stc Group Signs Strategic Agreements to Enhance Local Content

stc Group has signed new agreements with local partners at the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF’s) Private Sector Forum in Riyadh
stc Group has signed new agreements with local partners at the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF’s) Private Sector Forum in Riyadh
TT

stc Group Signs Strategic Agreements to Enhance Local Content

stc Group has signed new agreements with local partners at the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF’s) Private Sector Forum in Riyadh
stc Group has signed new agreements with local partners at the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF’s) Private Sector Forum in Riyadh

stc Group has signed a raft of new agreements with local partners at the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF’s) Private Sector Forum in Riyadh, with the aim of enriching the local economy.

Prince Mohammad Bin Khalid Al Abdullah Al-Faisal, the chairman of the Board of Directors of stc Group attended the signings.

stc Group was represented at the Forum by its Rawafed program which also participated in a workshop dedicated to improving localization of procurement and supply chains.

The annual event brings together policymakers, key local private-sector players, visionaries, and industry leaders to discuss and catalyze and accelerate economic growth opportunities within the Kingdom’s private sector.

Commenting on the stc’s participation, CEO Olayan Al-Wetaid said: “We welcome the opportunity to participate once again at the PIF Private Sector Forum – a brilliant space to reaffirm our commitment to driving forward the Kingdom's economic agenda. At stc Group, we are dedicated to providing world-class connectivity, driving digital transformation, and empowering sustainable growth.”

He added that the signed agreements reflect stc Group’s commitment to cooperating with various local partners, and empowering innovation, and contributing to enhancing local content in line with Vision 2030's objectives.

The agreements signed covered a range of strategic stc Group objectives, from sustainability to digital transformation. They included a contract with Al Jazea Contracting & Trading Company for the establishment of a grey water treatment plant. The agreement aims to reduce water consumption and achieve broader sustainability goals.

Another agreement was signed with Master Works to enhance the customer experience by expanding stc’s capabilities to monitor new key performance indicators.

An agreement signed with Gazal, PIF’s portfolio company, to provide eco-friendly mobility movement at stc Group’s headquarters. An agreement was also signed with Simah to develop a system for integration and validation of partner data, enhancing the onboarding process, in an initiative called “Partner Hub Enhancement.”

During the forum, a contract was signed with Middle Sea for Telecommunication Establishment, Prime Gate Company, and Awnas Contracting Company to modernize infrastructure and advance sustainability efforts, specifically focusing on offloading of stc OSP (outside plant) infrastructure.

Capping stc Group’s involvement, Rawafed participated in the "Maximizing Local Content in Procurement" workshop and exhibition. The event provided the opportunity for direct registration to local partners, allowing them to showcase technological investment opportunities and provide examples of how stc Group is one of the Kingdom’s best-practice leaders in localization.

The workshop also provided an opportunity to exchange expertise and insights on how local procurement and localization of supply chains can be bolstered.

The PIF Private Sector Forum attracts elite policymakers and prestigious local private-sector institutions, along with prominent figures and specialists in the sector. It serves as a platform for dialogues to review ways of supporting local content and enhancing opportunities for private sector growth in the Kingdom.



TikTok Must Face Lawsuit over 10-year-old Girl's Death, US Court Rules

A view shows the office of TikTok after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app or face a ban, in Culver City, California, March 13, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
A view shows the office of TikTok after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app or face a ban, in Culver City, California, March 13, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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TikTok Must Face Lawsuit over 10-year-old Girl's Death, US Court Rules

A view shows the office of TikTok after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app or face a ban, in Culver City, California, March 13, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
A view shows the office of TikTok after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app or face a ban, in Culver City, California, March 13, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake

A US appeals court has revived a lawsuit against TikTok by the mother of a 10-year-old girl who died after taking part in a viral "blackout challenge" in which users of the social media platform were dared to choke themselves until they passed out, Reuters reported.

While a federal law typically shields internet companies from lawsuits over content posted by users, the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled the law does not bar Nylah Anderson's mother from pursuing claims that TikTok's algorithm recommended the challenge to her daughter.

US Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz, writing for the three-judge panel, said that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 only immunizes information provided by third parties and not recommendations TikTok itself made via an algorithm underlying its platform.

She acknowledged the holding was a departure from past court rulings by her court and others holding that Section 230 immunizes an online platform from liability for failing to prevent users from transmitting harmful messages to others.

But she said that reasoning no longer held after a US Supreme Court ruling in July on whether state laws designed to restrict the power of social media platforms to curb content they deem objectionable violate their free speech rights.

In those cases, the Supreme Court held a platform's algorithm reflects "editorial judgments" about "compiling the third-party speech it wants in the way it wants." Shwartz said under that logic, content curation using algorithms is speech by the company itself, which is not protected by Section 230.

"TikTok makes choices about the content recommended and promoted to specific users, and by doing so, is engaged in its own first-party speech," she wrote.

TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.

Tuesday's ruling reversed a lower-court judge's decision dismissing on Section 230 grounds the case filed by Tawainna Anderson against TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance.

She sued after her daughter Nylah died in 2021 after attempting the blackout challenge using a purse strap hung in her mother's closet.

"Big Tech just lost its 'get-out-of-jail-free card,'" Jeffrey Goodman, the mother's lawyer, said in a statement.

U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Matey, in a opinion partially concurring with Tuesday's ruling, said TikTok in its "pursuit of profits above all other values" may choose to serve children content emphasizing "the basest tastes" and "lowest virtues."

"But it cannot claim immunity that Congress did not provide," he wrote.