Asian Tech Roundup: Australia passes groundbreaking social media ban

Plus: Huawei launches flagship Mate 70 smartphone

Welcome to Computing's weekly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we cover the Australian government’s ban on social media for under-16s, plus Huawei’s new phone with an operating system that’s completely independent of Android

Australia

• Australia’s parliament has passed a groundbreaking bill that restricts access to social media for under-16s. It is expected to become law in November 2025 . Source
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said social media firms will be required to destroy the data used to verify users’ ages, as part of the government’s ban on under-16s using such services. Source
• Google and Meta urged Australia to think again about banning under-16s. Source
• Those very same companies have been criticised by a Senate select committee for sucking up Australians’ data to train AI. “Watching Amazon, Meta and Google dodge questions during the hearings was like sitting through a cheap magic trick – plenty of hand-waving, a puff of smoke, and nothing to show for it in the end,” said senator Tony Sheldon. Source
• Google is to constuct an undersea cable to connect the northern city of Darwin with Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. Source

China

• Huawei has unveiled its Mate 70 smartphone with an entirely homegrown OS HarmonyOS to challenge Google’s Android and iOS. Source
• China warned it will take "necessary actions" to protect its semiconductor firms if the US escalates measures to blacklist them. Source
• The Salt Typhoon hack on US telecoms is “worst in history”, according to Senator Mark Warner. While fewer than 150 direct victims have been notified, Warner said that the scope of the breach is much larger, as call and message records related to those individuals span millions. Source
• International integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) have begun offering automotive-grade chips specifically designed for China. Source
• Battery maker CATL says it does not use suppliers from the Xinjiang region, where Uighers are forced into labour, after a US lawmaker called for punitive action. Source
• Volkswagen has sold its factory in Xinjiang citing “economic reasons”. Source
• Threat group Earth Estries has been using a new backdoor GHOSTSPIDER to target Southeast Asian telecoms companies. Source
• Vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen has told Nvidia's Jay Puri that China welcomes the chip maker’s presence and aims to build a better environment for foreign firms. The Commerce Ministry is attempting to strength overseas relationships in the face of US sanctions. Source
• Chinese technology firms have launched new chips that use a version of Ethernet optimised for AI. Source
• China plans to test its own satellite navigation system to rival GPS in 2027. Source

India

• The Competition Commission of India has turned down Apple’s request to put a hold on an investigation report that determined the company had breached competition laws. Source
• Meanwhile the CCI has approved Google’s purchase of a “minority, non-controlling” stake in ecommerce company Flipkart India .... Source
• ... while it invesigates Google for allegedly crushing local startups by limiting real-money gaming on its Play store. Source
• And it has fined Meta for abusing its dominant position to share data between its apps . Source
• Google is suing an Indian former employee for posting trade secrets online. Harshit Roy of Bengalaru’s downfall came when he moved to Texas, allowing Google to track him down. Source
• A minister has called for measures to remove “vulgar” content from social media. Source

Japan

• Trade authorities have raided Amazon Japan on suspicion of its violating anti-monopoly laws by urging sellers to lower their prices in exchange for better placement on the ecommerce site. Source
• SoftBank plans to buy up to $1.5 billion of OpenAI stock as it seeks to bolster its position in AI . Source
• Cable maker Fujikura has grown in value by 400% in 2024, driven by demand for AI and datacentre operations . Source

South Korea

• Struggling Samsung has announced the second management shake-up in its chips business as concerns grow that it failed to grasp the AI boom quickly enough. Source
• Prosecutors are seeking a five-year jail term for Samsung Electronics chair Jay Y. Lee over his actions in a controversial affiliate merger. Source

Other Asia

• Indonesia: The government says Apple’s proposed $100 million investment in the country, which would include setting up a new accessory and component factory, is not enough to allow sales of the iPhone 16 and Apple Watch 10. The government banned the products from sale in late October. Source
• North Korean hackers have infiltrated hundreds of organisations, posing as VCs, recruiters and IT workers and stealing data and crypto to further the regime's nuclear weapons programme, according to Microsoft researchers. Source