Neowin News Feed for: Government

Starmer slams tech giants as UK prepares a major crackdown on social media child safety

Paul Hill — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:26:01 +0000

A massive regulatory wave is hitting Big Tech. From mandatory age verification to AI chatbot bans, find out how the UK plans to force social media platforms to protect your kids. Read more...

UK begins testing social media bans and curfews on hundreds of families

Paul Hill — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:36:01 +0000

Is a total social media ban actually enforceable at home? The UK is testing various restrictions to find out, despite warnings from UNICEF about the risks involved. Read more...

EFF sounds the alarm on Chat Control, a regulation allowing scanning of private messages

Usama Jawad — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:16:01 +0000

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has criticized Europe's Chat Control regulation, which potentially allows governments to spy on phones. Read more...

OpenAI partners with SAP to boost AI adoption in Germany's public sector

Karthik Mudaliar — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:34:01 +0000

OpenAI and SAP are coming together to bring advanced AI technology safely and responsibly to Germany's public sector. Read more...

GSA approves Meta's Llama for use across U.S. government agencies

Karthik Mudaliar — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 12:24:01 +0000

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has officially approved Meta's Llama open-source AI models for use across federal government agencies. Read more...

UK government unveils new AI tools to cut public sector paperwork

Paul Hill — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 09:46:01 +0000

The UK government has unveiled a new AI tool that aims to speed up hospital discharges to help clear up the backlog in the NHS. Read more...

Intel to get up to $3 billion in grants for making chips for the Department of Defence

Karthik Mudaliar — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 08:26:01 +0000

The U.S. government will provide Intel with additional grants of up to $3 billion to create advanced semiconductors for national security purposes. Read more...

Google Play Store gets a new 'Government' badge for official apps

Aditya Tiwari — Thu, 02 May 2024 21:50:01 +0000

You can find a Government badge on official government-affiliated apps available on the Google Play Store. The new label is rolling out in 12 different countries, including the US, UK, and India. Read more...

European Court of Human Rights rules against government backdoors in end-to-end encryption

Martin Hodás — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 07:20:01 +0000

The discussion about law enforcers' access to end-to-end encrypted communication reached a key milestone in Europe. A court says, essentially, that implementing such a measure would be illegal. Read more...

Canada now bans Chinese WeChat and Russian Kaspersky from government devices

Omer Dursun — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 20:26:01 +0000

Canada banned WeChat and Kaspersky on government devices due to security and privacy concerns. Citing the apps' extensive data collection, Canada enacted the bans to protect the government. Read more...

Microsoft Azure Government customers get secure generative AI API access

Paul Hill — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 01:54:01 +0000

Microsoft is now offering Azure Government customers secure access to generative AI APIs. This lets governments leverage GPT-4 and GPT-3 in a way that meets stringent security requirements. Read more...

TikTok now banned on New Zealand government devices

Paul Hill — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 21:14:01 +0000

New Zealand is the latest country to ban its governmental employees from using TikTok. It fears that the app could collect sensitive data which could get into the hands of the Chinese government. Read more...

TikTok banned on UK government devices after security review

Paul Hill — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 14:16:01 +0000

The UK government has banned TikTok from being used on government devices. It said the ban was a precautionary one as the app requires sensitive data permissions, and they could be misused. Read more...

Justice Department accuses Google of destroying evidence in antitrust lawsuit

Usama Jawad — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 09:40:01 +0000

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked a district judge to sanction Google for allegedly destroying evidence in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit regarding its dominance in the web search market. Read more...

UK announces nearly £2 million worth of grants for tech startups enabling better transport

Karthik Mudaliar — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 17:26:01 +0000

The UK government has announced nearly £2 million worth for tech startups focused to make better transport systems such as AI based camera technology, 5G drones, magnetic rail traction, and more. Read more...

Xiaomi shuts down financial services in India

Usama Jawad — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 12:02:02 +0000

Xiaomi has pulled out of the fintech space in India, citing a change in strategy. One of its apps determined your credit-worthiness after scanning all your call and text logs for financial data. Read more...

India delays controversial regulations that require VPN providers to store customer data

Usama Jawad — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 09:08:01 +0000

India has delayed its new regulations which require VPN and cloud service providers to store customer information and provide it to the government. The delay allows firms to adapt or exit the country. Read more...

New Chinese policy mandates reviewing every comment on all websites before publishing

Karthik Mudaliar — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:08:01 +0000

China has passed a new policy that requires every website to review and verify real names of those who comment and its content. The information will be sent to the Chinese government if it is illegal. Read more...

UK outlines plans to regulate stablecoins just weeks after TerraUSD becomes worthless

Paul Hill — Tue, 31 May 2022 15:12:01 +0000

The UK Treasury has outlined plans to regulate the stablecoin market to help better protect consumers. It could protect investors if other stablecoins collapse like TerraUSD did this month. Read more...

France bans gaming terms like "streamer" to preserve language purity

Usama Jawad — Tue, 31 May 2022 08:06:01 +0000

The French government has issued an order banning anglicized terms like "streamer", "esports", and "cloud gaming" in the country in a bid to preserve language purity and make communication easier. Read more...

UK set to upgrade thousands of schools, hospitals, and libraries with gigabit broadband

Paul Hill — Mon, 30 May 2022 14:04:01 +0000

The UK government has said it's investing £164 million to upgrade 5,000 public buildings with gigabit broadband. It will mean nearby premises get faster speeds too as they'll be easier to reach. Read more...

Chinese government to dump Windows in favor of Linux

Usama Jawad — Fri, 06 May 2022 14:08:02 +0000

China has ordered government offices to replace foreign-branded PCs and associated operating systems with alternatives that can be locally maintained. This includes dumping Windows in favor of Linux. Read more...

UK porn age check law comes to parliament for first reading

Paul Hill — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 15:52:01 +0000

The UK government is introducing its Online Safety Bill before parliament today for its first reading. MPs will be able to debate on the wide-ranging legislation that could bring age checks for porn. Read more...

Meta to nudge more highly targeted people to join Facebook Protect

Paul Hill — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 15:44:01 +0000

Meta has said that it hopes to make Facebook Protect available to highly targeted users in 50 countries by the end of the year. Facebook Protect adds extra security layers such as 2FA. Read more...

Microsoft is driving Zero Trust adoption under recent Presidential Executive Order

Usama Jawad — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 16:50:01 +0000

Microsoft has explained how it is working with the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) to drive the adoption of Zero Trust models under a recent Presidential Executive Order. Read more...

Apple reveals more details about its child safety photo scanning technologies

Usama Jawad — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 13:12:02 +0000

Apple has provided more details about its child safety photo scanning technologies that have been drawing some fire from critics. It has also described the end-to-end flow of its review process. Read more...

Microsoft encourages cloud adoption amid Nobelium cyberattacks

Usama Jawad — Mon, 31 May 2021 04:04:01 +0000

After another Nobelium cyberattack, Microsoft has emphasized the need to differentiate between "espionage as usual" acts and crippling attacks like SolarWinds. It has encouraged cloud adoption too. Read more...

UK turning to legislation to get rid of mobile not-spots

Paul Hill — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 17:00:01 +0000

The UK government said it's looking to change legislation to allow for the construction of bigger mobile masts to boost coverage in rural areas, ultimately aiming to eradicate mobile not-spots. Read more...

UK politicians face legal challenge over self-destructing messages

Paul Hill — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 20:16:02 +0000

The law firm Foxglove is making a legal challenge against the British government because it's concerned that MPs are side-stepping archiving laws using self-destructing messages on chat apps. Read more...

Gartner: Governments globally set to increase IT spending in 2021

Paul Hill — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 13:10:01 +0000

The analyst firm Gartner has said that it expects IT spending by governments to increase by 5.1% this year as they invest more in devices and telecoms to let employees get work done from home. Read more...

Steam and PlayStation 5 are officially coming to China

Usama Jawad — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 05:34:01 +0000

Valve and Sony have announced the launch of Steam China and PlayStation 5 in China, respectively. The former currently hosts around 40 games that have been approved by the government. Read more...

Cloudflare Waiting Room will help sites deal with demand

Paul Hill — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 15:08:02 +0000

The anti-DDoS firm, Cloudflare, has launched a new tool called Waiting Room. The feature can be used to help websites protect against a deluge of traffic by forcing people to wait in a queue. Read more...

Microsoft reveals details of requests filed by U.S. government to access customer data

Usama Jawad — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 06:26:01 +0000

Microsoft has disclosed details of three cases where it fought secrecy orders issued by the U.S. government accessing customer data. The orders came from federal courts in Maryland and New York. Read more...

Microsoft launches ACTS - an initiative to detect and curb corruption

Usama Jawad — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 08:00:01 +0000

Microsoft is launching ACTS, which is a long-term initiative to use new and emerging technologies like cloud, AI, machine learning, and data visualization to detect and curb corruption. Read more...

UK creates a new unit in the CMA to regulate big tech

Paul Hill — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 03:32:01 +0000

The UK government has created a new unit within the Competition and Markets Authority which will regulate big tech firms. The government said that the body will boost innovation and consumer choice. Read more...

UK government sets less ambitious gigabit broadband goal

Paul Hill — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 18:46:01 +0000

The UK government has announced that it's scaling back ambitions to deploy gigabit broadband to 100% of residences by 2025. Instead, it has set a new target of 85% but the budget is unchanged. Read more...

Microsoft urges governments to fight against North Korean and Russian attacks on healthcare

Usama Jawad — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 15:10:01 +0000

In a sternly worded letter, Microsoft has urged world leaders to unite and take action against cybercrime groups from North Korea and Russia, among others, which are attacking healthcare institutions. Read more...

Maximizing Uptime, Performance, and Availability of U.S. Government Networks

News Staff — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 16:46:01 +0000

To protect services and even save lives, government agencies must be vigilant about the reliability, availability and performance of their underlying digital infrastructure. But how? Read more...

Get Your Cloud & Hybrid Migration Strategy Right in Government - Free eBook

News Staff — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 16:46:01 +0000

To make your cloud migration journey successful in government, register for your complimentary copy of the e-book "Get Your Cloud & Hybrid Migration Strategy Right in Government." today! Read more...

Samsung receives approval from U.S. government to supply display panels to Huawei

Rajesh Pandey — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 05:14:02 +0000

Samsung Display can now supply smartphone OLED panels to Huawei as it has received the necessary license from the U.S. Department of Commerce after the latter imposed export curbs on Huawei. Read more...