January 23, 2026
Local
Local
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Two foreign nationals have become the first individuals in Malaysia to be charged in court for littering under the newly enforced anti-littering law, according to a report by The Star.
SYDNEY, Feb 5 — Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices, following security agencies’ warnings about privacy and malware risks posed by the Chinese AI program. The chatbot—developed by a China-based startup—has amazed industry experts and rattled financial markets since its release last month.
Several countries, including South Korea, Italy, and France, have raised concerns about DeepSeek’s data practices. Australia’s new directive is one of the toughest measures yet, requiring government departments to remove any instances of DeepSeek products and block future use.
Government cyber security envoy Andrew Charlton called the ban a necessary step to protect sensitive information and warned that data uploaded to DeepSeek “might not be kept private.” Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley advised the public to consider removing the app from their personal devices as well.
This move follows earlier Australian bans on Chinese tech, including Huawei’s 5G network involvement in 2018 and TikTok on government devices in 2023. — AFP
