Twitter bans Russia-based Kaspersky Lab from buying ads
April 21: Twitter has banned Russia-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab from advertising on its platform, stating that the company "operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices."
In an open letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Kaspersky Lab's Founder Eugene Kaspersky has termed the move as "potential political censorship".
"At the end of January, Twitter unexpectedly informed us about an advertising ban on our official accounts where we announce new posts on our various blogs on cybersecurity (including, for example, Securelist and Kaspersky Daily) and inform users about new cyberthreats and what to do about them," Eugene wrote on Friday.
"In a short letter from an unnamed Twitter employee, we were told that our company 'operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices,'" he added.
Kaspersky Lab spent around $93,000 to promote its content on Twitter in 2017 and its India advertising share on Twitter was around $13,580.
"No matter how this situation develops, we won't be doing any more advertising on Twitter this year.
"The whole of the planned Twitter advertising budget for 2018 will instead be donated to the @EFF. They do a lot to fight censorship online," Eugene tweeted on Saturday.
According to a report in Cyberscoop, a Twitter spokesperson pointed towards the September 2017 decree from US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that ordered federal agencies to remove Kaspersky products from their networks.
"Kaspersky Lab may remain an organic user on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules," a Twitter spokesperson told The Register.
"Twitter is playing into the hands of cybercriminals when it hinders the delivery of important information on protection from cyber threats," Eugene said.
"The majority of our promoted content on Twitter has been about cybersafety and research and reports about the information security industry. We believe that this content brings value to a variety of Twitter users."
"Twitter, if this is a matter of a decision being made in error, please openly admit this; people'd forgive you - everyone makes mistakes! I think that would be the only civilized way to quash any doubts about potential political censorship on Twitter," Eugene said.
The Kaspersky Lab founder said that more than two months have passed and the only reply he received from Twitter was the copy of the same boilerplate text.
"Accordingly, I'm forced to rely on another (less subtle but nevertheless oft and loudly declared) principle of Twitter's - speaking truth to power - to share details of the matter with interested users and to publicly ask that you, dear Twitter executives, kindly be specific as to the reasoning behind this ban," he said.
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Kerala HC upholds life term of 5 BJP workers for 2006 murder of CPI(M) activist in Kannur
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): The Kerala High Court has upheld the life sentence of five BJP activists for the murder of a young CPI(M) worker by throwing a bomb at him in Kannur in 2006, terming it as another incident of a person losing his life due to the political rivalry between the two parties in that district.
A bench consisting of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian noted that the killing of 24-year-old Yackoob by throwing a bomb at his head was a retaliation for the assault of a BJP worker a few days before the incident.
"This is another incident in which a young man aged 24 years lost his life as a victim of the political rivalry that existed between CPI(M) and BJP, two political parties, in Kannur district," the bench said.
It upheld the decision of the trial court convicting and sentencing to life Vijesh (43), Prakashan (48), Kavyesh (43), Manoharan (31) and Sankaran Master (49), saying there were no discrepancies in the statements of the witnesses -- party colleagues of the victim -- who had faced the attack and named the five accused as the main perpetrators.
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The bench said that the post-mortem findings were consistent with death due to a blast injury to the head, "with total loss of the brain".
"A conjoint reading of the evidence of the doctor and the post-mortem certificate issued by him undoubtedly reveals that the death of Yackoob was homicidal and that the injury sustained to the head resulted from a bomb blast," the High Court said.
It also noted that two of the witnesses had suffered injuries in the attack on the CPI(M) activists by BJP workers on the night of June 13, 2006, and their version of the assault was consistent with the nature of the wounds found on their bodies.
The bench also accepted the version of two of the witnesses that they saw one of the accused throwing a bomb at the head of the victim, which exploded and killed him instantly.
The defence lawyers had claimed that the statements of the witnesses were not the same and had differences, but the bench rejected it.
The High Court also rejected the defence argument of a delay in lodging an FIR, saying that the police initially went on patrolling to ensure law and order was maintained in the area to prevent other similar incidents, and a case was registered six hours after the death of the victim.
The bench also said that though the bomb was hurled by one of the accused, all of them were liable for the murder, as the act was done in furtherance of the common objective of the unlawful assembly to kill Yackoob.
"The accused, who inflicted a grievous injury on the head of the deceased by hurling a country-made bomb and causing an explosion, cannot be heard to say that they did not conceive an intention to murder the deceased in this case.
"Resultantly, we confirm the findings, conviction, and sentences passed by the Additional Sessions Judge," the bench said, dismissing the appeals of the five accused against their conviction and life sentence.
According to the prosecution, the accused BJP workers hatched a conspiracy to kill Yackoob, a CPI(M) activist, and on June 13, 2006 formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with dangerous weapons, including country-made bombs, and criminally trespassed into the house where the victim and his party colleagues were present.
On seeing the accused armed with weapons, the victim and his friends got scared and ran in different directions, and as they were attempting to escape, a bomb was thrown at the head of Yackoob, the prosecution had said.
The bomb exploded and killed the CPI(M) activist on the spot, it had said.
