Tech World: Huawei under investigation, questions from the EU and more

Welcome to Tech World, your quick roundup of some of the top technology news stories from across the globe.

This month, we bring you the latest on Huawei’s investigation, Facebook’s latest earnings in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and much more.

For this episode’s Hot Topic interview, we spoke to EY’s  Ioannis Melas about how customer expectations are evolving in line with digital technology.

First though, here are your top international stories.

Huawei under investigation

The US Justice Department has joined two other agencies probing Huawei for possible violations of sanctions banning sales to Iran.

According to people familiar with the matter, agents from the FBI have been looking into transcations completed by the China-based mobile and telecoms giant.

The criminal inquiry is thought to have grown out of an earlier sanctions-violation probe that led to penalties against ZTE Corp, another Chinese tech firm.

Questions from the EU

In other news, the European Union’s antitrust chief is looking at whether internet services are essential to modern life in the same way as telecom suppliers and electricity grids.

The questions, which could prove game-changing for tech giants such as Facebook or Google, is an attempt by EU officials to understand whether the internet could is approaching something that we would call an essential facility.

If Google’s search engine or Facebook’s social network were declined essential facilities, this would expand the boundaries of antitrust enforcement in Europe.

A move which would potentially allow regulators to set strict curbs on online platforms to safeguard businesses and consumers that rely on these kind of services.

Facebook’s quarterly results

Facebook’s quarterly sales increased by almost 50% in the social media giant’s first results since the Cambridge Analytica scandal emerged.

The company said revenues rose to $11.9bn during the first three months of the year, compared to $8bn previously.

First quarter profits also grew, reaching $4.9bn compared to $3bn last year.

In the meantime, MPs have urged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to speak to them after evidence given by the firm’s CTO was deemed unsatisfactory.

That’s it for our top global tech news roundup, but keep watching to see this episode’s Hot Topics interview

We spoke with EY’s Ioannis Melas about how customer expectations are evolving in line with digital technology.