Algorithmic pricing at the heart of a tug-of-war with US retailers
The New York Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act was passed by the state last June. For Governor Kathy Hochul, the aim is to combat the opacity of certain prices, which fluctuate according to consumers, and prevent comparative pricing. A study published in January by the Federal Trade Commission pointed out how the use of data made it possible to target each consumer with different prices. In other words, it was possible to charge higher prices to those for whom a product was most needed.
An unjustified accusation, according to the powerful National Retail Federation, which denounces a "speculative fear" and points out that data is generally used to offer discounts and personalized promotions. The NRF refuses to see its members forced locally to issue "misleading and alarming" warnings to customers about the use made of their data.
"Algorithms are created by humans, not computers, and they are an extension of what retailers have been doing for decades, if not centuries, to use what they know about their customers to serve them better," argued Stephanie Martz, NRF's administrative and legal director.
"This is simply happening on the scale of the modern economy. Stigmatizing tools that lower prices turns promotional offers into a liability, and consumers will end up paying more."
In response to the Algorithmic Pricing Act, the NRF is suing New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who is responsible for enforcing the law. The federation is attacking the text from a constitutional angle, stating that it amounts to forcing retailers to express "opinions dictated by the Government." This would violate the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which deals with freedom of expression.
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LeMonde
2 days ago
- LeMonde
'State of New Caledonia' created in hard-won agreement with French government
Negotiations over New Caledonia's future concluded at dawn on Saturday, July 12, after a final, uninterrupted 24-hour round in the western Paris suburb of Bougival, in a scenario reminiscent of Sydney Pollack's 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, which features dancers competing to the point of exhaustion in an attempt to save their lives. After nine days of talks and an 11 th -hour signing, the Agreement on a State of New Caledonia lays out a "leap of faith." It marks the commitment of the French government, pro-independence and anti-independence groups to a new status for the territory, considered a "lasting solution." An economic reform pact, including the nickel sector, is attached to this. "It has been agreed to establish a sui generis institutional framework for the 'State of New Caledonia' within the French national entity, enshrined in the Constitution of the French Republic. It may be recognized by the international community," the document states. "This agreement, the guidelines of which will be enshrined in the Constitution, sets out the conditions under which a New Caledonian nationality will be created. New Caledonians will thus benefit from dual nationality, French and New Caledonian."
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Guinea: Doumbouya's power leaves opponents mute with fear
The new draft constitution presented to Guinea's President Mamady Doumbouya on June 30 contains several big changes, including a new seven-year term for the president and the creation of both a special high court and a senate. It does not explicitly say that Doumbouya, who seized power from former president Alpha Condé during a coup d'etat on September 5, 2021 can be a candidate. A referendum on the new constitution is set for September. The transitional plan established the day after the coup says that no member of the junta, the government, or anyone in transitional structures can run for the next elections. But for the past few months, many have been calling for General Doumbouya to run. In the four years that he has been in power, Doumboya has become omnipresent in Guinea – omnipotent, according to his detractors. In the latest episode of the Observers, which went live on July 5 (watch the video at the top of the article), these Guinean activists are speaking out against a regime that they say shuts down any and all dissent. Protests for 'continuity' 'Before, you couldn't go two metres in Conakry without seeing one of these portraits,' says a journalist, who requested anonymity. Up until spring 2025, hundreds of posters featuring images of General Doumbouya adorned the streets of the Guinean capital as well as other cities across the nation. A variety of groups supporting the Guinean president paid for the posters and plastered them around town. However, in recent months, more and more people had been taking to social media to complain about the posters. Authorities in Conakry finally removed most of the posters in May. 'In a context where the cult of personality has sometimes weakened our institutions, this move is a clear indication of a desire to break with that,' said Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, the spokesperson for the Guinean government, who spoke to our team. 'It's to make more place for posters promoting the census, in light of the referendum and the presidential election,' set for the end of the year, says one activist. He notes that the slogan featured on some of the posters 'Ka Doumbouya fo ka, Doumbouya ké', which means 'Doumbouya said, Doumbouya did' is well placed. When they are not busy hanging posters complimenting the general's acts, his supporters – which include activists, high-level government officials, and political and religious figures – are often organising protests 'for continuity'. Translation: for Mamady Doumbouya to stay in power. These protests continue despite the fact that the government banned all protests in May 2022. 'Citizens are pressured to come to these protests and given five euros if they do it' Our Observer Alseny Farinta Camara, who directs the anti-corruption NGO Renade, says that supporters of the junta have changed their strategy in the wake of a recent tragedy. On December 1, 2024, there was a deadly stampede during a football match organised in Nzérékoré to honour the junta and its leader. According to official reports, 56 people were killed, though human rights defenders say that the real toll is closer to 140 dead. Officials were accused of hitting spectators with their cars as they fled. "After Nzérékoré, the government changed its strategy, shifting to a policy of calling on political figures, artists, and religious chiefs to support the General by organising local rallies for 'peace and national unity'. From the information we've gathered, these protests in support of Doumboua seem to receive public money. Citizens are then pressured to attend these protests. If they do, they are given t-shirts and a sum of 50,000 Guinean francs, equivalent to 5 euros. " Alseny Farinta Camara with the NGO Renade Vincent Foucher, a researcher specialising in West Africa at French research institute CNRS, says, 'All the businessmen, all the people who were the financial backers of the RPG [Editor's note: the political party of previous president Alpha Condé] participate financially in these ceremonies, football matches and concerts in honour of Doumbouya. It's a way to make everyone forget that they had close links to the prior regime.' Government spokesperson Ousmane Gaoual Diallo denies these claims. 'The government didn't organise or finance these protests,' he says, adding that "these accusations are aimed at delegitimising the sincere engagement of many Guineans' who support the junta. A car in exchange for supporting Doumbouya? In the past nearly four years, the junta has been able to recruit a lot of supporters. The current government is run by Bah Oury, who is from UFDG, the party of Cellou Dalein Diallo, who opposed both former president Alpha Condé and the junta. A number of officials in the party were kicked out for having shown support for the new authorities. Same for officials from the party of the former president, Condé, who is now in exile. 'There are always marginalised factions within the big parties and the junta is an opportunity for the people who were part of these factions to raise their profiles,' Foucher says. 'There are people who say: this junta is unavoidable. It needs civil and political partners. We can try to push it towards a better direction – or a less bad one.' Aside from politicians, the president also has the support of some activists and journalists: "Yesterday, Aboubacar Condé and Lamine Mognouma Cissé were running a media outlet that was critical of the president, Djoma Media. Today, they are running a government [communication] platform, 'Guinée GOUV'. Culture minister Moussa Moïse Fila was a journalist who was very critical of the Condé regime as well as the start of the CNRD [Editor's note: National Committee of Reconciliation and Development, the junta's official name.]" A Guinean journalist Our team contacted the three journalists, who all responded. Aboubacar Condé says that he is 'not part of the government'. 'I am the coordinator of a service that takes care of the production of films made by the authorities,' he said. 'I'm still a journalist,' responded Lamine Mognouma Cissé. 'That's why I fight every day to carry out my profession through my website my economics magazine Émergence, and the weekly paper Le Punch." Culture Minister Moussa Moïse Sylla said that he had 'freely chosen, after ten years in the press, to use [his] experience in the service of the Republic alongside President Mamady Doumbouya'. The junta has been able to turn opponents into supporters, but it is also looking for footholds in all sectors. For that, it is ready to provide material compensation for those who show their support – and they aren't hiding that fact. In May, clerics in the towns of Boké and Kamsar were offered cars by the executive, on behalf of the president. Singers, including Singleton, Oudy Ier, Camara Mousto and Johanna Barry, all of whom have thousands of followers on social media, have all posted photos recently posing by enormous cars and thanking President Doumbouya for his generosity. After that, each of these singers recorded a song in the president's honour. Perhaps the most newsworthy support that President Doumbouya has managed to drum up is the French-Guinean rapper Black M. The former member of Sexion d'Assaut posed with the president and wrote a song about the mining project Simandou 2040. He did not respond to our questions about if he has been rewarded for this support. Disappearances of opponents blamed on the junta Most of the opposition figures who refused to collaborate with the junta are either in exile or are remaining silent. In 2024, the junta banned six radio and television stations, including the popular Espace TV and Djoma médias. One journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he has started to censor himself: "It's very hard not to be able to carry out a profession as you should, and it makes me feel very guilty. We write some of our articles under a pseudonym. Sometimes, we don't publish anything, but we do document what is going on. We put it on our site without making it public, but one day we will." Our team asked the government about the impact of the closures of these media outlets in light of the upcoming elections. The government told FRANCE 24 that they were 'in support of pluralist election coverage, as long as the rules are respected' and that the freedom of information was paired with 'a minimum of rigour, equity and respect for the law'. 'Who really opposes Mamady Doumbouya?' posited the magazine Jeune Afrique. In their article, they mentioned rallies… but also disappearances. In the past year, six men have been abducted. On July 9, 2024, Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla, known as Foniké Mengué, were the first two to disappear. They were members of FNDC (an acronym for National Forum for the Defence of the Constitution), a coalition of NGOs brought together to oppose Condé's bid for a third term. In October 2024, Saadou Nimaga, former secretary general of the Ministry of Mines and Geology went missing. In December, journalist Habib Marouane Camara disappeared. In February 2025, opposition activist Abdoul Sacko was kidnapped from his home. Videos of his home show the roof of his covered patio destroyed. Witnesses say that is how the kidnappers entered his home. On June 20, lawyer Mohamed Traoré disappeared. Abdoul Sacko and Mohamed Traoré were released the day after they were kidnapped. They were both covered with injuries and evidence of torture. As for the other four men, there has been no news of them since they were taken. Witnesses and people close to those who were kidnapped share similar stories. They say that men in gendarme uniforms were present during the kidnappings. 'A gendarme pick-up truck cut off his car and intercepted him,' said Alpha Madiou Bah, a colleague of Habib Marouane Camara at the magazine Le Révélateur. 'Gendarmes got out and broke his windshield. (...) They beat him with a truncheon. They knocked him out. They took him away while he was unconscious, according to witnesses of the scene.' Camara's wife, who was pregnant when he was captured, is still fighting for his release. The authorities say they have nothing to do with these disappearances. 'The government has requested that the justice system shed full light on the matter, strictly within legal bounds,' said government spokesperson Ousmane Gaoual Diallo. 'No state structure was mandated or implicated in these acts. We have no interest – neither political nor institutional – in situations like this occurring. The respect of human rights and individual dignity is at the heart of what we do. We want the truth, like the families, and we'll do everything for that to become clear.' 'A small group of us created a circle of trust' In the Observers show, Lansana (not their real name), an activist who said that they have been threatened with kidnapping, explains how they have changed their behaviour in light of these threats: "A small group of us have created a circle of trust. When you go somewhere, you let the others know that you are at X location and you say who you are meeting and for how long. Then, when you leave, you let the others know that you have started the journey back. If you are in a taxi or a moto taxi, you send the others the license plate. Sometimes we'll even take a picture of the driver and send it to the group. Then, if something happens, they know where you were, what journey you were undertaking. The aim is so that people know your last location and who you were with, which enables an investigation to be carried out." Lansana (not their real name), a Guinean activist Activists denounce a 'policy of terror'. Researcher Foucher has analysed the situation. 'These disappearances are a way to freeze the debate in an extreme way. There is much to criticise about Condé's regime, but that is a new level of pressure. If you can disappear like that, without any news, then who is going to take the risk to stand up to the regime? Who is capable of that?' When it took power, the junta announced that the transition period would take three years. All of the deadlines have now been exceeded. While the referendum is set for September, everyone has eyes on the presidential election. And even if the president has remained silent on the topic, both his supporters and the opposition are in agreement that Mamady Doumbouya will run and win.
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Cambodia to pass laws allowing for citizenship to be stripped
Rights groups have long accused Cambodia's government of using draconian laws to stifle opposition and legitimate political dissent. All of Cambodia's 125 lawmakers, including Prime Minister Hun Manet, voted unanimously to change the wording of the constitution to say "receiving, losing and revoking Khmer nationality shall be determined by law", AFP journalists saw. The constitution previously read "no Khmer citizen shall be deprived of their nationality, exiled, or extradited to another country except through mutual agreement". Justice Minister Koeut Rith told reporters that the amendment would pave the way for authorities to pass laws enabling the government to strip citizenship from anyone who colludes with foreign powers against the state. "If you betray the nation, the nation will not keep you," he said, adding a new citizenship revocation law would soon be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. But human rights activists fear any such law would be used to target government critics and opposition figures. Rights group Amnesty International said in a statement Friday that revocation of citizenship would be a "heinous violation of international law". "We are deeply concerned that the Cambodian government, given the power to strip people of their citizenship, will misuse it to crackdown on its critics and make them stateless," Amnesty International's regional research director Montse Ferrer said. Border dispute Citizenship can be revoked on grounds of treason or disloyalty in 15 European Union countries, and only for naturalized citizens in eight of those, according to a European Parliament briefing in February. Influential former leader Hun Sen, Hun Manet's father, last month called for the constitution to be amended to enable Cambodians who "side with foreign nations to harm our country" to be stripped of nationality. He made the call after exiled opposition figures criticised the government amid an ongoing border dispute with Thailand. Koeut Rith brushed off concerns of abuse. "If they (government critics) do not commit any treason crimes or any act that harms the national interest, they are not subjected to citizenship revocation, but they might face other charges," he added. Scores of opposition activists have been jailed or face legal cases filed by Cambodian authorities. Opposition leader Kem Sokha was sentenced in 2023 to 27 years in prison for treason -- a charge he has repeatedly denied -- and was immediately placed under house arrest. © 2025 AFP
