Government

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Efforts toward implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are ongoing, according to government Press Secretary Clint Watson, ...

“I’m happy that he has said there is willpower, there is the political will to see it happen we’ve seen the first stage now being implemented so that means it’s on its way. If you’re training people in various agencies on being able to handle the Freedom of Information Act, and it’s in the first stage, it’s already been launched, so that means it’s happening. When questioned on the government’s level of commitment to the matter, Watson said that there is a strong willpower from this administration to establish FOIA.

The government has launched a consultation regarding the way holiday pay is calculated for part-year and irregular hours workers.

It also aims to understand how entitlement is currently calculated for agency workers, how the consultation proposal might be implemented, and review and potentially amend Julia Kermode, founder of Iwork, added: “Bringing in these changes will simplify holiday pay for employers and make it much easier for temps to work out how much they’re entitled to and, crucially, claim it. The consultation is intended to explore how the process of calculating holiday pay for these groups can be simplified for employers and provide clarity to employees.

The government has opened a consultation to address the complexity around holiday pay after last year's Harpur Trust v Brazel ruling.

She was only paid for the hours she taught, which varied week to week. She brought a claim, claiming the Trust’s approach meant she received less than she was entitled to. [Supreme Court: Holiday pay for part-year staff should not be pro-rated](https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/supreme-court-holiday-pay-ruling-harpur-trust-v-brazel/) [Pimlico Plumbers holiday pay ruling: four steps for employers ](https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/pimlico-plumbers-holiday-pay-ruling-four-steps-for-employers/) [Does an employer have to pay holiday pay to its casual workers?](https://www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/does-an-employer-have-to-pay-holiday-pay-to-its-casual-workers/24400/?cmpid=ILC “Under current laws, part-year workers can receive considerably more leave and pay than that of a part-time worker despite working the same number of hours in total over the course of a year. The Court of Appeal and subsequently Supreme Court decided in her favour, ruling that because she was on a contract for the whole year she should be entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid leave. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the intention of the consultation was “to ensure that their holiday pay and entitlement is directly proportionate to the time they spend working”.

AB “Ignitis grupė” (hereinafter – the Group) informs that AB “Energijos skirstymo operatorius” Management Board approved the signing of the agreement with.

This will not have an impact to the Group’s results because ESO is not the final recipient of the funds (it only administrates the payments). The Group would like to remind you that the resolution was passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter – the Government) on 26 October 2022, wherein a partial compensation was established for business customers for the periods of Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. The funds allocated for partial compensation of business customers will be paid by the administrator – AB “Energijos skirstymo operatorius”.

The Socialist government, led by Prime Minister Antonio Costa, has faced numerous challenges since winning a parliamentary majority in last year's election.

He didn't do that before?" "It is not an investigation... "This mechanism is prior to nomination and seeks to anticipate a problem," she said.

The Chinese government may be taking stakes and getting board representation at leading video streaming firms, say reports.

And in 2020 regulators abruptly cancelled the IPO of [Alibaba’s financial subsidiary Ant Group](https://variety.com/2022/biz/asia/china-orders-tech-firms-to-stay-in-their-lane-1235158233/), which was to have been one of the biggest corporate flotations in global history. Companies have responded to the hard times by laying off tens of thousands of staff. [repeatedly fined ](https://variety.com/2021/biz/asia/alibaba-fined-by-china-in-monopolies-probe-1234948517/)and been required to contribute large sums for the sake of “common prosperity.” Many corporate founders, including those at Bytedance and Alibaba, have been pushed aside. The second-ranked video platform is the Baidu-backed iQiyi, which disclosed 101 million subscribers for the end of September. [Cyberspace Administration of China](https://variety.com/t/cyberspace-administration-of-china/) has acquired a 1% stake in a Guangzhou-based digital media subsidiary of Alibaba that includes [Youku](https://variety.com/t/youku/), China’s third ranked generalist video streamer, and UC Web, an internet browser developed for mobile users. In others, they may give privileges to the holder, such as a board seat.

The federal government and 27 state governments have banned popular China-based video sharing mobile app TikTok from government-issued devices.

Marketplace's Kimberly Adams spoke with Joshua Scacco, associate chair of the University of South Florida's department of communication. He said this ...

Scacco: Pete Buttigieg using the platform to be able to get the message out on Southwest makes a lot of sense. Part of the population of individuals who were going to be traveling over the holiday who would have been affected by the conditions at airports were younger people who might get the message on TikTok. The challenge is if elected officials, if government officials, are not in those spaces, they do not have the opportunities to counter myths and disinformation, to fact-check. So there is that balance in the sense of concern over the “security concerns” with the platform versus, as well, the fact that this is a platform where millions of users go to get information. The other big challenge would be how would elected officials or candidates for office, how would they be able to communicate in this particular space? If governments and government officials don’t go there, or they can’t go there, the individuals who have access to information, and important information at times, are not going to be part of the narrative that’s being shaped in these places. Every day, the “Marketplace Tech” team demystifies the digital economy with stories that explore more than just Big Tech. So one is for the government employee who might be an 8-to-5 or a 9-to-5, during that period of time, they cannot visit TikTok on their government devices. Scacco: So that would have to be up to the individuals who are writing the restrictions and bans on use of TikTok. So there would have to be built into the sorts of regulation here potential exceptions to how it could be used. Would they be able to communicate in this space? Joshua Scacco: So when we think about the rules, there will be various approaches that local, state, even federal government will take with regard to essentially ban the use of TikTok on government devices during business hours.

The discussions are emerging as Beijing prepares to loosen its grip on the sector and move past a bruising crackdown that's enveloped most every internet ...

For both Alibaba and Tencent, the government stake could potentially help them to get greenlights to do businesses in new areas and lower the risks of further clampdown by the regulators.” Discussions are also underway about a government entity taking a similar stake in a [Tencent](/topic/tencent) subsidiary in mainland China, a person familiar with the matter said. [Tencent](/topic/tencent) and Alibaba were largely unchanged in Hong Kong, recouping earlier losses. and [Tencent](/topic/tencent) Holdings Ltd., suggesting [Beijing](/topic/beijing) is moving to ensure greater control over key players in the world’s largest internet arena. [Alibaba](/topic/alibaba) is backed by the CAC along with prominent state firms such as CITIC, China Post and China Mobile Ltd., the database showed. [Beijing](/topic/beijing) prepares to loosen its grip on the sector and move past a bruising crackdown that’s enveloped most every internet sphere for well over a year.

The Personnel Cabinet updated its employee handbook to ban the use of TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media app, among executive branch employees.

officials also worry that the Chinese government might use TikTok to push pro-China narratives or misinformation. These twin bills would also ban TikTok’s use in the legislative branch and allow for the judicial branch to ban the app, and would take effect immediately if they become law. Fears were stoked by news reports last year that a China-based team improperly accessed data of U.S. Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that TikTok user data could be shared by owner ByteDance Ltd. “The new changes have been under consideration for several weeks and the change was made based on recent federal legislation, as well as information from federal law enforcement,” Steeley Shacklette, executive director of public affairs for the Personnel Cabinet, said in an email. Kentucky is the latest state to ban the use of the popular social media app TikTok on government-owned devices, according to the

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said he was banning vendors, products and services from nine companies, including Huawei, Hikvision and Tencent.

People using state government computers and mobile phones will soon lose access to TikTok and WeChat. Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order Thursday ...

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In both the public and the private sector, there is a growing concern that data collected by the application may be exposed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ...

“For example, a ban on the usage of TikTok when the personal device was connected to an organization’s network could be implemented. The best option that enterprises have when mitigating the potential data security risks of TikTok is to rely on user awareness. This comes down to assessing whether the flexibility offered by BYOD outweighs the potential damage of data being leaked to nation-state actors. government has already begun its crackdown on TikTok, banning usage of the app completely is difficult to achieve for organizations for a number of reasons. are falling under similar scrutiny and restrictions,” said Bryan Ware, CEO of [LookingGlass](https://lookingglasscyber.com/) and former assistant director of cybersecurity at CISA. federal government employees downloading or using TikTok on state-owned devices in December 2022, over [two dozen states](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/10/there-are-tiktok-bans-nearly-two-dozen-states/) have decided to ban the app, due to concerns over ByteDance’s data collection practices. “A ban on TikTok, or any application, wouldn’t be a simple policy to implement. For instance, organizations need to be able to manage usage at the application level to implement a ban. With the use of Marsden highlights that TikTok’s privacy policy states the provider “may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information as defined under U.S. government has opted to ban the app altogether. This controversy has reached the point where the U.S.

Kentucky is joining more than 20 U.S. states in banning the popular video app TikTok on government devices citing cybersecurity concerns.

On Thursday, the governors of Wisconsin and North Carolina signed orders banning TikTok on government devices. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story The law gives the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 60 days "to develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies requiring the removal" of TikTok from federal devices. For three years, TikTok - which has more than 100 million users - has been seeking to assure Washington that the personal data of U.S. TikTok said it was "disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok." The state said it had updated its employee handbook to bar state employees from using government-managed devices to access the Chinese-owned app "other than for a law enforcement purpose."

Chinese government entities are set to take so-called “golden shares” in units of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., suggesting Beijing ...

That share structure, which in theory allows the government to [nominate](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-17/beijing-tightens-grip-on-bytedance-with-rare-china-board-seat) directors or sway important company decisions, could grant officials a tool to influence the industry over the longer term. [Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.](/quote/9988:HK) and [Tencent Holdings Ltd.](/quote/700:HK), suggesting Beijing is moving to ensure greater control over key players in the world’s largest internet arena.

Alibaba (BABA) shares rose in premarket trading on Friday even as it was reported that the Chinese government had acquired so-called "golden shares" in two ...

In certain instances, they can provide aid to companies attempting to gain licenses to distribute online news or show video and audio content. The golden shares have special voting rights and in certain instances, have more power than other types of shares. [BDNCE](https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BDNCE)) and Weibo ( [WB](https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WB)), Reuters [reported](https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-moving-take-golden-shares-alibaba-tencent-units-ft-2023-01-13/). [OTCPK:TCEHY](https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TCEHY)). [BABA](https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BABA)) Guangzhou Lujiao in December, the news outlet added. [BABA](https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BABA)) Youku Film and Television.

The ban was enacted due to growing national security concerns related to China. Critics say there are more effective ways to protect U.S. data privacy.

content, and that its data collection is [no more of a threat](https://www.internetgovernance.org/wp-content/uploads/TikTok-and-US-national-security-3.pdf) [PDF] than any other social media platform’s. India has [banned TikTok](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/india-has-set-an-important-precedent-in-banning-tiktok-us-official/articleshow/96666862.cms) outright, alongside nearly three hundred other Chinese apps, reportedly due to national security concerns. [collects no more user data](https://citizenlab.ca/2021/03/tiktok-and-douyin-explained/) than U.S. CFIUS could also mandate the sale of TikTok to a U.S. [reach an agreement](https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/is-tiktok-a-threat-to-national-security/) that sees it comply with a laundry list of CFIUS conditions, such as government reporting, compliance, and auditing requirements and a restriction on access to U.S. ban of the app, and the Biden administration would have no choice but to go along with it, Segal tells CFR. In 2020, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating the sale of TikTok to a U.S. user data to servers in Texas that are governed by U.S. (ByteDance merged with the video-sharing app Musical.ly in 2018, a move that brought it under CFIUS jurisdiction.) CFIUS has blocked a handful of high-level acquisitions by Chinese companies, but any action against TikTok, which has been valued at over $300 billion, would be by far the largest transaction reversed by CFIUS. The legislation is the latest in a string of attempts to deal with the perceived national security threat. While ByteDance denies that it manipulates the algorithm that controls what U.S. As 2022 came to a close, the U.S.

“It seems like the church has more say in this than civil society organizations and women-led organizations, they're not coming to us,” Moore said. Moore ...

Instead of bringing legislation and then having debates and disagreements, they want to make sure they have buy-in from all parties involved on all sides and so that’s continuing to happen, which is why no date has been attached to it going to parliament as yet.” “Those are the meetings that are upcoming but those aren’t the only meetings they have met with, they have met with organizations, they have met with women’s groups they have met with civic organizations,” Watson said. “[…] It should not be taking as long as it has been so they are dragging their feet for whatever reason and I Can honestly say that this is not a priority for the present government, not to say that they are not interested in it happening but they have other matters that’s at the top of their list and this is not one of them,” Moore continued.

The pair are joining at least 22 other states in banning the popular social media platform on government devices.

Tony Evers, who was urged by state Republican lawmakers to enact the ban, said in Roy Cooper said in [government funding bill](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/22/omnibus-government-spending-bill-2022)as the platform [faces growing bipartisan opposition](https://www.axios.com/2022/07/07/congress-tiktok-china-privacy-data).