Trump Signs Executive Order to Review Ways to Fight Cybercrime

President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at fighting cybercrime, including fraud and extortion, directing officials to identify robust tools to combat transnational criminal organizations preying on American families, businesses and infrastructure. The directive calls for a “comprehensive review to determine what operational, technical, diplomatic, and regulatory tools could be improved to combat transnational criminal organizations” that carry out cybercrimes and “predatory schemes,” according to the White House.

Indonesia to Ban Children Under 16 Years Old from Using Social Media

Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said. Hafid in a statement to media said that she just signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox.

Senate Approves Updated Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed proposed legislation known as COPPA 2.0, which aims to create new protections for younger users online, such as blocking platforms from collecting their personal data without consent. COPPA 2.0 is a modernized take on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, attempting to address recent changes in common online activities, like targeted advertising, that could prove harmful to minors.

Turkish Bill Would Ban Social Media Access for Children Under 15

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party submitted to parliament ​a draft bill that would ban social ‌media access for children younger than 15. With the bill, Turkey is following the example of Australia, several European countries and others ​which have adopted or are considering similar restrictions, amid ​mounting concerns over the impact of social media ⁠on children's health and safety.

OpenAI Amends Pentagon Agreement to Prohibit Domestic Surveillance

After a weekend of criticism, OpenAI said that its deal to provide artificial intelligence technologies for the Defense Department’s classified systems now included additional protections to prevent its technology from being used in mass surveillance of Americans. OpenAI said the deal had been amended to say its AI systems “shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals” in line with relevant federal laws, which it named in the contract.

Google Sued After Man Kills Self Allegedly Influenced by Gemini Chatbot

Google is facing a lawsuit from the family of a 36-year-old Florida man who allegedly considered carrying out a “mass casualty attack” and ultimately killed himself under the influence of the company’s Gemini chatbot. According to a suit filed in federal court in San Jose, California, Jonathan Gavalas began using Gemini for ordinary purposes like help with his writing. But two months of interactions sent him into dangerous spiral, during which he scoped out a possible violent mission before taking his own life, the suit alleges.

Security Researchers Identify Hacking Tools Targeting Older iPhones

Security researchers have identified a suite of powerful hacking tools capable of compromising iPhones running older software that they say has passed from a government customer into the hands of cybercriminals. Google said that it first identified the exploit kit, dubbed Coruna, in February 2025 during a surveillance vendor’s attempt to hack into someone’s phone with spyware on behalf of a government customer.

Democrats Probing How Tech Firms Handle Subpoenas from DHS

Congressional Democrats launched an inquiry into how tech giants handle demands from the Department of Homeland Security for personal information on Americans who criticize the agency. The probe comes after The Washington Post investigated Homeland Security’s use of administrative subpoenas, a powerful but little-known legal instrument that federal agencies can issue without an order from a judge or grand jury.

Federal Agency Officials Warn About Safety for Grok Chatbot

Officials at multiple federal agencies have raised concerns about the safety and reliability of Elon Musk’s xAI artificial-intelligence tools in recent months, highlighting continuing disagreements within the U.S. government about which AI models to deploy, according to people familiar with the matter. The warnings preceded the Pentagon’s decision this week to put xAI at the center of some of the nation’s most sensitive and secretive operations by agreeing to allow its chatbot, Grok, to be used in classified settings.

  • Read the article: The Wall Street Journal

Australia May Push Search Engines to Block AI Services

Australia's Internet regulator said it may push search engines and app stores to block artificial intelligence services that fail to verify user ages after a Reuters review found more than half had not made public any steps to comply by an upcoming deadline. The warning reflects one of the most aggressive efforts globally to rein in AI companies, which face a growing number of lawsuits for failing to stop — and even encouraging — self-harm or violence while researchers caution that such platforms are more harmful to youth mental health than social media.

Hours After Trump's Ban, U.S. Uses Anthropic Tools for Iran Attack

Within hours of declaring that the federal government will end its use of artificial-intelligence tools made by tech company Anthropic, President Trump launched a major air attack in Iran with the help of those very same tools. Commands around the world, including U.S. Central Command in the Middle East, use Anthropic’s Claude AI tool, people familiar with the matter confirmed.

Trump Orders U.S. Agencies to Stop Using Anthropic's Products

President Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop using artificial intelligence technology made by Anthropic, a directive that could vastly complicate government intelligence analysis and defense work. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the company a “supply-chain risk to national security,” a label that means that no contractor or supplier that works with the military can do business with Anthropic — an all but unheard-of, legal experts said. It strips an American company of its government work by using a process previously deployed only with foreign companies the United States considered security risks.

Plaintiff in Social-Media Addiction Lawsuit Testifies at Trial

The plaintiff in a landmark trial over whether the design of social-media apps can foster addiction in children told a jury that using YouTube and Instagram had contributed to her social isolation and mental health issues, including anxiety, body dysmorphia and depression. The 20-year-old woman, described in court as Kaley G.M., took the witness stand after nearly three weeks of testimony in the civil case.

Anthropic Says It Won't Accommodate Pentagon's Demands

The standoff between the Pentagon and Anthropic over how artificial intelligence can be used in defense continued on Thursday as the AI start-up reiterated its reservations, a day before a deadline imposed by the Trump administration for the company to permit its powerful technology to be applied broadly for military operations. The two sides are hurtling toward a deadline over a Pentagon demand that Anthropic provide unfettered access to its AI system without safeguards demanded by the company, as part of the negotiations over a $200 million contract involving AI in classified systems.

Instagram to Notify Parents if Teens Frequently Search for Suicide

Instagram said it would notify parents if their teenager repeatedly searches for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period, as pressure grows for governments to follow Australia's ban on the use of social media for under 16s. Britain said in January it was considering restrictions to protect children online, after Australia's move in December. Spain, Greece, and Slovenia have in recent weeks said they are also looking at limiting access.

FTC Issues Policy Statement on Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement advising industry that it will not bring enforcement actions against website and online service providers who collect, use and share personal data using age verification technologies. Companies have historically worried that collecting data for age verification could violate the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule), which requires commercial websites and online service operators to obtain parental consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information of children under 13.

Hacker Exploits Anthropic Chatbot to Attack Mexican Gov't Agencies

A hacker exploited Anthropic PBC’s artificial intelligence chatbot to carry out a series of attacks against Mexican government agencies, resulting in the theft of a huge trove of sensitive tax and voter information, according to cybersecurity researchers. The unknown Claude user wrote Spanish-language prompts for the chatbot to act as an elite hacker, finding vulnerabilities in government networks, writing computer scripts to exploit them and determining ways to automate data theft, Israeli cybersecurity startup Gambit Security said in research.