Apple Says U.K. Competition Remedies Could Harm Innovation

Apple has told Britain's competition regulator that some of the remedy options proposed by the watchdog to address concerns in the mobile browser market would impact the iPhone maker's incentive to innovate. The responses from Apple and Google to the regulator's investigation in the supply of mobile browsers and browser engines and the distribution of cloud gaming services through app stores on mobile devices in the country were published on the government website.

Apple, Google Restore TikTok to App Stores After DOJ Assurance

Apple and Google restored TikTok to their U.S. app stores, several weeks after they removed the Chinese-owned video platform to comply with a new law that banned it in the country. Apple and Google had recently received letters from the Justice Department assuring them that they would not face fines for carrying TikTok in their app stores, said two people with knowledge of the communications, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Mexican President Attacks Google for Using 'Gulf of America' Name

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum accused Google of violating the country’s sovereignty, leaving open the possibility of a lawsuit over the tech company labeling the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in its maps feature. Sheinbaum argued President Trump’s executive order renaming the gulf applied only to the area of the continental shelf under U.S. control, according to a translation by CNN.

Australian Children Said to Easily Evade Social Media Age Limits

Children in Australia are able to easily bypass the minimum age limit imposed by social media platforms ahead of a landmark ban by the government on access for those under 16, a report by the country's online safety regulator showed. ESafety's report combined results from a national survey on social media usage by eight to 15-year olds, along with responses from eight services including Alphabet's YouTube, Meta's Facebook and Amazon's Twitch.

X Agrees to Pay Trump $10M to Settle Lawsuit Over Deplatforming

Elon Musk’s X has agreed to pay about $10 million to settle a lawsuit that Donald Trump brought against the company and its former chief executive, according to people familiar with the matter. The agreement makes X the second social-media platform to settle litigation that Trump filed when the companies deplatformed him over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. Releases Russian Cybercriminal in Exchange for American Teacher

The Trump administration is preparing to release a Russian cybercriminal as part of a prisoner exchange that led to the release of an American schoolteacher from a Russian prison, three U.S. officials said. Officials were preparing to release Alexander Vinnik, who pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2024, to Russia as part of a swap for Marc Fogel, according to the three officials.

Trump Administration Restores Websites After Court Order

The Trump administration brought webpages back online, meeting a court-ordered deadline at 11:59 p.m. on February 11. Doctors for America (DFA), which represents physicians and medical students, filed suit last week against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) for taking health data off government websites.

Vance Warns U.S. Allies Against Strong Regulations on AI

The Trump administration wants the U.S. to dominate the artificial-intelligence revolution and is warning American allies to get on board with its light-touch approach to tech regulation or risk being left out. The U.S. is winning the race to build the best AI-training chips and the most advanced AI algorithms, and “intends to keep it that way,” Vice President JD Vance told a collection of world leaders — including French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — gathered for an AI summit in the French capital.

Trump Nominates RNC Executive as National Cyber Director

President Donald Trump is nominating RNC executive Sean Cairncross as his national cyber director, according to a list of new administration nominations obtained by Axios. This is the first significant cybersecurity nomination of the Trump administration, and if approved, Cairncross would play a key role in the administration's cyber policymaking and response to major cyberattacks.

U.S. Announces Sanctions, Arrests Against Russian Ransomware Networks

The U.S. took aim at two separate Russian ransomware networks, announcing new sanctions and arrests against a Russia-based internet service provider and several Russian nationals. The State Department said it is sanctioning Zservers — a bulletproof hosting (BPH) services provider that allegedly supported LockBit ransomware attacks — alongside Australia and the United Kingdom.

Man Pleads Guilty to Hacking SEC's X Account, Posting About Bitcoin

An Alabama man pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C., in connection with last year’s hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account, which was used to falsely claim the agency had officially approved exchange-traded funds for bitcoin Eric Council Jr. admitted to conspiring with others who took control of the SEC’s X account, according to the Department of Justice.

  • Read the article: CNBC

British Security Officials Want Apple to Allow Access to All Data

Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. The British government’s undisclosed order, issued last month, requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material, not merely assistance in cracking a specific account, and has no known precedent in major democracies.

Lawmakers Plan Bill to Ban DeepSeek App on Government-Owned Devices

Lawmakers announced they planned to introduce a bill to ban DeepSeek’s chatbot application from government-owned devices, over new security concerns that the app could provide user information to the Chinese government. The legislation written by Reps. Darin LaHood, an Illinois Republican, and Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, is echoing a strategy that Congress used to ban Chinese-controlled TikTok from government devices, which marked the beginning of the effort to block the company from operating in the U.S.

Newspaper Publisher Blames 'Cybersecurity Event' for Publishing Woes

Newspapers across the country owned by the news media company Lee Enterprises were unable to print, had problems with their websites and published smaller issues after a cyberattack, the company said. In a statement, Lee Enterprises said that the company was facing disruptions to its daily operations because of a “cybersecurity event,” and that it had notified law enforcement.

Read the article: The New York Times

French prosecutors Investigating X for Possible Algorithmic Bias

French prosecutors said they have opened an investigation into Elon Musk's X social media platform over alleged algorithmic bias. The Paris prosecutor's office said it launched the investigation after being contacted on January 12 by a lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms in X were likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system.

Chinese Officials Targeting U.S. Tech Companies for Antitrust Probes

Chinese officials are building a list of U.S. technology companies that can be targeted with antitrust probes and other tools, hoping to influence the tech executives who are heavily represented in President Trump’s orbit. People familiar with Beijing’s strategy said the goal was to collect as many cards as possible to play in expected negotiations with the Trump administration over U.S.-China issues, including the tariffs that Trump has imposed on Chinese goods.

European Commission Uses Digital Regulations Against Unsafe Products

The European Commission is using its raft of digital regulations to target foreign e-commerce platforms like Shein over concerns they are allowing cheap products that might be unsafe or break European Union law to enter the EU. The commission said it wants to introduce a customs reform that would see platforms hand over data on the products they sell to the EU to give officials more oversight of packages coming into the region.

The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.