TheNewsGuru

Tag: EU

  • Google warns EU against copyright reforms as compromise looms

    Google has warned against planned EU copyright reforms that would make internet companies liable for infringements and require them to pay for publishing press snippets, amid signs that a compromise is emerging on the controversial measures.

    The overhaul, proposed by the European Union’s executive in 2016, aims to make EU copyright rules fit for the digital age by ensuring that artists and news publishers are fairly remunerated for work that appears online.

    However, critics charge that the measures will damage the free exchange of information, with some media outlets warning they could spell “the death of the internet.”

    Google Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kent Walker warned of the reform’s unintended consequences, in a blog post published on Thursday.

    “Restricting the amount of news Google can republish to weblinks and short fragments of headlines would cause a substantial traffic loss to news publishers,’’ Walker said.

    He added that holding internet companies liable for copyright infringements would harm Europe’s creative economy.

    EU member states are trying to hash out a common position on the reforms in order to strike a deal with the European Parliament, which agreed its position in September.

    According to a draft text seen by dpa, in recent days, France and Germany agreed on a compromise that would exempt smaller companies from the provisions on copyright infringements.

    This paves the way for a possible agreement among member states as soon as Friday, with a view to concluding negotiations with parliament coming week.

    Efforts to strike a deal failed three weeks ago due to disagreement between France and Germany.

    However, the parliament’s chief negotiator, Axel Voss, told dpa he was disappointed with their compromise.

     

  • Death threats: El-Rufai spoke in national interest, Buhari tells PDP, EU, others

    The presidency on Wednesday said the controversies generated by comments credited to the Governor of Kaduna State and a staunch supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nasir El-Rufai on a national programme were needless and baseless.

    Recall that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday threatened to pull out of the peace accord it signed with other parties before the National Peace Committee (NPC) chaired by former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    The opposition party hinged its decision on the “death threats” issued by the governor, according to it, to officials of the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (U.K.) and the European Union (E.U.).

    But the Presidency dismissed it all as a storm in a tea cup. “There is nothing more to sneeze at”, it said.

    Also yesterday, the EU Election Observer Mission (EOM) said its men were in Nigeria on the invitation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and that they will remain in the country to monitor the elections billed for February 16 (presidential/National) and March 2 (governorship/state Assembly).

    Speaking on an NTA live programme El-Rufai was reported to have threatened the foreign nationals who might interfere with Nigeria’s upcoming elections with violent attacks.

    “Those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the person that would come and intervene, they would go back in body bags,” he was quoted as saying.

    The governor, however, explained himself yesterday, insisting that his comments were not in any way calls for violence, but a defence of Nigeria’s sovereignty.

    El-Rufai said he merely stood up for Nigeria’s dignity as against those who would traduce their country and reduce it to a colony in their vain quest for power.

    In a statement last night, the Presidency said: “The Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari would cooperate with election observers and would not let the international community down in the conduct of the coming elections.

    “The Presidency assures Nigerians and the international community that the President would do everything within his power to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the country.

    “We have taken note of the clarification to a reported earlier statement by the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufa’i concerning opposition call for foreign interference in our domestic affairs and to say that latest statement by him should rest the issue for good. There is nothing more to sneeze at. The Governor spoke strongly in defense of of national interest. It is clear that El-Rufa’i, our party the APC and all its candidates have reposed their faith in democracy through general elections. They are all of the view that there is no place for violence against local people or foreign citizens in our midst.

    “Opposition PDP ought to own up to the mistakes of their own policies for 16 years which have led the country to a sorry pass that has cost lives, jobs and growth instead of dwelling on diversionary issues.”

    The PDP’s threat was issued at a news conference in Abuja. Its spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan described El-Rufai’s comments as inimical to peaceful, free and fair elections.

    He said: “The PDP is left with no option than to consider a review of its signatory in the National Peace Accord, if no action is immediately taken to curb this trend.”

    PDP not genuinely committed to peace accord – BMO

    But a pro-Buhari group, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), said neither the PDP nor its presidential candidate, was genuinely committed to any peace deal.

    According to the BMO, PDP’s presidential candidate signed the peace accord reluctantly.

    The main opposition party called on the international community to immediately impose a travel ban on El-Rufai for what it described as the inciting comments against peaceful elections.

    Ologbodiyan also called on the Gen. Abdulsalami to summon El-Rufai on the threat.

    He said: “The PDP holds that any situation that seeks to allow the APC to abuse the tenets of the accord will definitely force our party to review our signatory to the peace process.

    “We therefore call on the NPC to immediately summon El-Rufai on his inflammatory remarks against peaceful election in our country.

    “In that regard, we might have no option left than to allow our members to defend their votes with whatever that is available to them.

    “This country belongs to all of us and no individual or group, no matter how highly placed, can subjugate other citizens, or seek to appropriate any sort of absolutism to himself.”

    The PDP also kicked against what it described as an alleged plot by the police authority to redeploy Kayode Egbetokun as Commissioner of Police to the Kwara State Command.

    The opposition party alleged closeness of Egbetokun to a section of the leadership of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

    This, according to the PDP, might lead to Egbetokun taking sides in the ongoing supremacy tussle between the PDP and the APC chapters in Kwara State.

    Ologbondiyan said: “This is in line with plans by the Buhari Presidency and the APC to effect a mass deployment of top security officers, particularly the police, to intimidate, harass and manhandle Nigerians that will not support the self-succession bid of President Muhammadu Buhari as well as aiding APC thugs to snatch ballot boxes and orchestrate violence in the elections.

    “Nigerians are aware of how CP Kayode Egbetokun was posted to Lagos State by the former Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, to serve the same partisan interest and how that posting was stopped by the new IGP Adamu Mohammed. Now, he is being redeployed to Kwara State for the same ignoble plot.

    “It is necessary to state that the PDP is a party of peace and we are committed to the peace accord. However, the deployment of Kayode Egbetokun as Kwara CP directly negates the principle of the Peace Accord and can only hurt the fragile peace that currently exists in Kwara state.

    “We wish to remind the acting Inspector General, Adamu Mohammed, that his acceptability among Nigerians across party line was based on the pedigree, which was presented to Nigerians before his appointment.

    “These pedigree and exposure place on his shoulders, the responsibility to be just, firm, equitable and professional in the discharge of his duties. We therefore urge him not to allow his reputation to be mired in controversial political activities.”

    The party called on the National Peace Committee to note the alleged infractions by the APC and its leaders to the peace accord.

  • 2019: EU replies El-Rufai over death threats to foreign election observers

    The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) on Wednesday replied Governor Nasir El-Rufai and said its observers were invited for the February poll by the Federal Government.

    It said its observers are always impartial and do not interfere in the electoral process.

    It also clarified that its observers will continue their work across the country in the run-up to – and beyond – the 16 February elections.

    The EU EOM, which made its position known in a statement in Abuja, said the “security of EU observers is of paramount importance and will remain under constant review.”

    The statement said: “We are aware of the comments by the Governor of Kaduna about non-interference by foreigners during a talk show on the elections Tuesday 5 February.

    “The EU only deploys an election observation mission when it is invited to do so by the authorities of a country. The EU has been invited to observe all of the general elections in Nigeria since 1999. Thus this is the sixth time the EU is observing elections in Nigeria.

    “The Independent National Electoral Commission invited the EU to deploy an observation mission for the 2019 general elections.

    “EU election observation missions give commentary and analysis and make recommendations about the electoral process. EU election observation missions are impartial, do not interfere in the electoral process, and operate according to a strict code of conduct.”

    Notwithstanding, the EU said its observers will continue to do their work while their security remains under constant review.

    While the security of EU observers is of paramount importance, and will remain under constant review, EU observers will continue their work across the country in the run-up to – and beyond – the 16 February elections.

    The statement added: “For the last month the mission’s team in Abuja, as well as 40 long-term observers across the country, have followed the elections.

    “We have met with a wide range of candidates, parties, election officials, security agencies, and civil society organizations, and have enjoyed good cooperation at federal and state levels.

    The mission looks at all aspects of the election, including the campaign tone, the transparency of the election administration, the neutrality of security forces, and the independence of the judiciary.“

  • Huawei: Mobile network operator’s body considers crisis meeting

    GSMA, the mobile communications industry body, has proposed a crisis meeting to discuss a plan to ban Huawei 5G equipment in the European Union (EU).

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports this is coming amid mounting industry concerns that such a move could set operators back by years.

    The European Commission is weighing a de-facto ban on Huawei’s 5G network equipment for next-generation mobile networks due to security concerns.

    Some Western countries, including the United States and Australia, have restricted Huawei from building next-generation mobile networks, and Germany is considering whether to do so.

    GSMA Director General, Mats Granryd, had written to members proposing to put the debate around Huawei onto the agenda of its next board meeting, a spokesman for the federation has said.

    The meeting will be held in late February on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress, the industry’s biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona.

    As many operators are relying on Huawei to build out 5G networks, a de-facto ban would be a considerable setback for Europe’s efforts to stay competitive in communications, with implications for connected factories, self-driving cars and medical technology.

    Deutsche Telekom has said it would set its plans to roll out the new services back by two years.

     

  • EU seeks more efforts against fake news from Facebook, Google, others

    The European Commission on Tuesday called on social media giants including Facebook and Google to take stronger action against disinformation ahead of EU-wide elections in May.

    In September, Facebook, Google, Mozilla and Twitter signed up to a voluntary EU code of conduct to tackle fake news online.

    At the time, the commission warned that it could introduce binding rules if the voluntary measures do not go far enough.

    The companies have made some progress, the commission on Tuesday said in its first assessment of measures taken.

    But it warned that additional action is needed ahead of this year’s European Parliament elections.

    “We are stepping up a pace on all fronts to ensure free and fair elections,” said EU Justice Commissioner, Vera Jourova.

    “I expect companies will fully follow on their rhetoric and commitment.’’

    Among other things, the commission calls on Facebook to provide consumer empowerment tools and cooperation with fact-checkers in more than just a handful of member states and asks Google to make its tools to fight disinformation more widely available.

    The EU executive also asks Twitter and Mozilla for more detail on their plans to tackle fake news.

    “We don’t want to wake up the day after the elections and realise we should have done more,” said Julian King, the Commissioner Responsible for Security Issues.

    On Monday, Facebook’s chief lobbyist Nick Clegg announced plans to increase electoral transparency in Europe from March, by showing, who had paid for any political advertising and keeping the ads in a public database for up to seven years, among other things.

    King welcomed the plans but stressed the need for any such initiatives to be in place before EU election campaigns gear up in earnest.

    The EU code of conduct commits companies to actions such as flagging political advertising, closing fake accounts, helping people make informed decisions and disrupting advertising revenues for accounts and websites that misrepresent information.

    Fears are rife that third parties, such as Russia, may try to influence voters ahead of this year’s EU elections, with a view to boosting populist, Eurosceptic parties.

    Member states have also been asked to assign a contact person for an EU rapid alert system aimed at shutting down disinformation.

    Twelve of the bloc’s 28 member states have not yet done so, the commission said.

    The commission is due to issue monthly reports on the progress made by social media giants until the European elections and will conduct an overall review once the code of conduct has been in place for a year, to see whether legislative steps are needed.

    Other EU measures to fight fake news include setting up a network of fact-checkers and researchers, introducing new technologies to detect and counter false information and more than doubling the EU’s strategic communication budget.

    EU negotiators have also agreed in principle on plans to fine political parties that misuse private data to influence elections.

     

  • 40 EU observers arrive Nigeria ahead of 2019 polls

    Less than 19 days to the commencement of the general elections, 40 European Union (EU) Observers have arrived the country for the elections.

    Mr David Dahmen, the leader of the EU Observers incharge of Oyo and Osun states, disclosed this to Newsmen on Tuesday in Ibadan, when he visited the Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) in Oyo State, Mr Mutiu Agboke.

    Dahmen who was on a familiarisation tour, stated that the observers had been grouped into 20 teams to observe the forthcoming elections in all the states of the federation.

    He said that he and Mr Mukalay Banze, along with their Assistant, Mr Sony Odiongenyi, would be incharge of Oyo and Osun states.

    He said the Observers would interact with some key stakeholders, INEC inclusive, in the course of their stay in the country.

    ”We have just been briefed by the Oyo REC on the preparations made by INEC in respect of the forthcoming elections.” Dahmen said.

    Earlier, Agboke stated that the EU observers were on a familiarisation visit to the state headquarters of INEC.

    ”We have updated the team on our preparations and readiness to conduct free, fair and credible polls,” he said.

  • Onnoghen: Atiku writes U.S., UK, EU, says Buhari threatening Nigeria’s democracy

    Onnoghen: Atiku writes U.S., UK, EU, says Buhari threatening Nigeria’s democracy

    Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has written three foreign governments accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of serially violating the Nigerian constitution.

    Atiku, a former Vice President of Nigeria, is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.

    He wrote his letter to the ambassadors of France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

    In the letter, Mr Abubakar raised key areas were he alleged Mr Buhari has ignored court orders or violated Nigeria’s constitution.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari is threatening our democracy by serially breaching the provisions of our constitution and undermining organs and institutions of State in order to advance his personal interest,” he wrote.

    Read Mr Abubakar’s letter below.
    CONSTITUTIONAL BREACHES UNDER THE WATCH OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI

    I have chosen to write this letter to Your Excellency for the enviable role that your country plays as champion of Democracy and the Rule of Law. I am also writing you as Nigeria’s international development partner working together to deepen and strengthen our democracy as well as to help in the transformation of our economies and societies for the better.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is threatening our democracy by serially breaching the provisions of our constitution and undermining organs and institutions of State in order to advance his personal interest. While the President has ironically taken oath to safeguard and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the reality of his selective and wanton violations of its provisions means that his oath is observed only in the breach.

    And as Your Excellency very much knows, respect for the rule of law is integral to promoting and preserving the values and principles of democracy. Sadly, however, by the actions of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, one is forced to think otherwise.

    As a Presidential Candidate in the forthcoming General Elections that will be conducted and supervised by the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, I feel the urgent need to share with you some of these key violations of the provisions of our constitution and to demand that you pile pressure on the Federal Government to desist from these violations and ensure a level playing field for the General Elections that are only a couple of weeks away. We acknowledge with profound appreciation the positions taken by some members of the International Community in Nigeria and urge Your Excellency to add your country’s very strong voice against these breaches of Nigeria’s constitution. Your Voice is very important to the survival of Nigeria’s democracy.

    Some of these constitutional infractions are highlighted below for your information and action as you may deem appropriate.

    1. The Purported Suspension of CJN Onnoghen

    On Friday, January 25, 2019, our nation woke up to the shocking news of the unilateral and extra-constitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen and the immediate appointment and swearing in of Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, as the new acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). This action of President Muhammadu Buhari, not only breaches the Nigerian Constitution, but has also managed to undermine Presidential democracy by assaulting one of its hallowed doctrines of separation of Powers. For the records, Justice Walter Onnoghen is the head of one of the Tripartite but mutually independent organs that form the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. To attempt to muscle out the Chief Justice of Nigeria using phony charges at a time when His Lordship was primed to play a central role in the fast approaching nationwide electoral process represents the boldest steps in the march to undermine our democracy. This is undoubtedly an anti-democratic act which my political Party and I reject without reservation and for which I urge Your Excellency to condemn unequivocally.

    Need I say, this brazen authoritarian and imperious stride of President Buhari is the latest action in a series of carefully planned onslaught on our nation’s hard earned democracy by an extremely power hungry and anxious President and the cabal that feeds fat around him as February 16, 2019 draws nearer.

    The fact that the unlawful suspension of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen was announced just as it became public knowledge that the CJN was constituting the election petition tribunals is not lost on discerning Nigerians and the international community. This act of desperation is geared towards affecting the outcome of the 2019 Presidential elections. Indeed, it is not just the CJN that has been “suspended”, it is the Nigerian Constitution that has been infracted and, in effect, suspended, under the guise of the suspension of the CJN.

    The case involving the legality or otherwise of the charges against Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen is in court, as it should be. So far, the judiciary has ruled in Justice Onnoghen’s favour. So, why not allow the court to adjudicate on the matter? What is the pressing urgency about this matter?

    Let me therefore take the opportunity of this letter to urge your country and all well-meaning members of the International community to mount pressure on this government and all its anti-democracy functionaries know that their actions will have consequences. Strong consequences.

    2. The illegal purchase of the Tucano Aircrafts:

    President Buhari sometime in April 2018 approved the purchase of Tucano Aircrafts for the Nigerian Military at the sum of $496 million (Four Hundred and Ninety-Six Million United States Dollars). This, he did, without seeking prior approval of the National Assembly contrary to Section 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states very clearly, how the President can spend monies belonging to the Federation. It provides:

    “(3) No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”

    “(4) No monies shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly”

    3. Disregard for Orders of Courts:

    The Muhammadu Buhari administration has serially violated court orders, going against the rule of law especially in three known cases.

    a. Col. Sambo Dasuki (Former National Security Adviser): Various courts have granted Col. Dasuki bail on at least six different occasions; the Buhari led government has persistently refused to comply with the court orders.

    · Federal High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Adeniyi Ademola in 2015 ordered the release of Col. Dasuki’s passport and granted him permission to travel abroad for three weeks on medical grounds. Despite the order made on November 3, the Department of State Security Services, SSS refused to release Col. Dasuki.

    · Again, the former NSA and four others were granted bail on December 18, 2015 on a similar condition with a N250 million bond by Justice Hussein-Baba Yusuf.

    · Similarly, the former NSA; a former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda; former Sokoto Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa; ‎and three others were granted bail by Justice Peter Affen on December 21, 2015 by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in the sum of N250 million each and two sureties in like sum. The Federal Government cherry-picked the order whilst disobeying the part that concerned the former NSA.

    · The ECOWAS Court presided by Honorable Justice F.C. Nwoke on October 4 2016 granted the former NSA bail and ordered the Nigerian Government to pay N15 Million to the defendant as damages for his “illegal and arbitrary detention”.

    · On 17 January 2018, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja reaffirmed previous court orders granting Col. Dasuki bail.

    · Also on April 6, 2018 the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court affirmed, for the umpteenth time, its decision for the release of Col. Dasuki.

    b. Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, Leader of a Shiite Group, IMN:

    · Sheikh El-Zakzaky has been in detention without trial for over 3years after his followers were massacred in broad daylight; his wife and family killed and his home burnt, in a gory and shameful show of brute force by the Nigerian Army. This particular state violence is nothing short of genocide.

    · On December 2, 2016 the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court Presided by Justice Kolawole ordered the release of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and berated the Nigerian government for violating his rights.

    4. The approval of $1 billion for military expenditure before approaching the National Assembly:

    The Nigerian government through the National Economic Council NEC, again in contravention of Section 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), granted approval for the release of $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, for the procurement of military hardware and other equipment to fight insecurity in the country, ahead of the 2019 General Elections without recourse to the National Assembly. Mansur Dan-Ali, Nigeria’s Defense Minister disclosed this at the end of security chiefs meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, April 4, 2018. By this act, the Federal Government acted contrary to the provisions of the Section 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, which states:

    “(3) No monies shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Act of the National Assembly.

    5. Executive Order No. 006 (On Preservation of Suspicious Assets and Related Schedules):

    The enactment of the controversial Executive Order No. 006 as an Executive legislation which permits security agencies to freeze the assets of persons standing trial or undergoing investigation without recourse to court orders. This is a usurpation of legislative and judicial powers of the National Assembly and the judiciary as enshrined respectively under sections 4 and 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and reminiscent of the military era of decrees.

    The above, and many more that did not make it into this very short letter, are the unfortunate actions of the Government of a man who merely pays lip service to being a reformed democrat.

    General Elections are upon us yet again. I urge you to partner with Nigerians to defend our constitution and play an active role in building our country. The choices facing all of us is either to stand aside and watch Nigerians reelect a President who has been in constant violation of the laws of the land without remorse; or to support them show him the way out and elect a true democrat. We must send a clear message that the Nigerian Nation is bigger than any individual.

    Even if Nigerians opted not to elect me as President, the incumbent must go into the polls on his own record of lack of respect for the Rule of Law and not on the spurious perception of his “Integrity”. We need to set precedence for successive leaders not to take democratic mandate for granted.

    Sincerely,

    Atiku Abubakar, GCON

    (Waziri Adamawa)

    Former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

    and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

  • Expert calls for sensitisation on data privacy

    Expert calls for sensitisation on data privacy

    There is an urgent need to sensitise Nigerians on data privacy and security, says John Odumesi, a cyber security expert.

    Speaking during the 2019 Data Privacy Day, Odumesi said that people needed to know how the issue of data privacy affected them.

    January 28 is Data Privacy Day which was set aside to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices.

    The Cybersecurity Analyst said that the purpose of Data Privacy Day was to raise awareness about the rights to personal data protection and privacy.

    He said that data was becoming more valuable than ever, as people continually share more data on their connected devices, while businesses and government are collecting and using the personal information more than ever before.

    ”Data privacy is basically the necessity to protect personal information collected by any organisation and from unauthorised access. Such data types include: online privacy, medical privacy, financial privacy, among others.

    ”The challenge with data privacy is that most people are not aware enough about data privacy and protection,” Odumesi said in a statement.

    He said that government should review all policies related to surveillance, interception and collection of personal data in line with international human rights standards on privacy protection.

    According to him, there is the need for speedy passage of the personal information and data protection bill as well as the digital rights and freedom bill.

    ”Nigerian organisations should review their current privacy policy and processes in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

    ”The European Union (EU) GDPR regulates how the personal data of EU citizens are collected and processed.

    ”The regulation is relevant to Nigerian business environment. It applies to Nigerian organisations that handle personal data of EU citizens. Non-compliance with the regulation can result to severe fines,” he said.

     

  • Facebook tightens paid ads rules ahead of EU elections

    Facebook tightens paid ads rules ahead of EU elections

    Facebook on Monday said it will beef up its rules and safeguards around political adverts to prevent foreign interference in elections, including those in Europe this year.

    The world’s largest social network has been under pressure from regulators and the public after 2018’s revelation that British consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of U.S. users to target election advertising.

    “We will require those wanting to run political and issue ads to be authorised and we will display a `paid for by’ disclaimer on those ads,” Facebook’s recently-appointed Head of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, told a news conference.

    Clegg, a former British Deputy Prime Minister, hired by Facebook in October said the new tools to be launched in March aim to help protect the integrity of EU elections due to be held this spring.

    Facebook said the transparency tools for electoral ads would be expanded globally before the end of June.

    It added that the tools would be launched in India in February before its elections and in Ukraine and Israel before polls in both.

    “The tools are similar to those adopted for the U.S. mid-term elections,’’ Clegg said, adding that all political ads will be stored in a publicly searchable library for up to seven years.

    This will contain information such as the amount of money spent and the number of impressions displayed, who paid for them and the demographics of those who saw them, including age, gender and location.

    The new tools, which will be launched in March, will also cover `issue ads’ which do not explicitly back one candidate or political party but which focus on highly politicised topics like immigration.

    Facebook said it will also set up two new regional operations centres focused on monitoring election-related content in its Dublin and Singapore offices.

    Clegg, however, denied that Facebook sells users’ data.

    “Selling people’s information to advertisers would not only be the wrong thing to do, but it would also undermine the way we do business.

    “Because it would reduce the unique value of our service to advertisers,’’ he noted.

     

  • Onnoghen: FG warns US, UK, EU over interference

    Onnoghen: FG warns US, UK, EU over interference

    Federal Government has condemned foreign interference in the nation’s affairs which is capable of creating apprehension, distrust among citizens.

    It further said such actions have the tendencies of undermining the transparency and acceptability of outcomes of the nation’s electoral process.

    Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, gave the warning in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

    The presidential aide was apparently reacting to statements issued by some foreign countries including the United Kingdom, United States of America and the European Union, over the suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.

    President Buhari also swore-in the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko, to replace Onnoghen, pending final determination of the cases against him.

    He said, “Nigeria reserves the right to be insulated from suggestions and or interference with respect to wholly internal affairs and commends international laws, customs and norms that mandate and require nations and the comity to respect this prerogative to all.

    “Nigeria is confident of its electoral processes and her preparation for the imminent elections and the federal government has supported the independent electoral umpire in both its independence and resources needed to accomplish our desire and insistence on free and fair elections’’.

    According to him, the federal government welcomes the prevailing keen interest and partnerships for successful elections and a peaceful Nigeria.

    He added that the government had ensured the independence of all organs, institutions and arms of government to “perform their functions in a manner that is transparent, and not lacking in integrity whether institutionally or by persons within such institutions or organs.’’

    The presidential media aide enjoined the citizens to confidently exercise their franchise in an orderly manner with the assurance of the federal government to their security during and after the electoral process.

    He reiterated the readiness of the nation’s security forces to confront any plan or attempt to interfere with or disrupt the process whether by elements within or from outside the country.