at least 8 million local users each to curtail surging scam cases, online gambling and the spread of child... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330740/meta-wont-join-malaysias-social-media-licensing-framework-says-it-has-safeguards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330740/meta-wont-join-malaysias-social-media-licensing-framework-says-it-has-safeguards?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 06:49:50 +0000 Nuurrianti Jalli Nuurrianti Jalli On August 31, TikTok temporarily suspended its “live” feature across Indonesia, citing safety concerns as nationwide protests escalated after Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old ride-hailing driver, was killed by a police vehicle during demonstrations in Jakarta. For 107 million Indonesians, the live stream vanished overnight and remained inaccessible for four days. TikTok described the suspension of its live feature as “voluntary”. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s communication and digital affairs ministry... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3326984/what-tiktok-live-blackout-indonesia-means-digital-freedoms-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3326984/what-tiktok-live-blackout-indonesia-means-digital-freedoms-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Sep 2025 03:00:13 +0000 Bibek Bhandari Bibek Bhandari Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday as demonstrators defied an indefinite curfew and clashed with police, a day after 19 people died in violent protests triggered by a social media ban and mounting frustration over political corruption. “I have resigned from the post of prime minister with effect from today … in order to take further steps towards a political solution and resolution of the problems,” Oli said in a letter to President Ram Chandra Paudel. The 73-year-old’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3324890/nepal-prime-minister-resigns-over-deadly-social-media-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3324890/nepal-prime-minister-resigns-over-deadly-social-media-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 09:01:09 +0000 Bibek Bhandari Bibek Bhandari The chants of students turned into screams in Nepal on Monday as police opened fire on unarmed protesters in Kathmandu, turning a simmering youth-led movement against corruption and censorship into the bloodiest confrontation the Himalayan republic has seen in years. By nightfall, at least 19 demonstrators had been killed by police gunfire, according to official figures, with more than 300 wounded across Kathmandu and other cities. Many of the victims were students in uniform. Videos... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324821/nepals-gen-z-revolt-turns-deadly-police-fire-protesters-killing-least-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324821/nepals-gen-z-revolt-turns-deadly-police-fire-protesters-killing-least-19?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 03:17:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Police in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu opened fire on Monday on demonstrators protesting a government attempt to regulate social media that blocked some of the world’s largest platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube. At least 17 people were killed. Rallies swept the streets around the parliament building, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of people angry at authorities who said the companies had failed to register and submit to government oversight. At least 145 people were wounded,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3324811/least-17-die-nepal-after-police-open-fire-pro-social-media-protest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3324811/least-17-die-nepal-after-police-open-fire-pro-social-media-protest?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 00:28:55 +0000 Reuters Reuters Malaysian authorities have summoned TikTok’s top management over the social media company’s alleged delays in tackling fake news on its platform, state news agency Bernama reported on Tuesday, citing Malaysia’s communications minister. Minister Fahmi Fadzil said TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, had been too slow in responding to requests for help in police investigations, prompting him to ask the firm’s chief executive for help, Bernama reported. Fahmi cited a recent case where a man had... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3324075/malaysia-summons-tiktok-meta-over-slow-response-fake-news-immoral-content?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3324075/malaysia-summons-tiktok-meta-over-slow-response-fake-news-immoral-content?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 10:56:33 +0000 Jess Ma Jess Ma Online rental platforms have become scammers’ latest tool for swindling Hong Kong residents, as the number of online investment fraud cases rose by nearly a quarter in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with losses surging 36.4 per cent to HK$1.48 billion (US$189.5 million). Police Senior Superintendent Carmen Leung Oi-lam said that online rental platforms were a new channel that scammers were recently exploiting to establish contact with victims. “When some... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3322708/scammers-exploiting-rental-platforms-hong-kong-amid-rise-investment-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3322708/scammers-exploiting-rental-platforms-hong-kong-amid-rise-investment-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 23:00:08 +0000 Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Hong Kong has advised residents to avoid non-essential travel to Israel and Iran despite lowering the risk levels for visiting the two countries from black to red. A government spokesman said in a statement on Monday that a red outbound travel alert still “signifies a significant threat”. “The [Hong Kong] government advises Hong Kong residents who intend to visit Israel and Iran to adjust their travel plans and avoid non-essential travel,” the spokesman said. “In view of the situation in Israel,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3322276/hongkongers-urged-avoid-travel-iran-israel-despite-risk-downgrade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3322276/hongkongers-urged-avoid-travel-iran-israel-despite-risk-downgrade?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Aug 2025 14:22:02 +0000 Reuters Reuters Russia has started restricting some Telegram and WhatsApp calls, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases, the digital development ministry said on Wednesday. Russia has clashed with foreign tech platforms for several years over content and data storage in a simmering dispute that intensified after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with critics arguing that Russia is trying to expand its control over the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3321770/russia-restricts-whatsapp-telegram-calls-accusing-apps-law-breaches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3321770/russia-restricts-whatsapp-telegram-calls-accusing-apps-law-breaches?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2025 14:45:10 +0000 Sammy Heung Sammy Heung Hong Kong police are investigating the case of a 14-year-old girl who was blackmailed by a stranger on a mobile chat app, who claimed to have taken an indecent video of her. The force said on Tuesday it received a report from the girl at 10.49pm the day before at Tsz Hong Estate in Tsz Wan Shan. According to a police spokesman, the girl met the stranger on a voice chat app called Wefun and her indecent video was filmed via WhatsApp. There was no monetary loss reported. After a preliminary... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3319942/girl-14-blackmailed-hong-kong-chat-app-user-who-took-video-her?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3319942/girl-14-blackmailed-hong-kong-chat-app-user-who-took-video-her?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jul 2025 05:24:13 +0000 Jess Ma Jess Ma The number of online employment scams in Hong Kong recorded from January to May nearly doubled from the same period last year, while losses jumped by 89 per cent to HK$480 million (US$61.1 million), with police attributing the rise to “click farming” swindles proliferating. Superintendent Rachel Hui Yee-wai of the force’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau said the sharp increase was due to a change of tactics by swindlers, who were claiming to offer rewards for online tasks rather than... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3318193/online-job-scams-hong-kong-jump-92-amid-rise-click-farming-tactics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3318193/online-job-scams-hong-kong-jump-92-amid-rise-click-farming-tactics?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jul 2025 23:00:12 +0000 Jess Ma Jess Ma Hong Kong’s major social media, messaging platform providers and telecoms firms have pledged to strengthen checks on advertisers’ identities and remove fraudulent advertisements embedded with phishing links. Seven social media or messaging platforms and six telecommunications companies have joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) Anti-scam Consumer Protection Charter 3.0. The initiative commits them to proactively detecting fraud on their platforms and networks, as well as cooperating... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3317592/hong-kong-tech-and-telecoms-giants-unite-combat-online-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3317592/hong-kong-tech-and-telecoms-giants-unite-combat-online-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:00:35 +0000 Cannix Yau Cannix Yau Hong Kong police have arrested 118 people in a citywide crackdown on online shopping scams involving losses of more than HK$5 million (US$636,940), largely linked to concert ticket sales amid a boom in the city’s live music scene. One of the cases involved a victim selling a clothes iron who was swindled out of HK$1 million. The arrested comprised 82 men and 36 women, aged between 18 and 74, who were linked to 120 online shopping scam cases, according to the cyber security and technology crime... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3315332/hong-kong-police-arrest-118-e-commerce-scams-involving-hk5-million-losses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3315332/hong-kong-police-arrest-118-e-commerce-scams-involving-hk5-million-losses?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jun 2025 09:00:20 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Outraged Malaysians have demanded that police hunt down the people behind a Facebook page that has shared hundreds of images of schoolgirls. The online community launched a social media crusade earlier this week against the group called “Group Budak2 Sekolah Rendah” (Primary School Kids Group) after an influencer discovered an old picture of herself from her high school days posted on the page. The group had around 12,000 members who routinely made sexually suggestive comments on pictures of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3314130/malaysians-demand-action-after-facebook-page-exploiting-schoolgirls-images-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3314130/malaysians-demand-action-after-facebook-page-exploiting-schoolgirls-images-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jun 2025 07:42:08 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The Malaysian government has ordered the country’s telecommunications firms to hand over detailed records of phone calls and internet usage, according to industry sources, raising concerns about the state’s use of data as it broadens its controls over online activity. In April, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) sent a letter to telecoms companies instructing them to send detailed call and internet logs for the first three months of this year, apparently for the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3313339/malaysia-orders-telecoms-firms-hand-over-user-data-raising-privacy-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3313339/malaysia-orders-telecoms-firms-hand-over-user-data-raising-privacy-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jun 2025 07:30:27 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg touted the tech company’s generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) assistant on Wednesday, telling shareholders it was used by a billion people each month across its platforms. Zuckerberg noted the milestone anew at Meta’s annual gathering of shareholders and as the social media behemoth vies with Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and others to be a leader in GenAI. It was not clear how much Meta AI use involved people seeking out the chatbot versus... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3312235/meta-ai-bot-used-billion-times-monthly-mark-zuckerberg?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3312235/meta-ai-bot-used-billion-times-monthly-mark-zuckerberg?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 May 2025 05:15:08 +0000 Hadi Azmi Hadi Azmi Malaysia’s home minister has been hit by a wave of public ridicule after his WhatsApp account was hacked, raising questions over the country’s digital protections when its top security official has been targeted by cyber criminals. Mobile phishing scams are rampant in Malaysia, with citizens frequently harassed by calls from fraudsters posing as police, banks or courts to extort money under the guise of criminal probes. The account of Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, head of the Home Ministry – which... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3311933/malaysias-home-minister-ridiculed-after-his-whatsapp-account-hacked?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3311933/malaysias-home-minister-ridiculed-after-his-whatsapp-account-hacked?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 May 2025 05:22:35 +0000 Tara Loader Wilkinson Tara Loader Wilkinson By the time her younger son Dan was 16, the online world had already transformed the landscape of the average teenager, both inside and out, Fiona Spargo-Mabbs says. “It meant Dan and his friends – without me knowing about anything other than the party nearby he’d asked permission to go to – could message one another online to meet, find their way to an illegal rave that had been organised through social media, and on the way there take a drug I’d never heard of, which was easily available by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3310483/how-social-media-can-be-terrible-teens-and-people-fighting-back-bans-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3310483/how-social-media-can-be-terrible-teens-and-people-fighting-back-bans-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 May 2025 23:45:08 +0000 Elizabeth Cheung Elizabeth Cheung Hundreds of customers, including young parents, have taken to online platforms to complain about a popular clinic chain in Hong Kong suspected to have abruptly closed down earlier this week. Parents who had paid thousands of Hong Kong dollars in advance for their children’s vaccination at clinics under Alliance Medical Group scrambled to arrange jabs elsewhere, while the consumer watchdog on Thursday expressed “deep concern” and urged the chain to clarify its operational status. The group, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3308730/popular-hong-kong-clinic-chain-hot-water-amid-suspected-closure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3308730/popular-hong-kong-clinic-chain-hot-water-amid-suspected-closure?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 May 2025 13:43:32 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Chinese-backed online retailers Shein and Temu have notified US consumers that they would raise prices starting April 25 “due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs”, as Chinese imports face significant tariff increases and the expiration of key exemptions. The two platforms, known for offering budget-friendly goods sourced primarily from China, issued nearly identical statements on their US websites. Shein, founded by low-profile entrepreneur Sky Xu, and Temu, owned by PDD... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3307050/shein-temu-increase-us-prices-next-week-after-trumps-tariffs-de-minimis-shift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3307050/shein-temu-increase-us-prices-next-week-after-trumps-tariffs-de-minimis-shift?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:30:08 +0000 Coco Feng,Xinmei Shen Coco Feng,Xinmei Shen Online shopping platform Temu, owned by PDD Holdings, has suspended its advertising spending on major US channels such as Google and Meta Platforms, as new US tariffs pose challenges to its business model. Since April 12, the daily number of advertisements placed on Google by Temu’s main entity, WhaleCo, has plummeted to just 14, a sharp decline from between 30,000 and 60,000 from April 6 to 9, according to the Google Ads Transparency Centre. Temu has “turned off all their Google Shopping ads in... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3306806/temu-cuts-us-ads-google-meta-after-trumps-tariffs-app-downloads-plunge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3306806/temu-cuts-us-ads-google-meta-after-trumps-tariffs-app-downloads-plunge?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Apr 2025 12:17:00 +0000 Meta Platforms chief and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on Monday in a landmark US antitrust trial in which his social media juggernaut stands accused of abusing its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors. The start of the trial in a Washington federal court dashed the hopes of Zuckerberg that the return of Donald Trump to the White House would see the government let up on the enforcement of antitrust law against Big Tech. The Meta case is... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3306504/meta-chief-mark-zuckerberg-testifies-landmark-us-antitrust-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3306504/meta-chief-mark-zuckerberg-testifies-landmark-us-antitrust-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Apr 2025 19:14:36 +0000 Signal’s founder Moxie Marlinspike has responded to the US military group chat fiasco by taking to X to poke fun at President Donald Trump’s administration. There are so many great reasons to be on Signal. Now including the opportunity for the vice president of the United States of America to randomly add you to a group chat for coordination of sensitive military operations. Don’t sleep on this opportunity… — Moxie Marlinspike (@moxie) March 24, 2025 “There are so many great reasons to be on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3304133/who-are-signals-founders-moxie-marlinspike-and-brian-acton-marlinspike-took-x-respond-trumps-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3304133/who-are-signals-founders-moxie-marlinspike-and-brian-acton-marlinspike-took-x-respond-trumps-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Mar 2025 10:00:28 +0000 Oscar Liu Oscar Liu Mainland Chinese tech giant Tencent has launched a new academy in Hong Kong which will offer training on artificial intelligence (AI) and programming to tens of thousands of local pupils. The inauguration ceremony of the WeTech Academy was held at Polytechnic University on Saturday, with the city shifting towards a technology-driven economy in line with national strategic goals. Tencent senior executive vice-president Dowson Tong said the academy would closely collaborate with local schools,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3302521/ai-training-hong-kong-pupils-tech-giant-tencent-launches-academy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3302521/ai-training-hong-kong-pupils-tech-giant-tencent-launches-academy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Mar 2025 10:06:33 +0000 Microsoft on Friday announced it was retiring Skype, the online voice and video call pioneer that the tech titan acquired in 2011. “Starting in May 2025, Skype will no longer be available,” said a post from Skype support on social media, directing users to sign into Microsoft’s Teams platform for further use of its services. Skype was founded in 2003 by Scandinavians Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis in Estonia, revolutionising internet communication by offering free voice calls between computers... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3300638/microsoft-retires-skype-internet-call-pioneer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3300638/microsoft-retires-skype-internet-call-pioneer?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:52:28 +0000 Artificial intelligence has entered the fray in the battle against scammers in Malaysia, with the launch of a free chatbot that wastes the time of would-be fraudsters by diverting them into endless inane conversation. Online scams are big business in Southeast Asia, where up to US$37 billion was lost in 2023 to scam industries operating mostly out of the Mekong region, according to data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Malaysian police estimated that Malaysian victims lost 432 million... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3299628/battle-against-scams-malaysians-are-now-armed-chatbot-waste-fraudsters-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3299628/battle-against-scams-malaysians-are-now-armed-chatbot-waste-fraudsters-time?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:41:15 +0000 Clifford Lo Clifford Lo Online fraudsters scammed Hongkongers out of more than HK$200 million (US$25.7 million) in a week last month and used artificial intelligence (AI) to trick a victim into transferring HK$145 million in one of the cases. Police said the victim, a merchant, wanted to buy cryptocurrency mining equipment used to create digital tokens. The purchase was negotiated via the WhatsApp messaging app with what the victim thought was a mainland Chinese company. “During the negotiations, the merchant received... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3297972/hongkongers-lose-hk200-million-scams-week-ai-voice-cloning-used?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3297972/hongkongers-lose-hk200-million-scams-week-ai-voice-cloning-used?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Feb 2025 13:00:14 +0000