Today’s Hashtag Trending episode is laced with legal issues. We talk about CIRA’s mishandling of employee firing, cryptocurrency founder demanded to be exhumed, and major tech companies involved in alleged child labour abuse.
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Thank you for tuning in, it’s Tuesday, December 17th, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Trending on Reddit, CIRA has apparently fired three of its IT staffers because they discovered sexually explicit images on their president’s computer. According to the Toronto Star, the ordeal started when members of its IT department found the images while transferring files between computers belonging to CIRA CEO Byron Holland. Instead of reprimanding Holland, however, the staffers were fired and were forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for their severance pay. CIRA chairperson Helen McDonald refused an interview request by the Star, but said that the matter has been appropriately resolved.
Trending on Google, users of the Quadriga CX cryptocurrency are calling for the Canadian police to exhume the body of its founder Gerald Cotten. Cotten died in December last year on a trip to India due to Crohn’s disease. He also happens to be the only one with the passwords to CA$150 million worth of digital currency. After his death, over 76,000 unsecured investors of Quadriga CX demanded the company to pay back $214 million. As such, the company filed for protection, then subsequently went bankrupt in early 2019.
Lastly, trending everywhere, several major tech companies are named in a lawsuit over child labour abuse in Congolese cobalt mining operations. According to a report by the Guardian, Apple, Google Dell, Microsoft and Tesla are defendants (among others) in a class-action lawsuit that involved the death of children in Congolese Cobalt mines. The report states that the tech companies “aided and abetted” dangerous mining activities involving children. The Guardian also wrote that such a legal case is unprecedented for tech companies.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Tom Li, thanks for listening.