Telecommunications

The lawsuit comes amid growing concerns about how AI fuels the spread of misinformation.

Conservative activist Robby Starbuck sued Google, alleging that the tech giant’s artificial intelligence systems generated “outrageously false” information about him.

On Wednesday, Starbuck said in the lawsuit, filed in Delaware state court, that Google’s AI systems falsely called him a “child rapist,” “serial sexual abuser” and “shooter” in response to user queries and delivered defamatory statements to millions of users.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said most of the claims were related to mistaken “hallucinations” from Google’s Bard large language model that the company worked to address in 2023.

“Hallucinations are a well-known issue for all LLMs, which we disclose and work hard to minimise,” Castaneda said. “But as everyone knows, if you’re creative enough, you can prompt a chatbot to say something misleading.”

Starbuck is best known for opposing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“No one — regardless of political beliefs — should ever experience this,” he said in a statement about the lawsuit. “Now is the time for all of us to demand transparent, unbiased AI that cannot be weaponized to harm people.”

Starbuck made similar allegations against Meta Platforms in a separate lawsuit in April. Starbuck and Meta settled their dispute in August, and Starbuck advised the company on AI issues under the settlement.

According to Wednesday’s complaint, Starbuck learned in December 2023 that Bard had falsely connected him with white nationalist Richard Spencer. The lawsuit said that Bard cited fabricated sources and that Google failed to address the statements after Starbuck contacted the company.

Starbuck’s lawsuit also said that Google’s Gemma chatbot disseminated false sexual assault allegations against him in August based on fictitious sources. Starbuck also alleged the chatbot said that he committed spousal abuse, attended the January 6 Capitol riots and appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files, among other things.

Starbuck said he has been approached by people who believed some of the false accusations and that they could lead to increased threats on his life, noting the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Starbuck asked the court for at least $15m in damages.

Starbuck lawsuit comes amid growing concerns that AI-generated content has become easy to create and can facilitate the spread of misinformation. As Al Jazeera previously reported, Google’s VEO3 AI video maker allowed users to make deceptive videos of news events.

Alphabet — Google’s parent company’s stock is relatively flat on the news of the lawsuit. As of 2:30pm in New York (18:30 GMT), it is up by 0.06 percent.

A major outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Monday disrupted a large portion of the internet, taking down apps, websites and online tools used by millions of people around the world, before services were eventually restored.

From banking apps and airlines to smart home devices and gaming platforms, the hours-long breakdown revealed how much of modern life depends on cloud’s infrastructure.

Here is what we know:

What happened and what caused the AWS outage?

At about 07:11 GMT, Amazon’s cloud service experienced a major outage, meaning some of its systems stopped working, which disrupted many popular apps and websites, including banks, gaming platforms and entertainment services.

The problem started in one of AWS’s main data centres in Virginia, its oldest and biggest site, after a technical update to the API – a connection between different computer programmes – of DynamoDB, a key cloud database service that stores user information and other important data for many online platforms.

The root cause appears to have been an error in the update that affected the Domain Name System (DNS), which helps apps find the correct server addresses. A DNS works like the internet’s phone book, turning website names into the numeric IP addresses that computers use to connect to servers.

Because of the DNS issue, apps could not find the IP address for DynamoDB’s API and were unable to connect.

As DynamoDB went down, other AWS services also began to fail. In total, 113 services were affected by the outage. By 10:11 GMT, Amazon said that all AWS returned to normal operations, but there was a backlog “of messages that they will finish processing over the next few hours”.

At the time of publication, Downdetector, a website that tracks internet outages based on user reports, was still showing problems with platforms such as OpenAI, ESPN and Apple Music.

Updated look at the total impact of the AWS Outage up to this point!https://t.co/Bgpm1fFGtf pic.twitter.com/TAAxjagNl6

— Downdetector (@downdetector) October 20, 2025

What is a cloud and what exactly is AWS?

A cloud is a way of storing and using data or programmes over the internet instead of on your computer or other physical storage devices.

When people say something is “in the cloud”, it means the files, apps or systems are running on powerful computers (called servers) in data centres owned by companies like Amazon (AWS), Google or Microsoft, not on your personal device.

In this case, AWS allows companies to rent computing power and storage. It supplies the technology that runs websites, apps and many online services behind the scenes.

One of AWS’s core services is DynamoDB, a database that stores important information for companies, such as customer records. On Monday, Amazon reported that customers were unable to access their DynamoDB data.

AWS is the biggest cloud service provider in the world.

Cloud outages are not rare, but they have become more noticeable as more companies rely on these services every day.

“The fallout impacted people across a number of different spheres,” Joshua Mahony, the chief market analyst at Scope Markets, told Al Jazeera. [But] of course this kind of comes with the territory with tech companies; the key is they can resolve it quickly, and it doesn’t cost them a lot of money.”

He said Amazon would likely weather the storm from the incident.

“You’re looking at something that is relatively contained,” he said. “Amazon Web Services has cornered 30 percent of the market alone. Their users are not going to suddenly jump ship. Their businesses are deeply ingrained.”

Which services and apps went down?

The outage affected dozens of websites, including Snapchat, Pinterest and Apple TV, according to Downdetector.

Other communication apps were also affected including: WhatsApp, Signal, Zoom and Slack; gaming services such as Roblox, Fortnite and Xbox; and places like Starbucks. Etsy also experienced issues.

In the United States, people were having issues with financial apps too, including Venmo.

Some users said their Ring doorbells and Alexa speakers stopped working, while others could not access the Amazon website or download books on their Kindles.

The language app Duolingo and creative tool Canva were among those reporting errors on their websites, and several media organisations were hit, including the Associated Press news agency, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Banks, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and AI firm Perplexity also reported issues, along with US airlines Delta and United.

Why did so many major apps go offline at once?

When AWS had its outage, it was not just Amazon’s tools that were affected. Thousands of other companies that use AWS for storage, databases or web hosting were also hit. These companies include many major apps that rely on AWS to run key parts of their systems.

“Whenever we see these headlines, the first thought that goes through everybody’s mind, that sends a shiver up the spine, is, ‘Is this one of those cyberattacks? Is this a military or intelligence-led thing that has led to this disruption?’ And in this case, it’s not,” Bryson Bort chief executive of the cybersecurity company Scythe told Al Jazeera.

“In fact, most of the time, it isn’t. It’s usually human error.”

How did Amazon respond?

AWS acknowledged the outage and said engineers were “immediately engaged” to fix the problem.

AWS said it worked on “multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery”. It also reported that the main issue had been fully resolved, though some users continued to face minor delays as systems recovered.

The company also said it would publish a detailed post-event summary explaining what happened.

For Scott Smith, the cuts to the Corporation For Public Broadcasting are existential.

He is the general manager of Allegheny Mountain Radio, which he runs alongside programme manager Heather Nidly. The funds were slashed as part of United States President Donald Trump’s vast tax cut and spending bill that was signed into law in July. As a result, the station, which has been on air for more than four decades, lost 65 percent of its funding.

“We are here to serve our communities and to fulfill our mission of giving them news, giving them entertainment, giving them emergency alerts and giving them school closings. We do lost and found pet notices. We do funeral announcements. We have a listing of community events that is read multiple times a day. We do weather forecasts. We’re a critical part of the community,” Smith told Al Jazeera.

The rescissions bill that Trump signed allows the US Congress to claw back funding that had been approved and pulls back $9bn in funding, including $1bn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CFB). At the end of September, those funds officially dried up.

The money had already been allocated by the previous Congress to fund public media for 2026 and 2027. Now stations are scrambling to find ways to fill the holes.

The Trump administration has gone after news organisations that have presented any critical coverage of him, including the Wall Street Journal, after its coverage of a suggestive letter purportedly written by Trump to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday. In September, he tried to sue The New York Times for allegedly being a “virtual mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party.

His leverage over public media is significant because that is partially funded by federal tax dollars. The White House first signed an executive order to defund public media in May. That was quickly blocked because funding decisions are made by Congress, not the White House.

Next, Trump pressured Congressional Republicans to put forth the rescissions bill that fulfilled the mission of his previous executive order. To justify his call for cuts, in May, the White House released a list of segments from NPR and PBS programmes that it says had liberal bias, as it included many segments about the experience of the trans community.

The White House also cited a report alleging PBS favoured Democrats. That report was from the openly partisan Media Research Center, which has a stated goal to promote conservative values.

A key, but overlooked, problem with the cuts is that they overwhelmingly harm stations that do not even cover the White House or much national politics at all.

Allegheny Mountain Radio (AMR) is one of those stations. Comprising three affiliates for three counties straddling the West Virginia and Virginia border, on their airwaves, listeners will find gospel, folk and country music, as well as coverage of local football games and town hall meetings.

AMR carries NPR’s national newscast and, more importantly, serves as the on-the-ground voice when severe weather hits.

Unlike in other regions of the county, there is no other alternative to get real-time local news. The nearest local news station is several hours away, separated by winding country roads. When there’s severe weather, AMR is the only way locals get vital information like road closure announcements because of floodwaters.

“Just a few years ago, we had a deluge of rain coming down and flooding parts of the county. At that point, when something like that happens, the radio station really is the only way to get that information out quickly to our listeners and let them know where it’s happening,” AMR programme manager Nidly told Al Jazeera.

AMR is in a part of the country where cellphone signal and wireless access are sparse because of its proximity to what is called the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) near the Green Bank Observatory, which limits the use of radio frequency and other signal methods so that they do not interfere with their equipment. This requires special equipment to point radio signals away from the observatory.

With the region’s low population density, there’s a limited business case for a station. But there is a case for public service. The community depends on AMR for emergency alerts – even on a personal level. During major storms, Smith said, people have shown up at their stations when their phones stopped working, asking if AMR could broadcast a message to let their family and friends know they were safe.

Despite their strong community focus, these stations may not benefit from the same level of donor support seen by larger public stations across the country, due to limited local enterprise and resources.

It is trying. In order to stay afloat, the station is actively soliciting donations on its website.

While small community stations – like those serving Bath and Pocahontas Counties in West Virginia, and Highland County, Virginia, through AMR – don’t produce national newscasts or air segments that ruffle feathers in Washington, they are still the ones that are most at risk of being hit hardest.

“Small stations like ours are the ones who will suffer because of these cuts. We feel like we are the baby that got thrown out with the bathwater because there’s so much emphasis on the talking points around NPR and PBS. It’s like the rest of us, the small community stations, have absolutely been forgotten in this equation,” Smith told Al Jazeera.

The cuts, however, hit stations across the US in big markets too. WNYC in New York City lost 4 percent of its funding. WBUR in Boston, San Francisco’s KLAW, and KERA in Dallas, Texas, all saw 5 percent cuts.

Stations like these have large donor bases or “listeners like you”, as their hosts say during pledge drives. Big market stations might be able to make up the difference, says Alex Curley, a former product manager at NPR who recently launched a platform called Adopt A Station, which shows which public media stations are at most risk of losing funding.

“When you think about stations that rely on federal funding for 50 percent or more of their revenue, it’s not because they’re asking for a handout. It’s a literal public service for those stations,” Curley told Al Jazeera.

But in counties where the population is sparse and industry is limited, that donor base is not as plentiful. That’s the case with AMR.

“We are in a very rural area. We are an area where there are not a whole lot of businesses. So that amount of income simply cannot be made up through extra donations or extra underwriting,” Smith added.

In a July Substack post, Curley, who was involved in NPR station finances until he left the network in 2024 amid layoffs, said that 15 percent of stations are at risk of closure. His website has provided some reprieve.

“I only expected maybe a few dozen people to visit the site. My biggest hope was to get a couple of donations that went towards a station at risk. It’s [the website] been shared thousands of times. I’ve even heard from stations that were identified as being at risk of closing. They told me they’re getting an influx of donations from out of state through the site. It’s been an incredible response,” Curley said.

However, he argues, this is a temporary fix.

“The real danger will be in six months, a year, two years, when people have forgotten about public media. These stations basically are losing federal funding forever. Donations in the short term are really great, but in the long term, they’re going to have to figure out ways to keep donors engaged and to keep donations flowing to them, or they might close,” Curley added.

“Public radio is also a lifeline, connecting rural communities to the rest of the nation, and providing life-saving emergency broadcasting and weather alerts. Nearly 3-in-4 Americans say they rely on their public radio stations for alerts and news for their public safety,” NPR’s Katherine Maher said in a statement on July 18 following the Senate vote.

“In fact, while the Senate considered amendments, a 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska, prompting three coastal stations to start broadcasting live tsunami warnings, urging their communities to head to high ground,” Maher said.

Maher declined Al Jazeera’s request for an interview

PBS faces similar pressures, and many of its stations are also at risk of closure, according to Adopt A Station’s data.

“These cuts will significantly impact all of our stations, but will be especially devastating to smaller stations and those serving large rural areas. Many of our stations, which provide access to free, unique local programming and emergency alerts, will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement after the Senate vote.

Kerger did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for additional comment.

The push to defund public media isn’t a new one for the GOP. Republicans have long argued that the media is not a core function of government. In 2012, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he would eliminate subsidies to PBS – during a debate moderated, ironically, by then PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer.

In the 1990s, then House Speaker Newt Gingrich promised to “zero out” funding for CPB, arguing it should be privatised. And in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan attempted to slash $80m from public media – roughly $283m today – though Congress blocked the move.

Following global cuts

Cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are the latest wave of the White House cutting back on government-funded media arms, including reductions to the US Agency for Global Media, led in part by senior adviser Kari Lake.

Lake is a former Phoenix, Arizona, news anchor known for denying the 2020 election results in which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency. She is also known for promoting baseless conspiracy theories and for refusing to accept her own defeat for governor and senator bids in Arizona in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

She has been behind the agency effectively shuttering Voice of America (VOA), which has not published any new stories or uploaded new videos to its YouTube page since mid-March.

Last month, a federal judge in Washington blocked the firing of workers at VOA, which affected more than 500 staffers. The Trump administration called the decision “outrageous” and vowed to appeal.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts in 27 languages across 23 countries, faced challenges similar to VOA. However, the European Union has helped keep the network up and running with $6.2m in emergency funding.

Representatives for the US Agency for Global Media did not respond to our request for comment.

Looming threats to free expression

These cuts come alongside other threats to freedom of expression in the private sector. Soon after the funding cuts were signed into law, Paramount announced the cancellation of The Late Show. The host, comedian Stephen Colbert – a longtime critic of the president – had only days earlier called out Paramount, the show’s parent company, for settling a lawsuit with Trump.

The suit stemmed from Trump’s claim that an interview with his 2024 presidential rival Kamala Harris was doctored. Although the network had initially called the lawsuit meritless, it ultimately settled for $16m. Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe”, noting that Paramount had a then-pending merger with Skydance Media – owned by David Ellison, son of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a key Trump ally. The merger has since been approved. Paramount has said that the decision is purely financial in nature.

Months later, following stand-up comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on Charlie Kirk’s death, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr appeared on a right-wing podcast to criticise the remarks and urged Disney – the parent company of ABC, where Jimmy Kimmel Live airs – to cancel the show.

Nexstar Media Group – one of the largest TV station operators in the US, and which is waiting on an FCC approval of its merger with Tegna – announced it would no longer carry the programme. Disney subsequently suspended the show, though the decision was short-lived, as it returned to the airwaves within a week.

The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to the airwaves after Disney lifted its indefinite suspension of the US late-night show, but two of the largest affiliate owners – Sinclair Broadcasting Group and Nexstar Media Group – will not air the long-running programme.

Disney owns the broadcaster ABC, home of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. On Monday evening, Disney announced that the show would return following discussions with Kimmel’s team and network representatives. However, two of the major affiliate operators have not reversed course.

Keeping the show off those affiliate TV stations significantly cuts into Kimmel’s reach. Nexstar and Sinclair together own and operate 70 of the 250 ABC stations across the United States, putting them at odds with the network.

Nexstar’s vested interest

ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s show after the comedian made remarks about the killing of conservative figure Charlie Kirk. The suspension came just hours after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr warned that stations carrying the show could face fines, or even lose their broadcast licences, urging them to “step up”.

Carr’s comments drew pushback across the political spectrum, including from US President Donald Trump’s allies. Texas Senator Ted Cruz called Carr’s remarks “dangerous as hell”, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Cruz “got it right”.

Nexstar owns 23 ABC affiliates and is currently pursuing a $6.2bn merger with competitor Tegna, a deal requiring FCC approval. If completed, the combined company would reach 80 percent of US households, far above the current 39 percent cap, and would require a policy change. Carr has long supported removing that cap.

“Nexstar’s capitulation in hopes of gaining approval for its merger with Tegna is actually Exhibit A in why it should not be allowed to merge with Tegna. Large conglomerates have enormous leverage to facilitate the Trump administration’s crackdown on free speech, both by censoring themselves and by bullying the networks,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

Carr praised Nexstar last week for dropping Kimmel from its affiliates in markets such as Salt Lake City, Nashville and New Orleans.

Margot Susca, professor of journalism, accountability,and democracy at the American University in Washington, DC, said the FCC’s pressure on Kimmel sets a troubling precedent.

“I think what is concerning is that it’s Jimmy Kimmel now, but it could be Meet The Press [which airs on NBC] next year if another corporate media owner needs to make a deal and the Trump administration or Brendan Carr… say they don’t like a segment that comes on a news programme. These are dark days for the content that appears on broadcast television,” Susca said.

Other media experts argue the issue is rooted in the leverage affiliate owners hold.

In the US, affiliate operators license programming from networks and pay carriage fees to do so. Affiliation typically brings more viewers, and thus, more advertising revenue, which is shared between networks and affiliates. Affiliates can preempt network programming, often for local news during severe weather events or political debates, for instance.

“They [TV station operators] can simply not run those programmes because they don’t really need the networks as much as they did at one time,” Tom Letizia, media consultant and head of political communications firm the Letizia Agency, told Al Jazeera, referring to the global trend of viewers finding their content on social media or streaming platforms.

“This is more about making a profit, and that’s really what this business is about. Let’s not forget that. I mean, ratings are the lifeblood of a TV station. If you don’t have ratings, you can’t charge your advertisers a premium cost for that spot.”

A lot of the advertising spend in smaller markets comes from local political parties, and if the politics do not align, those advertising dollars could be cut.

Nexstar said it stands by its decision to preempt Kimmel indefinitely and will “monitor the show as it returns to ABC”. The company denied political involvement or pressure from the Trump administration.

“The decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! was made unilaterally by the senior executive team at Nexstar, and they had no communication with the FCC or any government agency prior to making that decision,” a Nexstar spokesman told Al Jazeera.

Sinclair’s stance

Sinclair Broadcasting said on Monday that it does not plan to resume airing Kimmel’s show on its 38 ABC affiliates, opting instead for news programming.

The company, the second-largest US station operator after Nexstar, pushed Kimmel to apologise and “make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA”, Kirk’s conservative activist organisation.

Sinclair has long faced criticism for its conservative leanings. David Smith, the company’s executive chairman, donated $250,000 in 2024 to Kirk’s Turning Point USA through the David D Smith Family Foundation, whose listed address matches Sinclair’s headquarters.

In 2018, Sinclair required local anchors to read a script criticising “one-sided media coverage”, which Trump, then in his first term in office, praised. This came as the company pursued a $3.9bn merger with Tribune Media at the time, a deal that ultimately collapsed after Tribune pulled out.

“As the owners of the stations, they can make the choices over what their content is. Sinclair is a pretty right-wing organisation,” Susca said.

“When they buy a station in a local market, it tacks coverage to the right. They focus more on national politics.”

A 2019 study in the American Political Science Review found that Sinclair stations leaned more conservative than their competitors in the same markets.

“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair said in a statement. The company did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for further comment.

Disney’s decision

Disney’s move to reinstate Kimmel comes amid widespread public pressure. Celebrities and elected officials called for boycotts of Disney-owned platforms, including Disney+, ESPN and Hulu, in the wake of his suspension.

Google Trends data showed that searches to cancel those platforms spiked to their highest-ever levels following the suspension.

ABC directly owns only eight stations, including in New York and Houston. WABC in New York faced political backlash when leading mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani pulled out of a debate it was set to host, citing ABC’s suspension of Kimmel.

“Broadcast media is a business. Make no mistake that Kimmel being taken off the air was a business decision. Kimmel being put back on the air is a business decision,” Susca said.

Disney’s stock has fallen 2.78 percent over the past five days.

Laura Crompton, a media analyst and head of global communications agency Hopscotch’s Los Angeles office, said that Tuesday’s show could provide a ratings boost.

“For now, it seems they’ve chosen to put things right and show that they won’t cower to overreach or threats. But something tells me this isn’t over yet. If we want to find a silver lining, I suspect Kimmel’s comeback show tonight will smash audience numbers, even without the 25 percent of audiences disenfranchised by the ongoing standoff regionally. And realistically, I’m sure we’re all relieved we don’t have to take the moral high road and give up our Disney+ favorite shows now,” Crompton told Al Jazeera.

Disney did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Murdoch will be part of a group of US investors – including Trump allies – trying to take over TikTok’s US operations.

United States President Donald Trump has said media executive Lachlan Murdoch will join a group of American investors seeking to take control of TikTok’s operations in the United States.

In an interview on the Fox News programme Sunday Briefing, Trump said the proposed deal would transfer TikTok’s American assets from Chinese parent company ByteDance to US ownership. He described those involved as prominent people and “American patriots”.

“I think they’re going to do a really good job,” Trump said, adding that TikTok had helped him expand support among young voters during the 2024 election campaign.

One of the proposed investors – Larry Ellison, the co-founder of the tech firm Oracle – is a prominent Republican donor. Lachlan Murdoch’s father Rupert has backed right-wing causes and parties for decades, but has a complicated relationship with Trump, who is currently suing him.

The initiative would give Trump’s allies in corporate America influence over a platform with about 170 million US users, one of the most widely used apps shaping political and cultural debate.

Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corp, recently consolidated control of his family’s media empire, which includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, after settling a long-running legal dispute with his siblings. Trump said the 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch may himself also be involved in the deal.

Murdoch’s media outlets attract right-leaning audiences, but they have occasionally clashed with Trump. The US president’s lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal is for defamation over a July report linking him to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The newspaper has defended its reporting.

Other business figures named by Trump include Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, who, along with Ellison, has previously been connected to discussions on TikTok’s future.

US law passed under the administration of former US President Joe Biden requires ByteDance to divest its TikTok operations, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting the legislation due to security concerns that Beijing could have access to American users’ data.

However, the spotlight on TikTok has also been linked to growing support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel among young Americans, with many pro-Israeli politicians blaming the popular app for the shifting tide.

Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for a ban on TikTok soon after the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, calling the app biased towards anti-Israel content.

Trump had proposed to ban TikTok during his first term as US president, signing two executive orders in August 2020 that were aimed at restricting the app. However, the US president did a U-turn, pledging to “save” the popular app during his 2024 re-election campaign.

The Trump administration has since tied negotiations over TikTok to wider trade talks with China.

China has consistently denied claims by US lawmakers that Beijing pressures apps like TikTok to collect personal information for the state.

The spectrum purchase allows SpaceX to expand the cell network’s capacity by ‘more than 100 times’ and will help ‘end mobile dead zones’.

SpaceX will buy wireless spectrum licences from EchoStar for its Starlink satellite network for about $17bn, a major deal crucial to expanding Starlink’s nascent 5G connectivity business.

The Elon Musk-owned aerospace company announced the purchase on Monday.

The companies also agreed to a deal that will enable EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access Starlink direct-to-cell service to extend satellite service to areas without service.

The spectrum purchase allows SpaceX to start building and deploying upgraded, laser-connected satellites that the company said will expand the cell network’s capacity by “more than 100 times”.

Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, said the deal will help the company “end mobile dead zones around the world … With exclusive spectrum, SpaceX will develop next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell satellites, which will have a step change in performance and enable us to enhance coverage for customers wherever they are in the world.”

The push comes amid fast-rising wireless usage. In 2024, Americans used a record 132 trillion megabytes of mobile data, up 35 percent over the prior all-time record, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) said on Monday.

SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020, building a distributed network in low-Earth orbit which has seen demand from militaries, transportation firms and consumers in rural areas.

Roughly 600 of those satellites – which SpaceX calls “cell towers in space” – have been launched since January 2024 for the company’s direct-to-cell network, orbiting closer to Earth than the rest of the constellation.

Crucial to those larger satellites’ deployment is Starship, SpaceX’s giant next-generation rocket that has been under development for roughly a decade. Increasingly complex test launches have drawn the rocket closer to its first operational Starlink missions, expected early next year.

The deal comes months after the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) questioned EchoStar’s use of its mobile-satellite service spectrum and raised concerns about whether it was meeting its obligations to deploy 5G in the country.

EchoStar said it anticipates that the transaction with SpaceX and the AT&T deal will resolve the FCC’s inquiries.

An FCC spokesperson said the “deals that EchoStar reached with AT&T and Starlink hold the potential to supercharge competition, extend innovative new services to millions of Americans, and boost US leadership in next-gen connectivity”.

The company in August sold some nationwide wireless spectrum licences to AT&T for $23bn. AT&T agreed to acquire 50 MHz of nationwide mid-band and low-band spectrum.

US President Donald Trump previously prodded EchoStar and FCC Chair Brendan Carr to reach an amicable deal for the company’s wireless spectrum licences.

Underused airwaves

SpaceX will pay up to $8.5bn in cash and issue up to $8.5bn in stock. SpaceX has also agreed to cover roughly $2bn in interest payments on EchoStar’s debt obligations through late 2027.

After the sale, EchoStar will continue operating its satellite television service Dish TV, streaming TV platform Sling, internet service Hughesnet and its Boost Mobile brand.

SpaceX had aggressively pressed the FCC to reallocate underused airwaves for satellite-to-phone service after alleging EchoStar failed to meet certain obligations.

In a letter to the FCC in April, SpaceX said EchoStar’s spectrum in the 2 gigahertz band “remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems” and that the company has left “valuable mid-band spectrum chronically underused”.

The deal with EchoStar will allow SpaceX to operate Starlink direct-to-cell services on frequencies it owns, rather than relying solely on those leased from mobile carriers like T-Mobile.

In May, the FCC approved Verizon’s $20bn deal to acquire fibre-optic internet provider Frontier Communications. Verizon spent $5bn to acquire and clear key spectrum in 2021.

The news sent shares of EchoStar surging 14.7 percent as of 1pm in New York (17:00 GMT). Shares of US wireless carriers are trending downwards. AT&T is 1.6 percent lower and T-Mobile is down by 2.2 percent. Verizon as well is down 1.8 percent.

Indonesia’s telecommunications sector is at a historic crossroads.  After a decade of consolidation, three groups — TelkomGroup (with Telkomsel), Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) and XL Axiata/Smartfren (XL Smart) — now control about 95% of the market’s revenue .  This “healthy oligopoly” promises economies of scale and opens the door for infrastructure sharing, yet it also raises a sobering question: will these carriers become mere commodity providers squeezed by over‑the‑top (OTT) platforms, or will they emerge as strategic national enablers for Indonesia’s digital economy?

The Stagnation Trap: Core Problems and Risks

Low ARPU and Prepaid Dominance – Nearly 97% of Indonesian mobile subscribers are prepaid .  Customers churn easily, forcing operators into price wars.  As a result, the blended average revenue per user (ARPU) sits at only ~IDR 35,700 (US$2.38) and has been almost flat.

population was covered by 5G, mainly using refarmed 4G spectrum .  The for years.  Such thin margins, coupled with commoditization of connectivity, echo a global pattern where telco revenues grow slowly while capital expenditures continue to rise .

Limited 5G Spectrum and Slow Deployment – Indonesia’s 5G rollout remains selective and urban.  In 2024 only 26.3% of the country currently has 360 MHz of mid‑band spectrum assigned for mobile services, far below the ~2 GHz average required to capture 5G’s full economic impact.  Analysts note that refarming the 2.6 GHz and 700 MHz bands and releasing more mid‑band frequencies are urgent to prevent Indonesia from falling behind .

Spectrum Reform and Regulatory Bottlenecks – Twimbit’s 2023 update observes that spectrum scarcity has delayed 5G launches and forced operators to invest cautiously.  Government digital roadmaps push for 5G, but licensing remains fragmented and expensive.  Without transparent auction policies and neutral‑host models for shared infrastructure, the industry risks duplication and inefficiency.

Cybersecurity and Trust Deficit – High‑profile data breaches — including leaks affecting more than a billion SIM‑card activation records — spurred Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection law.  Implementing this law will require significant investment in cybersecurity.  EY research warns that two‑thirds of consumers want better explanations of how AI is used and 40% of telco employees feel unprepared to use AI responsibly.  Moreover, 57% of telecom executives worry about security attacks on physical assets, and Southeast Asian operators must balance innovation with strong compliance and trusted AI to counter rising cyber risks .

Talent and Skills Shortage – Telcos struggle to attract and retain digital talent.  EY’s Telco of Tomorrow survey shows that industry executives rank talent and culture as their top transformation inhibitors; poor collaboration and missing skills hinder innovation.  Competing with hyperscalers for AI and cloud expertise is an uphill battle, especially as Indonesia’s young engineers often migrate to global tech firms.

Financial Pressures and Capital Intensity – Globally, telco revenues are projected to grow at a compound annual rate of only 2.9% to 2028, while ARPU continues to decline.  Indonesia’s carriers therefore face a scenario where most cash is absorbed by capital expenditures, dividends and debt servicing , leaving little room for innovation.  Without new revenue streams, their role may stagnate.

Hidden Opportunities: Why Indonesia Still Holds Promise

Despite these headwinds, the country’s 280 million citizens and rapidly growing digital economy offer unique opportunities.  Indonesia’s GDP grew 5.3% in 2022 and its telecom revenue is expected to grow at 6.1% CAGR between 2023–27, outpacing global averages.  Operators and policymakers can tap several levers:

Infrastructure Sharing and Neutral Hosts – With three large players and tens of thousands of towers, sharing becomes logical.  Twimbit notes that Telkomsel, XL and Smartfren operate more than 165 000, 91 000 and 43 000 4G sites respectively.  Active sharing, fibre co‑build and neutral‑host models reduce duplication and free capital for new services.

Accelerated Spectrum Release – Refarming of the 2.6 GHz and 700 MHz bands and auctioning the 3.5 GHz mid‑band could enable Indonesia to meet the 2 GHz requirement.  Transparent, cost‑effective auctions will encourage investment and prevent a repeat of 5G’s initial delays.

Diversifying Beyond Connectivity – Telcos are shifting to non‑connectivity revenue streams.  Telkomsel created INDICO, focusing on education, health and gaming verticals, and saw its digital business revenue grow 17.4% year‑on‑year .  Enterprise services are a priority: carriers now offer IoT, cloud computing and managed services to businesses.  This pivot from consumer to B2B mirrors global advice that AI, fixed connectivity and vertical solutions are the ingredients for growth.

Trusted AI and Data Sovereignty – Indonesia can leverage its telcos as sovereign enablers rather than mere “techco”  By investing in secure sovereign clouds, digital identity and data‑classification systems, carriers can provide AI‑powered services while ensuring national data stays onshore.  EY’s insights stress that as AI becomes pervasive, building trust and clear privacy policies is essential.  Indonesia’s new data protection law compels operators to bolster cyber defenses, turning compliance into a competitive advantage.

Bridging the Digital Divide – Indonesia’s archipelagic geography means connectivity gaps persist.  The government’s Palapa Ring fibre backbone connects remote islands, but 5G coverage remains low.  Satellite‑enabled non‑terrestrial networks, community internet for rural areas, and targeted subsidies can help ensure that digital inclusion accompanies growth.

A Path Forward: Policy and Industry Recommendations

For Indonesia to avoid stagnation and instead become a digital powerhouse of the Global South, stakeholders must act in concert:

Enact Pro‑Growth Regulation – Regulators should adopt an orchestrator role, promoting shared infrastructure and neutral‑host models, streamlining spectrum auctions and fostering healthy collaboration.  Transparent policies can align private investment with national goals.

Prioritize Mid‑Band Spectrum – Release at least 200–300 MHz of the 3.5 GHz band and integrate it with the 700 MHz auction .  Reserve prices should be conservative to encourage robust 5G rollout.

Invest in Talent and Innovation – Government, academia and industry must co‑create programs to develop AI, cybersecurity and cloud skills.  Public‑private partnerships can sponsor scholarships and nurture a local digital workforce.

Leverage AI Responsibly – Telcos should harness generative AI to reduce costs, personalize services and improve network efficiency, while adhering to strict privacy standards .  Clear communication about AI use can rebuild customer trust.

Expand Non‑Connectivity Services – Operators need to emulate digital leaders by offering integrated fintech, healthtech, education and entertainment services.  Building “digital ecosystems” will differentiate them from commoditized connectivity and create new revenue streams.

Conclusion

Indonesia’s telco sector stands between two futures.  One path leads to commoditization and slow decline, as global OTT giants capture the value created by local networks.  The other path requires bold policies, shared infrastructure, spectrum reform and investment in AI and talent.  By choosing the latter, Indonesia’s operators can become sovereign digital enablers — powering not just connectivity but the nation’s broader ambitions for health, education, industry and sovereignty.  The moment for decisive action is now.

Israel’s elite cyber-intelligence unit stored vast volumes of intercepted Palestinian phone calls on Microsoft’s cloud servers, according to a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call.

The surveillance system, operational since 2022, was built by Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s secretive intelligence branch. It enables the unit to collect and retain recordings of millions of daily phone calls from Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The revelations initially reported on Wednesday stem from leaked Microsoft documents and testimonies from 11 sources, including from Israeli military intelligence and the company.

According to the leaks, a large amount of the data appeared to be stored on Microsoft’s Azure servers located in the Netherlands and Ireland, the Guardian reported.

Three sources from Unit 8200 said that the cloud-based system helped guide deadly air strikes and shaped operations across the occupied Palestinian territories.

Microsoft said that CEO Satya Nadella, who met with Unit 8200’s commander Yossi Sariel in 2021, was unaware of the nature of the data to be stored. The company has said an internal review found “no evidence to date” that Azure or its artificial intelligence (AI) tools were “used to target or harm people”.

The revelations come after the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, issued a report mapping the corporations aiding Israel in its occupation and war on Gaza.

The report noted that Microsoft, which has operated in Israel since 1991, has built its largest hub outside the US in Israel and began integrating its technologies across the country’s military, police, prisons, schools, and settlements.

Since 2003, the company has deepened ties with Israeli defence, acquiring surveillance and cybersecurity start-ups and embedding its systems in military operations. In 2024, an Israeli colonel called cloud technologies such as those offered by Microsoft “a weapon in every sense”.

The Guardian reported that internal records at Microsoft showed that Nadella offered support for Sariel’s aim to move large volumes of military intelligence into the cloud.

A Microsoft statement cited by the Guardian said it “is not accurate” to say he provided his personal support for the project.

Microsoft engineers later worked closely with Israeli intelligence to embed security features within Azure, enabling the transfer of up to 70 percent of Unit 8200’s sensitive data to the platform.

While Israeli officials claim the technology helps thwart attacks, Unit 8200 sources said the system collects communications indiscriminately, which are often used to detain or blackmail Palestinians. “When they need to arrest someone and there isn’t a good enough reason … that’s where they find the excuse,” one source was cited as saying.

Some sources alleged the stored data had been used to justify detentions and even killings.

The system’s expansion coincided with a broader shift in Israeli surveillance, moving from targeted tracking to bulk monitoring of the Palestinian population. One AI-driven tool reportedly assigns risk scores to text messages based on certain trigger words, including discussions of weapons or martyrdom.

Sariel, who resigned in 2024 after Israel’s intelligence failure on October 7, 2023, had long championed cloud-based surveillance.

As Israel’s war on Gaza continues, with more than 61,250 Palestinians killed, including 18,000 children, the surveillance programme remains active. Sources said the existing data, combined with AI tools, continues to be used in military operations.

Microsoft claimed it had “no information” about the specific data stored by Unit 8200.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is going off air in May 2026, a decision hailed by United States President Stephen Colbert, a frequent target of the comedian.

The announcement by CBS on Thursday that it will cancel the show comes against the backdrop of a looming merger between its parent company Paramount with Skydance Media.

It also comes only days after the comedian called out Paramount for its $16m settlement with Trump. Trump, in a lawsuit, had alleged that 60 Minutes, the flagship news magazine at CBS, doctored an interview during the 2024 presidential campaign with his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.

Colbert, a longtime critic of the president, called the network’s decision to settle “a big fat bribe” because of the pending merger, which needs approval from the Department of Justice and is valued at $8bn.

“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired,” the president wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

“His talent was even less than his ratings,” he added, before going after Colbert’s other two rivals, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, saying that they are next, without evidence.

Contrary to the president’s claims, Colbert is performing well — his is the highest rated show in late night television — averaging 2.42 million viewers in the second quarter of 2025.

The cancellation also ended the tenure of the long-running late-night franchise, replacing the Pat Sajak show in 1993, and was first hosted by David Letterman.

Financial pressures

“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” CBS said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

CBS previously cancelled another late-night show, After Midnight, hosted by comedian Taylor Tomlinson, after a two-year run.

Experts believe there is merit to that argument.

“The reality is the business of late night is not going anywhere that justifies the enormous salaries that this talent is paid and the costs that these productions have. Ultimately, if you’re producing late night, it is mostly going to be consumed on YouTube,” Andrew Rosen, founder of the media strategy firm Parqor, told Al Jazeera.

The show reportedly costs $100m to produce annually and loses about $40m in revenue, according to reporting from the outlet Puck.

“They’ve [CBS] just maxed out the model for as long as they can and for a variety of reasons that I think probably have more to do with the economics of the merger with Skydance than they do with Trump,” Rosen added, referring to Paramount’s efforts to cut costs as it focuses to merge with Skydance.

On Wall Street, Paramount’s stock is up 0.2 percent as of 1pm in New York (17:00 GMT).

Political timing

The announcement of the cancellation of the show comes as the Department of Justice considers the merger. Economics apart, the move is also being seen as political in nature.

“The timing of it raises a lot of questions. To me, it is the politics of it, especially for broadcast legacy media,” Rodney Benson, professor, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, told Al Jazeera.

The Trump White House has gone after news organisations and their parent media companies for what the administration says is coverage that is partisan in nature, including the $16m lawsuit that Paramount settled with Trump. In December, Disney-owned ABC News settled a defamation suit with a $15m donation to Trump’s library and issued a public apology over inaccurate on-air comments. There have also been cuts to public media and use of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to threaten the future of their broadcasting licenses.

“Broadcast networks are regulated by the FCC. They have to have their licences renewed, and they can be, the government can go after them for what they define as news distortion. They’ve already raised that,” Benson added.

Democrats have called out the network for the cancellation of the show and alleged political reasoning.

“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on social media platform X formerly known as Twitter.

“Long-term financial trends could underlie this, but the timing suggests that if it was just financial, then they would have wanted to wait a bit, the optics are just horrible, so there must have been some pressure,” Benson added.

Skydance, the company set to acquire Paramount, is led by David Ellison, who is the son of Larry Ellison, the Oracle CEO and a close Trump ally.

In April, David Ellison attended a UFC fight with the president alongside former confidante Elon Musk, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy and Ted Cruz, among others.

Skydance is also reportedly in talks to acquire The Free Press, an outlet that has been seen as right-wing and friendly to the president. In the last few days, it has published pieces called “Happy Independence Day, NPR” when US Congress voted to scrap public media funding and accusing NPR of liberal bias; and another “The Epstein Files Are Just a Sideshow” as the president rails against releasing files related to deceased sex offender Jeffery Epstein, who Trump has been pictured with.

The wireless carrier, which is seeking FCC approval on two deals, bowed the pressure from the White House.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile says it is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, under pressure from the Trump administration as it seeks regulatory approval for two major deals.

The Washington state-based company said in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, made public on Wednesday, that the wireless company is ending its DEI-related policies “not just in name, but in substance.”

T-Mobile said it will no longer have any individual roles or teams focused on DEI, is removing any references to DEI on its websites, and has removed references to DEI from its employee training materials.

Carr said he was pleased with the changes. “This is another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and the public interest,” according to the news agency Reuters.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, criticised T-Mobile’s action, saying, “In yet another cynical bid to win FCC regulatory approval, T-Mobile is making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness, and amplifying underrepresented voices.”

T-Mobile is awaiting FCC approval to buy almost all of regional carrier United States Cellular’s wireless operations including customers, stores and 30 percent of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4bn, and a separate transaction to establish a joint venture with KKR to acquire internet service provider Metronet, which reaches more than 2 million homes and businesses in 17 states.

Investors did not respond well to the news.  As of 2:30pm ET (18:30 GMT), the company’s stock, traded under the TMUS, is down 1.3 percent since the market opened.

T-Mobile joins a growing list of companies bowing to pressure from the Trump administration that face regulatory approval.

Last week, Paramount agreed to pay a $16m settlement after the president claimed CBS News’ show 60 Minutes misleadingly edited an interview with then Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, as Paramount seeks regulatory approval for the proposed merger with Skydance.

As Canada pushes ahead with a new digital services tax on foreign and domestic technology companies, United States President Donald Trump has retaliated by ending all trade talks and threatened to impose additional tariffs on exports from Ottawa.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, Trump called the new Canadian tax structure a “direct and blatant attack on our country”, adding that Canada is “a very difficult country to trade with”.

“Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,” he wrote. He added that he would announce new tariffs of his own for Canada in a matter of days.

US companies such as Amazon, Meta, Google and Uber face an estimated $2bn in bills under the new tax.

Trump’s decision marks a sharp return to trade tensions between the two countries, abruptly ending a more cooperative phase since Mark Carney’s election as Canada’s prime minister in March.

It also marks a further escalation in the trade-as-pressure tactic under Trump’s second term in Washington.

The US is Canada’s largest trading partner by far, with more than 80 percent of Canadian exports destined for the US. In 2024, total bilateral goods trade exceeded US$762bn, with Canada exporting $412.7bn and importing $349.4bn – leaving the US, which counts Canada as its second-largest trading partner, with a goods deficit of $63.3bn.

A disruption due to tariffs on products like automobiles, minerals, energy or aluminium could have large ripple effects across both economies.

So, what is Canada’s digital tax? Why is Carney facing domestic pushback on the taxes? And how is Washington responding?

What is Canada’s digital services tax?

Canada’s Digital Services Tax Act (DSTA) came into force in June last year. It is a levy on tech revenues generated from Canadian users – even if providers do not have a physical presence in the country.

The DSTA was first proposed during the 2019 federal election under then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and received approval in Canada on June 20, 2024. It came into force a week later, on June 28. The first payments of this tax are due on Monday, June 30, 2025.

Large technology firms with global revenues exceeding $820m and Canadian revenues of more than $14.7m must pay a 3 percent levy on certain digital services revenues earned in Canada. Unlike traditional corporate taxes based on profits, this tax targets gross revenue linked to Canadian user engagement.

Digital services the levy will apply to include: Online marketplaces, social media platforms, digital advertising and the sale or licensing of user data.

One of the most contentious parts of the new framework for businesses is its retroactive nature, which demands payments on revenues dating back to January 1, 2022.

Why is Trump suspending trade talks over the new tax?

On June 11, 21 US Congress members sent a letter to President Trump, urging him to pressure Canada to eliminate or pause its Digital Services Tax. “If Canada decides to move forward with this unprecedented, retroactive tax, it will set a terrible precedent that will have long-lasting impacts on global tax and trade practices,” they wrote.

Then, in a Truth Social post on Friday this week, Trump said Canada had confirmed it would continue with its new digital services tax “on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country”.

He added that the US would be “terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately” and that he would be levying new tariffs of his own on Canada within seven days.

“They have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products,” Trump said, adding, “We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.”

Later, at the Oval Office, Trump doubled down, saying: “We have all the cards. We have every single one.” He noted that the US holds “such power over Canada [economically]”. “We’d rather not use it,” Trump said, adding: “It’s not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it.

“Most of their business is with us, and when you have that circumstance, you treat people better.”

Trump also said he would order a Section 301 investigation under the Trade Act to assess the DSTA’s effect on US commerce, which could potentially lead to other punitive measures.

On Friday, White House National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, told the  Fox Business Friday programme: “They’re taxing American companies who don’t necessarily even have a presence in Canada.”

Calling the tax “almost criminal”, he said: “They’re going to have to remove it. And I think they know that.”

How has Canada responded?

Relations had seemed friendlier between the two North American neighbours in recent months as they continue with trade talks. Trump and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had clashed previously – with Trump calling Trudeau “very dishonest” and “weak” during the 2018 G7 talks in Canada.

But newly elected Carney enjoyed a cordial visit with Trump in May at the White House, while Trump travelled to Canada for the G7 summit in Alberta on June 16 and 17. Carney said at the summit that the two had set a 30-day deadline for trade talks.

In a brief statement on Friday, Prime Minister Carney’s office said of Trump’s new threats to suspend trade talks over the digital tax: “The Canadian government will continue to engage in these complex negotiations with the United States in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses.”

Last week, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters that the digital tax could be negotiated as part of the broader, ongoing US-Canada trade discussions. “Obviously, all of that is something that we’re considering as part of broader discussions that you may have,” he had said.

Those discussions had been expected to result in a trade deal in July. However, they are now in limbo.

What do Canadian business leaders say?

Carney has been facing pressure from domestic businesses as well, which have lobbied the government to pause the digital services tax, underlining that the new framework would increase their costs for providing services and warning against retaliation from the US.

The Business Council of Canada, a nonprofit organisation representing CEOs and leaders of major Canadian companies, said in a statement that, for years, it “has warned that the implementation of a unilateral digital services tax could risk undermining Canada’s economic relationship with its most important trading partner, the United States”.

“That unfortunate development has now come to pass,” the statement noted. “In an effort to get trade negotiations back on track, Canada should put forward an immediate proposal to eliminate the DST in exchange for the elimination of tariffs from the United States.”

Has Trump used tariffs to pressure Canada before?

Yes. Prior to the DSTA, Trump has used tariffs to pressure Canada over what he says is its role in the flow of the addictive drug, fentanyl, and undocumented migration into the US, as well as broader trade and economic issues.

On January 20, in his inaugural address, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods and a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy resources. Trump claimed that Canada has a “growing footprint” in fentanyl production, and alleged that Mexican cartels operate fentanyl labs in Canada, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

These tariffs were paused for 30 days following assurances from Canada that appropriate action would be taken to curb the flow of fentanyl, and then re-imposed in early March.

Do other countries levy a similar digital tax?

Yes, several countries around the world have introduced digital services taxes (DSTs) similar to Canada’s. France was one of the first to introduce a DST in 2019, eliciting an angry response from Trump who was serving his first term as president. The French tax is a 3 percent levy on revenues from online advertising, digital platforms and sales of user data.

The UK followed with a 2 percent tax on revenues from social media platforms and search engines. Spain, Italy, and Austria have also implemented similar taxes, with rates ranging from 3 to 5 percent. Turkiye has one of the highest DST rates at 7.5 percent, covering a wide range of digital services such as content streaming and advertising.

Outside Europe, India has a 2 percent “equalisation levy” on foreign e-commerce operators which earn revenues from Indian users. Kenya and Indonesia have also created their own digital tax systems, though they’re structured slightly differently – Indonesia, for instance, applies Value Added Tax (VAT) – or sales tax – on foreign digital services, rather than a DST.

The US government has strongly opposed these taxes; some of these disputes have been paused as part of ongoing negotiations led by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organisation made up of 38 member countries, which is working on a global agreement for taxing digital companies fairly.

Canada held off on implementing its DST until 2024 to give time for the OECD talks. But when progress stalled, it went ahead with the 3 percent tax that applies retroactively since January 2022.

Should the EU be worried about this?

The European Union is likely to be watching this situation closely as digital tax is likely to be a key concern during its own trade talks with the US.

Trump has repeatedly warned that similar tax measures from other allies, including EU countries, could face severe retaliation.

Trump’s administration has previously objected to digital taxes introduced by EU member states like France, Italy, and Spain. In 2020, the US Trade Representative investigated these taxes under Section 301 and threatened retaliatory tariffs, though those were paused pending OECD-led global tax negotiations.

The European Commission has confirmed that digital taxation remains on the agenda, especially if a global deal under the OECD fails to materialise. President Ursula von der Leyen said on June 26 that “all options remain on the table” in trade discussions with the US, including enforcement mechanisms against discriminatory US measures.

The high-stakes trade negotiations ongoing between the US and the EU have a deadline for July 9 – the date that Trump’s 90-day pause on global reciprocal tariffs is due to expire. Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs of up to 50 percent on key European exports, including cars and steel, if a deal is not reached.

In response to these threats, the EU has prepared a list of retaliatory tariffs worth up to 95 billion euros ($111.4bn), which would target a broad range of US exports, from agricultural products to Boeing aircraft. EU leaders have signalled that they will defend the bloc’s tax sovereignty, while remaining open to negotiation.

A $499 gold phone built entirely in the United States and a mobile plan boasting telehealth services have been announced by the Trump Organization as part of an effort to entice the US president’s supporters away from major telecom providers and wireless services.

The mobile service is the latest example of the president’s family striking business deals off of the Trump name.

The eponymous Trump Mobile was announced in a Monday statement issued by the Trump Organization, which is led by President Donald Trump’s son Eric.

Dubbed the 47 Plan, the service will cost consumers $47.45 a month and will offer “5G service through all three major cellular carriers” – T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T. According to the statement, it will offer telemedicine, unlimited texting plans with 100 counties, and roadside assistance.

Some key details about the venture, including those about the family’s partner in the business and the financial terms of their licensing deal, were not immediately disclosed.

The “T1 Phone” is advertised as “proudly designed and built in the United States” and listed with a release date in August, although a tech writer from The Verge questioned the viability of building a phone in the US so quickly.

Speaking on Fox Business, Eric Trump said Trump Mobile would have call centres in St Louis, Missouri.

The Trump family, long known for its real estate empire, luxury hotels, and golf resorts, has in recent years ventured into newer arenas including digital media and cryptocurrency.

President Trump has said he put his business interests in a trust managed by his children to avoid conflicts of interest, but income from such business ventures will eventually enrich Trump, who sits atop the series of Trump family firms. In the president’s financial disclosure released on Friday, he reported more than $600m in income from licensing deals, crypto projects, golf clubs and other ventures – though that figure appeared to be only through the end of 2024, before his inauguration.

Targeting Apple?

The Trump Mobile announcement coincides with increased tension between the Trump administration and Apple in particular. The White House explicitly called for 25 percent tariffs on Apple products unless they are made in the US.

“It’s pointed at Apple, that’s a really big downward price pressure on what Apple’s trying to do,” Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, told the Reuters news agency.

Despite a recent pledge to spend $500bn in the US on manufacturing, research and development – comparable to pledges the Cupertino, California-based tech giant made in the past – the company recently doubled down on moving key parts of its production from China to India.

“There’s been kind of an opening for this type of device, if you will, simply because not just Apple, but Samsung devices to a certain extent as well, have really gotten so expensive in the moment in time and we haven’t really seen that big of a measurable increase in utility,” Mulberry said.

The Trump Organization, which is the main holding entity for most of the US president’s business ventures, said ahead of Trump’s inauguration that control of the company would be handed to his children, replicating the arrangement from his first term, though concerns about potential conflicts of interest remain.

“No one who has been paying attention could miss that President Trump considers the presidency a vehicle to grow his family’s wealth. Maybe this example will help more come to see this undeniable truth,” Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School, told Reuters.

Will it land?

While the Trump Organization is privately held, Trump-related stocks have not performed well on the news of the new smartphone and service plan. ​​Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, which is traded under the ticker DJT, is down 1.59 percent for the day as of 11am ET (15:00 GMT). The stock has already been on the downturn. It has tumbled more than 10 percent in the last five trading days.

“I don’t see much impact from Trump Mobile across the industry, as half of its addressable market is negated by political parties, and then from there, this industry already has a lot of stickiness to current providers,” David Wagner, head of equities at Aptus Capital Advisors, told Reuters.

Major wireless carriers have been having a mixed day on Wall Street. Verizon is down by about 0.1 percent from yesterday’s close. AT&T is up 0.2 percent from the market close yesterday. T-Mobile is up 0.5 percent. The new phone announcement has not underpinned Apple in the markets. Apple’s stock is up 0.7 percent from the market close yesterday.

The proposed merger, which would create the largest cable provider in the US, could face antitrust hurdles.

Charter Communications has agreed to buy its rival Cox Communications for $21.9bn in a deal that would unite the two of the largest cable and broadband operators in the United States as they battle streaming giants and mobile carriers for customers.

The deal, announced on Friday, comes more than a decade after the companies reportedly abandoned an earlier merger attempt. Since then, pressure has intensified on cable companies, with wireless carriers attracting broadband customers with aggressive plans, while millions ditch traditional pay-TV for streaming.

The companies said they expect to realise $500m in cost savings within three years of the deal’s expected close in mid-2026.

Under the cash-and-stock deal, Charter will take on about $12.6bn of Cox’s net debt and other obligations, giving the transaction an enterprise value of $34.5bn.

Cox Enterprises, the family-owned parent of Cox Communications, will own about 23 percent of the merged entity, with its CEO Alex Taylor serving as chairman.

The combined firm will rebrand as Cox Communications within a year of the deal’s close, with Charter’s Spectrum being the consumer-facing brand. It will keep its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, while maintaining a big presence at Cox’s campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

The merger with Cox – one of the biggest deals globally this year – will aid Charter’s push to bundle broadband and mobile services, helping it fend off competition from carriers.

Analysts have said Charter’s strategy of combining internet, TV and mobile services into a single, customizable package has shown merit, but it needs scale as cable firms rely on leasing network access from major carriers to offer mobile plans.

“This combination will augment our ability to innovate and provide high-quality, competitively priced products,” said Charter CEO Chris Winfrey, who will head the combined company.

The Spectrum-owner has a market value of nearly $60bn.

On Wall Street, Charter’s stock rose on the news of the potential merger. As of 12:00pm ET (16:00 GMT) the stock is up 1.66 percent since the market opened.

Antitrust concerns 

The merger will be among the first major tests of M&A regulation under the administration of US President Donald Trump, as it would create the largest US cable TV and broadband provider with about 38 million subscribers, surpassing current market leader Comcast.

It will likely be reviewed by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who leads the division, has made it clear she intends to focus on mergers that decrease competition in ways that harm consumers or workers.

EMarketer analyst Ross Benes said the merged entity would be the largest US pay-TV operator, but the “ISP (internet service provider) side of the business is more consequential” for consumers, potentially positioning it as a regional monopoly.

Winfrey echoed Trump’s “America First” employment priorities and said the deal would bring Cox’s customer service jobs back from overseas, but he did not specify how many. Charter’s customer service teams are already based entirely in the US.

“This is the first big corporate move (in the same sector) to happen under the new Trump administration so … will set the tone for other potential moves or not,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.

Charter and Cox had also discussed a merger in 2013 before shelving the plan, according to media reports. But speculation had risen again in recent months after cable billionaire John Malone said in November Charter should be allowed to merge with rivals such as Cox, shortly after Charter agreed to buy his Liberty Broadband.

Liberty Broadband shareholders will receive direct interest in Charter under the terms of the deal with Cox.