Friday, December 21, 2018

WhatsApp has a child porn problem

THE DAILY CRUNCH
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21 2018 By Anthony Ha

NGOs reveal WhatsApp's child porn problem, China restarts game approvals and drones cause U.K. airport chaos. Here's your Daily Crunch for December 21, 2018.

1. WhatsApp has an encrypted child porn problem

It seems that WhatsApp chat groups are being used to spread illegal child pornography, cloaked by the app's end-to-end encryption. A report from two Israeli NGOs details how third-party apps for discovering WhatsApp groups include "Adult" sections that offer invite links to join rings of users trading images of child exploitation.

TechCrunch's investigation shows that Facebook could do more to police WhatsApp and remove this kind of content. Even without technical solutions that would require a weakening of encryption, WhatsApp's moderators should have been able to find these groups and put a stop to them.

warning symbol overlaid on toxic fumes and whatsapp logo

2. Winter is ending: China to restart game approvals

China's regulatory bodies for games stopped approving new titles in March as they underwent a major reshuffle.

3. UK airport restarts some flights after drone shutdown chaos

The U.K.'s second busiest airport, Gatwick, reopened its runway early this morning after a day of shutdown triggered after drones were repeatedly spotted flying nearby. In a media statement, the airport said it reopened the runway at 06:00 GMT and that a "limited number" of aircraft are now taking off and landing.

4. At Blind, a security lapse revealed private complaints from Silicon Valley employees

Thousands of people trusted Blind, an app-based "anonymous social network," as a safe way to reveal malfeasance, wrongdoing and improper conduct at their companies. But Blind left one of its database servers exposed without a password, making it possible (for anyone who knew where to look) to access each user's account information and identify would-be whistleblowers.

5. Facebook is reportedly planning its own stablecoin — here's what you need to know

Facebook looks to be jumping on the blockchain wagon with plans to introduce its own stablecoin, according to a report from Bloomberg. Apparently, it'll be a stablecoin that "let[s] users transfer money on its WhatsApp messaging app, focusing first on the remittances market in India."

6. SoftBank's Vision Fund is preparing to invest $1 billion in Grab

The mega fund — which is targeted at $100 billion — is planning to invest upwards of $1 billion into Southeast Asia's ride-hailing leader Grab, two sources told TechCrunch. The investment could reach as much as $1.5 billion, one source added.

7. Aquaman is a ridiculous superhero epic

This movie is not afraid of looking dumb, and I loved every minute of it.

Get more stories at techcrunch.com 

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