WhatsApp Users still facing Service Disruption

WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook Inc., said some users were still facing issues while accessing its messaging service.
The problems were primarily centered in the UK and Western Europe, according to Down Detector, a website that provides realtime overview of Internet and mobile services.
“We appear to be having issues again,” a WhatsApp spokesman told Reuters.
The company had earlier said it had completely restored the service.
WhatsApp, however, did not provide any details on what led to the outage, which began shortly after 4.30pm UK time on New Year’s eve.

N1.04tn fine: Dismiss MTN’s case, NCC tells court

The Nigerian Communications Commission has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss or decline hearing the suit filed by MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to challenge the N1.04tn fine imposed on it by the commission.

NCC had imposed the N1.04tn fine on MTN for its failure to disconnect its unregistered subscribers in line with the commission’s directive.

But not pleased with the sanction, the telecommunications company had approached a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking an order quashing the fine.

MTN had urged the court to determine whether NCC could act pursuant to Section 70 of the NCC Act to impose a fine on it without breaching the provisions of sections 1 (3), 4 and 6 of the 1999 Constitution.

FG may impose ‘tougher sanction’ on MTN Nigeria

The Federal Government may impose ‘a tougher sanction’ against MTN Nigeria over the telco’s decision to contend in court the N780bn fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for regulatory infractions, Daily Trust has learnt.  

The South African telecoms operator filed a suit at the Federal High Court Lagos last week to quash the fine but NCC said yesterday it had yet to be served any court paper on the suit.

MTN Nigeria drags NCC to Court over $3.9bn fine

Telecommunications Company, MTN Nigeria Limited, has gone before a Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge the $3.9bn imposed on it by the Nigeria Communications Commission for failure to disconnect its unregistered subscribers.

Mark Zuckerberg Expresses Solidarity With Muslims in Facebook Post: 'You Are Always Welcome'

Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed solidarity with Muslims in a Facebook post Wednesday following the terror attacks in San Bernardino and Paris in recent weeks - saying Muslims are always welcome on the social networking site.

Stop Social Media Bill, IT experts tell Nigeria Senate

Senate President Bukola Saraki says there is no anti-social media bill before the senate.

Speaking on the sideline of Lagos Business School Dinner in which he was a guest, Saraki said senate have only debated the Principle of the bill and not gone into the details of the bill.

Saraki assured Nigerians that if there is any part of the bill that does not conform to human right senate will do the proper thing.

Delivering a speech titled “Macroeconomic outlook for 2016 and legislative perspective at Lagos Business School breakfast club end of the year meeting.

Facebook planning live Video for Everyone

#Facebook is planning live video for ordinary people, not just celebrities and journalists. Tests have already begun with a group of iPhone users in the US.
Streaming live video has been available for some time now through applications like Periscope and Meerkat on Twitter.
Several months ago, Facebook started a live video service as well, but it was limited to celebrities and journalists.
Now, according to Facebook product managers Vadim Lavrusik and Thai Tran, that service will soon to be extended to ordinary people like you and me.
"Today we’re beginning to test the ability for people to share live video on Facebook, starting with a small percentage of people in the US on iPhones," the pair announced through Facebook's newsroom.
Unlike Periscope and Meerkat, however, Facebook’s "Live" feature will be built right into the program. It is not something you need to download and add on. It is also designed to share live videos primarily with your friends, but that setting can be changed if you need to.
"To share live video, tap on "Update Status" and then select the "Live Video" icon. You can write a quick description and choose the audience that you want to share with before going live. During your broadcast, you’ll see the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are tuning in, and a real-time stream of comments. When you end your broadcast, it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, which you can then delete or keep for your friends to watch later."

Nigeria Senate insists on Regulating Social Media

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday vowed to continue with the process for the passage of a bill seeking to regulate the use of social media in Nigeria despite public criticism of the bill.

The Senate had passed into Second Reading a bill seeking two years imprisonment with an option of N2 million fine or both for any Nigerian who posts “abusive statements” on the social media.

Senator Dino Melaye, coming through a point of order during plenary, ‎expressed dissatisfaction with the abuse of the social media by some online publishers whom he said sold their “conscience”.

Melaye, who specifically mentioned prominent online platform, Sahara Reporters, said others in the online news business are in the habit of fair reportage.

He said Sahara Reporters is known for outright falsehood.

He added that Sahara Reporters operates from New York in the United States of America and the Nigerian Government should write the US Government on the platform’s penchant for misinformation.

Contributing to the point of order, Senator Abiodun Olujimi said the amount of falsehood flying everywhere is staggering and a scapegoat has to be made as deterrent for others.

Olujimi revealed that she had to exit all social media platforms because of the continued lies and falsehood peddled around.

Nigeria: Bill seeking to curtail media excesses pass through second reading

A bill seeking a two-year jail term for any person who makes allegation or publishes any statement or petition in the newspaper, radio or medium of whatever description against another person, institutions of government or any public office holder, passed second reading in the Senate.

The bill also prescribed that anybody or group of persons who send any false text message or post false message on the social media against another person shall be jailed for two years upon conviction by the law court.

The bill, tagged: “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith”, sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’Allah, APC, Kebbi South, compels petitioners to accompany their petitions with sworn court affidavit, failure of which attracts a six- month imprisonment upon conviction. 

Hacker ‘mr.grey’ stole a record 1.2 billion Internet credentials-FBI

A hacker who once advertised having access to user account information for websites like Facebook and Twitter has been linked through a Russian email address to the theft of a record 1.2 billion Internet credentials, the FBI said in court documents.
That hacker, known as “mr.grey,” was identified based on data from a cyber security firm that announced in August 2014 that it had determined an alleged Russian crime ring was responsible for stealing information from more than 420,000 websites, the documents said.
The papers, made public last week by a federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, provide a window into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe of what would amount to the largest collection of stolen user names and passwords.
The court papers were filed in support of a search warrant the FBI sought in December 2014 and that was executed a month later related to email records.
The FBI investigation was prompted by last year’s announcement by Milwaukee-based cyber security firm Hold Security that it obtained information that a Russian hacker group it dubbed CyberVor had stolen the 1.2 billion credentials and more than 500 million email addresses.
The FBI subsequently found lists of domain names and utilities that investigators believe were used to send spam, the documents said.