Digital Rights Weekly/Year 2/Issue 29

• Tax on software Export: Foreign currency earned through software programming and outsourcing is now taxed at 10%, an increase from the previous rate of 1%.
• E-Commerce companies: Online shopping platforms like Daraz and Sastodeal are required to pay 1% tax on their sales of products or services online. When wiring transactions to their sellers, a 1% tax must be deducted.
• Social Media Content Creators: YouTube, TikTok, and other social media content creators shall pay 5% tax to the government on their earning. Previously only 1% tax was payable on receiving such income. Now, the bank will deduct 5% of the amount and pay it to the government.

United Nations Addresses AI Threats and Urges Global Oversight
The United Nations Security Council convened its inaugural session to address the potential threats posed by artificial intelligence (A.I.) to international peace and stability. UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the need for a worldwide regulatory body to monitor the technology due to its associated concerns. He cautioned that AI could facilitate criminal and terrorist activities, resulting in widespread harm and unprecedented psychological damage.
During the session, diplomats and AI experts presented an analysis of the risks and benefits of this emerging technology, acknowledging that much remains unknown about AI despite its rapid development. The recent launch of ChatGPT, a versatile technology capable of generating texts, mimicking voices, and producing multimedia content, has raised alarm about the potential for disinformation and manipulation.

Government Postpones Full Implementation of A’ La Carte System
The government of Nepal has postponed its earlier decision to immediately enforce a full-fledged A’ La Carte system for paid foreign channels. Initially, the Ministry of Information and Communications, along with the Department of Information and Broadcasting under the Ministry of Information, had issued a statement warning that if the list of fees and “bouquet” of paid foreign channels were not received by 13th July, the broadcast of these channels in Nepal would be halted from 17 July. However, the government has now postponed the strict implementation of this system.
Bharat Gautam, Spokesperson and Director of the Department of Information and Broadcasting, explained that the process of formulating the bouquet list is still ongoing, and the response from channels has been positive. Despite the postponement, the government remains committed to implementing the A’ La Carte system, and a committee has been established by the ministry to oversee this process. The bouquet list from four operators has already been received, and others are in the process of being submitted.

TikTok Faces Security Breach as 700,000 Accounts
A significant security breach occurred in Turkey, where as many as 700,000 TikTok accounts were compromised. This hack granted attackers access to users’ private information and control over their accounts.
Internal emails, chat logs, and documents obtained from both inside and outside TikTok paint a concerning picture. The company had been informed of the vulnerability over a year prior, stemming from the “greyrouting” of SMS messages through insecure channels. In April 2022, TikTok’s security chief, Roland Cloutier, received a warning email from the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre, a division of GCHQ, the nation’s top intelligence agency. The email raised concerns that this practice could enable “SIM farms” in countries like Russia to request and intercept one-time passwords, leading to unauthorized access to TikTok users’ accounts.

Chinese Hackers Breach 25 US Government Email Accounts
A significant cyber security breach has been detected, revealing that Chinese hackers have successfully infiltrated the email accounts of 25 US government organizations. The hackers exploited a security vulnerability on Microsoft’s cloud platform, which allowed them unauthorized access to the email accounts. According to a report in The Washington Post, the attack has been attributed to a Chinese hacker group known as Storm 0558, and Microsoft has confirmed the incident. Among the 25 compromised email accounts, some belong to government agencies, while others are associated with consumer email accounts linked to government entities.