Dispatches from Rest of World: March 12

Here are this week's biggest stories in tech from the regions that we cover. For more exclusive content, sign up for Rest of World's weekly global newsletter.

Photo source: The Philippine army is recruiting young tech civilians to fight cyber attacks

Africa TikTok is reported to be profiting from sexual livestreams performed by teens as young as 15 in Kenya. On TikTok Live, young Kenyans dance semi-naked, openly advertise, and negotiate payment for more explicit content to be sent via other messaging platforms. While the Chinese platform has banned solicitation, it’s aware of child exploitation in its livestreams, having run an internal investigation in 2022. ?A lawsuit filed last year claims the company ignored the issue because it “profited significantly” from the content. TikTok told the BBC it has “zero tolerance for exploitation.” —?Damilare Dosunmu from Lagos

China China introduced a 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) government-backed fund to boost tech development, as the country kicked off its annual political meetings in Beijing last week. These parliamentary meetings, known as the Two Sessions, are an occasion for the Chinese government to announce its plans for the near future. DeepSeek’s AI innovations appear to have given Beijing a confidence boost to further push for “self-reliance” in tech development in the face of U.S. tariffs and sanctions. The fund will support AI and quantum technology, and invest in startup companies, according to state media. —?Kinling Lo from Taipei

Latin America Last week, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele taunted the International Monetary Fund, which recently published a report urging the Central American nation to stop accumulating bitcoin, by purchasing more of the cryptocurrency. In 2021, El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender but the experience has proven to be a flop. Bitcoin use in the country remains marginal. Bukele has been engulfed in accusations of human rights violations, but these have often been overshadowed by his loud claims about El Salvador’s transformation into a bitcoin paradise. —?Karla Zabludovsky from Mexico City

South Asia India is revamping its data protection law. As the two-month consultation period on the Digital Personal Data Protection Act closed on March 5, digital rights activists raised concerns about the law’s “excessive vagueness,” violations of privacy, and the “expansion of government control and reduced accountability.” The Internet and Mobile Association of India, which represents over 600 digital companies, criticized it for financial and tech compliance burdens that only large companies can afford, leaving smaller businesses at a disadvantage. Separately, a lobby group representing major tech companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon urged the Indian government to postpone new regulations and reconsider rules around children’s age verification and parental consent.?—?Ananya Bhattacharya from Mumbai

Southeast Asia In late February, Singapore charged three men, including one Chinese national, in a fraud case linked to computer servers exported to Malaysia that might contain Nvidia chips. The case has put the spotlight on Singapore as a suspected hub for smuggling Nvidia chips to China. In 2024, Singapore was Nvidia’s second-largest revenue source. Meanwhile, the U.S. is investigating whether DeepSeek had circumvented U.S. restrictions on Nvidia chips by buying them from companies in other countries.—?Lam Le from Hanoi