Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
LinkedIn has sent a cease and desist letter to a website, Anti-Israel-Employees.com, accusing it of violating the professional networking site's policies around data scraping, a tactic in which automated software can be used to lift information from various sites.
The cease and desist, first reported by The New York Times, comes amid criticisms that Anti-Israeli-Employees.com unfairly highlighted various users who used hashtags such as #FreeGaza and #PrayForPalestine, and mentioned their place of employment.
“Using automated tools to scrape LinkedIn violates our terms of service,” a representative for the Microsoft-owned site wrote in response to questions from The National. “And we work to notify sites when they do.”
At one point, the website boasted “22,849 mentions from employees in 12,697 global companies”.
Anti-Israeli-Employees.com, which billed itself as a “global live feed of potentially supportive sentiments for terrorism and/or anti-Semitic publications and/or anti Israeli publications among company employees”, went live shortly after October 7 when the militant group Hamas launched attacks on southern Israel.
According to The New York Times, one of the creators of the site, Itai Liptz, said the purpose was to highlight people who were supporting Hamas.
Although the site was originally hosted by servers in the US, according to WhoIs.com, it was later transferred to servers in Israel, and registered to Guy Ophir, a lawyer who specialises in internet, cyber law, defamation and intellectual property, among other legal areas.
Mr Ophir told The New York Times that he felt LinkedIn was trying to infringe on freedom of speech, and in an earlier interview, Mr Liptz denied the scraping allegations from LinkedIn.
As of writing, the site, Anti-Israel-Employee.co.il is not active, but it was for several days after being transferred to new servers, where it also has a slightly different website address to reflect the country where it is registered.
Across the board, social media and Big Tech companies have been faced with an unprecedented amount of criticism over how they handle content as the crisis in Gaza intensifies.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, acknowledged that some posts about the conflict were receiving lower reach, attributing the problem to a technical glitch.
“This bug affected accounts equally around the globe – not only people trying to post about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza – and it had nothing to do with the subject matter of the content. We fixed this bug as quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement.
The accusations of scraping social media sites, however, pose different problems for tech companies, as users often depend on a certain privacy threshold when they post.
LinkedIn, with its professional and occupational emphasis, has been largely shielded from the issues faced by other social media platforms with regard to the content posted by users. However, in recent years it has seen a surge in users and engagement, with users posting personal reflections, pictures and news content.
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
Essentials
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Seattle from Dh6,755 return in economy and Dh24,775 in business class.
The cruise
UnCruise Adventures offers a variety of small-ship cruises in Alaska and around the world. A 14-day Alaska’s Inside Passage and San Juans Cruise from Seattle to Juneau or reverse costs from $4,695 (Dh17,246), including accommodation, food and most activities. Trips in 2019 start in April and run until September.
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
