That was quick: The new Malaysian government has repealed a fake news law passed earlier this year, The Hill reports. The past government had used the law to charge several opposition leaders. The maximum penalty for violating the law was six years in prison and a fine of about US$128,000.
They love us: A community-run ISP in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the highest-rated broadband provider in the United States in a Consumer Reports survey, notes Motherboard. The community-run service gets high ranks for speed, reliability, and value, the story says.
Legislating backdoors: The Australian government is targeting companies like Facebook, Google, and WhatsApp in a proposal that would require tech companies to decrypt customer communications on demand, CNet reports. The details of the draft proposal are unclear, but the government would require tech companies to provide more assistance to law enforcement agencies, The Register says.
AI doesn’t want your job: Workers don’t need to worry about Artificial Intelligence taking their jobs, Forbes says. AI will replace boring tasks, but generally not replace whole positions, according to one group of AI experts.
97 and counting: The Kashmir region of India has seen 97 Internet shutdowns in six years after and 11-hour suspension on Aug. 15, Medianama reports. Across the entire country, there have been 96 shutdowns just this year. Indian law allows shutdown if officials determine there’s a public safety or emergency situation.
Billions and billions exposed: About 2.6 billion user records were exposed in more than 2,300 publicly reported data breaches in the first half of 2018, Risk Based Security says. The good news is the number of records exposed is down from a super high 6 billion in the first half of 2017, Silicon Republic reports.
AI for the eyes: A new AI system can diagnose 50 eye diseases with “superb” accuracy, reports Fast Company. The AI, created by Google DeepMind subsidiary UCL and researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital, can also tell eye doctors why it made the diagnosis.
The Internet Society is standing up for encryption in Australia. You can too.