Hola,
How was your weekend? It was exciting to see my family again, despite the stress. I'm hoping you had a good time and are ready for the week. If you're not, today is a holiday; take advantage of it. 😉
Got some news: The South African government has given Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange, Roqqu, regulatory approval to operate in the country.
Users can now buy cryptocurrencies and withdraw money using the South African rand.
Roqqu intends to expand regionally soon, focusing on Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
As of January 2023, Roqqu claimed to have more than 1.4 million active users. It also received a virtual currency licence for the European Economic Area, effectively allowing it to conduct business in more than 30 nations.
Here's what I've got for you today:
- A Kenyan court says Meta can be sued in the country
- Twitter reinstates legacy blue checkmarks to users with over 1 million followers
A Kenyan court says Meta can be sued in the country
Hear me out: I know that, like me, you're probably tired of reading about Meta and its case in Kenya. But let's give it one last hurrah.
Nah, I'm lying. I'll definitely let you know if anything else happens. For now...
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Last week, the Employment and Labour Relations Court rejected a request from Meta, Facebook's parent company, to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 183 content moderators who claimed they were laid off unfairly in Kenya.
Meta Platforms Inc. and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. claimed that because they are foreign companies and do not conduct business in the country, the Kenyan courts lack jurisdiction over them.
According to the moderators, Sama illegally fired them after the company shut down. In addition, Meta directed Majorel, its new content moderation partner, to blacklist ex-Sama content moderators.
However, the court said it has the "jurisdiction to determine the matter of alleged unlawful and unfair termination of employment on grounds of redundancy" brought forth by Meta and Sama.
It also stated that Meta, Sama, and Majorel have the power "to enforce an alleged violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
According to the court, the “present dispute” started as an employer-employee disagreement.
So, the court can consider the type and degree of liability Meta has "arising from or connected to Kenyan labour and employment relations."
The labour relations court also says, “It is in the court’s considered finding that it is immaterial whether the alleged violations occur in a physical or virtual space within the jurisdiction of this Court in Kenya.”
The court also upheld interim restraining orders issued in March 2023 prohibiting Sama from engaging in redundancy and forbidding Meta from selecting Majorel as its new content moderation subcontractor until it resolved the matter.
The moderators claim that Sama failed to provide the redundancy notices that Kenyan law mandates and that their terminal pay was conditional upon them signing non-disclosure agreements to receive it.
Sama claims it followed the law and used email and notification letters to inform people that it had decided to stop moderating content in a town hall meeting.
What all of this means: There's going to be an actual hearing. Preliminary matters have been resolved and all parties can now argue their case before the court.
Twitter returns legacy blue checkmarks to users with over 1 million followers
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Twitter removed legacy blue checkmarks.
Remember, Twitter was supposed to remove the legacy blue checkmarks on April 1, 2023. However, it was postponed to last Thursday, April 20.
The social media platform previously gave celebrities, government officials, and other reputable individuals and organisations the verification badge to help reduce spam and impersonation.
With the legacy checks gone, only paid users, organisations, and governmental entities will have their accounts verified on Twitter.
But as of yesterday, Sunday, April 23, 2023, Twitter reportedly reinstated the verification badge for users with over a million followers.
Imagine what will happen to reputable businesses or people who do not have up to 1 million followers and do not wish to purchase Twitter Blue.
Twitter, for example, removed Techpoint Africa's legacy checkmark on the platform and did not return it because we do not have 1 million Twitter followers.
Let's paint a scenario: Techpoint Africa is hosting the Lagos Startup Expo on Saturday, May 20, 2023.
The way things stand, someone could pay $8 to Twitter, impersonate Techpoint, and charge people money for the Expo. Scary stuff.
By the way, here's the authentic link to register here. It's FREE 😜. Well, except you are exhibiting, sponsoring, or want the VIP treatment.
For even more context, American celebrity, Monica Lewinsky, posted screenshots of several imposters, some of whom paid for blue checks.
In a tweet, she says, “In what universe is this fair to people who can suffer consequences for being impersonated? a lie travels half way around the world before truth even gets out the door.”
Interestingly, the microblogging platform also verified users with a million followers who were not previously verified.
Further, advertisers must pay for Twitter Blue or have up to 1 million followers to advertise on Twitter.
Several Twitter users posted screenshots of an email reportedly sent by the platform, which said starting Friday, April 21, 2023, verified checkmarks are required to continue running ads on the platform.
Last week on Techpoint Africa
- How to network with entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and startups at the Lagos Startup Expo
- Clafiya offers in-patient visits and virtual consultations, changing how Nigerians access healthcare
- South Africa got 71% of Netflix’s $175m investment in sub-Saharan Africa between 2016 and 2022
- 6 factors that show Nigeria’s fintech sector still has room for growth
- Cameroonian edtech platform, Prepdia, wants to connect Francophone African learners to tutors
- Autochek makes its second North African acquisition and expands its footprint to nine countries
- Here are 5 alternative platforms for Paxful’s 1.5 million Nigerian users
- African employees face uncertainty as Meta prepares to cut 4,000 more jobs
- Journalist vs GPT-4: AI is getting scary good
- This Nigerian fintech startup helps to reduce the risk of losing money lent to friends
- This insurtech startup is employing an intriguing Islamic model to deepen car insurance in Nigeria
- With a $5.6m war chest, how can Shuttlers win in Nigeria’s harsh mobility sector?
- Nigerian-led Web3 startup, Shield, gets a16z backing, raises $2.1m
What I'm reading and watching
- UK-based DeepMind merges with Google Brain in transatlantic AI tie-up
- What It Was Like to Be Egyptian Royalty
- A History of Menstruation
- The Most Hated Female Pharaoh
Opportunities
- Are you a creative journalist and media maker passionate about fixing what isn’t working in sub-Saharan African media? Apply for the 2023 Jamlab Accelerator Programme here.
- Atlassian is hiring a remote Senior Quality Engineer. Apply here.
- Uplearn is hiring a Software Engineer. Check it out here.
- Scale seeks candidates for a remote AI Training position in poetry writing, travel, and sports. Apply here.
- Pulse Sports is hiring a Brand Manager. Send CV and cover letter to sports@pulse.ng. Check this out for more information.
- If you are a software engineer, creative designer, product manager, design researcher, or a techie looking for an internship role, please, check out this website.
Have a great week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
