Apple Accuses Meta of Trying to Access Key Software Tools on iPhones

Apple called out Meta Platforms for trying to gain access to key software tools on iPhones, a criticism that comes as the European Union is ramping up its efforts to force the iPhone maker to give developers greater access to its technology. Apple said that it is concerned that companies might “attempt to abuse” the EU’s Digital Markets Act — a new rule book designed to curb the dominance of tech companies like Apple in the digital economy — to access sensitive user data.

U.S. Officials Investigating Links Between Chinese Routers, Cyberattacks

U.S. authorities are investigating whether a Chinese company whose popular home-internet routers have been linked to cyberattacks poses a national-security risk and are considering banning the devices. The router-manufacturer TP-Link, established in China, has roughly 65% of the U.S. market for routers for homes and small businesses.

European Commission Investigating TikTok Over Role in Romanian Election

The European Commission opened a formal investigation into TikTok over concerns foreign actors used the video platform to interfere in Romanian presidential elections. The European Union’s digital regulator said that it opened formal proceedings against TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, for potentially violating the Digital Services Act, a relatively new European law that forces tech companies to do more to protect users from coordinated campaigns that can sway elections.

British Watchdog Publishes Codes of Practice for Online Safety

The U.K. officially brought its sweeping online safety law into force, paving the way for stricter supervision of harmful content online and potentially massive fines for technology giants like Meta, Google and TikTok. Ofcom, the British media and telecommunications watchdog, published its first-edition codes of practice and guidance for tech firms laying out what they should be doing to tackle illegal harms such as terror, hate, fraud and child sexual abuse on their platforms.

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TikTok Asks Supreme Court to Block Law That Could Ban App in United States

TikTok asked the Supreme Court to block a law that could ban the video-based social media app, which has millions of American users. At issue is a bipartisan measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden that would go into effect on Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, unless the justices intervene.

Meta Agrees to Cambridge Analytica Settlement in Australia

Meta Platforms has agreed to a A$50 million settlement ($31.85 million), Australia's privacy watchdog said, closing long-drawn, expensive legal proceedings for the Facebook parent over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner had alleged that personal information of some users was being disclosed to Facebook's personality quiz app, This is Your Digital Life, as part of the broader scandal.

Texas Investigating Character.ai, Other Services Over Policies for Minors

The Texas attorney general announced an investigation into Character.ai, an artificial intelligence chatbot company popular with younger users, as well as 14 other tech companies, including Reddit, Discord and Instagram, over their privacy and safety practices around minors, to determine whether the companies comply with two Texas laws that went into effect this year. The focus on Character.ai follows two high-profile legal complaints, including a lawsuit filed this week by a mother in Texas who said the company’s chatbots encouraged her 17-year-old son, who is autistic, to self-harm and suggested it would be understandable to kill his parents for limiting his screen time.

Meta Asks California to Block OpenAI's Conversion to For-Profit Company

Meta Platforms is urging California’s attorney general to block OpenAI’s planned conversion to a for-profit company, siding with Elon Musk in a battle between Silicon Valley’s most powerful artificial-intelligence players. In a letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta, Meta said allowing the ChatGPT maker to become a for-profit company would set a dangerous precedent of allowing startups to enjoy the advantages of nonprofit status until they are poised to become profitable.

Rhode Island Says Cyberattack May Expose Data on Hundreds of Thousands

The personal and private information of possibly hundreds of thousands of people who applied for government assistance in Rhode Island could be in the hands of hackers after a huge cyberattack, state officials said. The cybercriminals said to be behind the attack threatened to release the data unless they received a payment, said Brian Tardiff, the state’s chief digital officer.

Appeals Court Denies TikTok's Request to Stop Upcoming Ban in U.S.

A federal appeals court in Washington denied a request from the social platform TikTok that would effectively delay the ban of the app next month. The rejection comes after the company sought to stop the ban, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to temporarily block the law that could ban the app next month from going into effect Jan. 19 as it prepares to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Increase in Phishing Attacks Linked to Use of New Top-Level Domains

Phishing attacks increased nearly 40 percent in the year ending August 2024, with much of that growth concentrated at a small number of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) — such as .shop, .top, .xyz — that attract scammers with rock-bottom prices and no meaningful registration requirements, new research finds. A study on phishing data released by Interisle Consulting finds that new gTLDs introduced in the last few years command just 11 percent of the market for new domains, but accounted for roughly 37 percent of cybercrime domains reported between September 2023 and August 2024.

Trump Picks Silicon Valley Investor for 'White House A.I. & Crypto Czar'

President-elect Donald Trump named a Silicon Valley investor close to Elon Musk as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy chief, signaling the growing influence of tech leaders and loyalists in the new administration. David Sacks, a longtime venture capitalist who worked with Musk at PayPal more than two decades ago, will serve as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.

Google Sues After CFPB Orders Supervision Over Payment Service

The U.S. watchdog for consumer finance announced it was ordering federal supervision of Google Payment Corp., the Internet giant's payment arm, a decision the company immediately said it was challenging in court. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the step saying it had determined services offered by Google Payment had posed a risk to consumers.

EU Requests Info from TikTok About Russian Influence on Romanian Election

The European Union said it sent TikTok an urgent request for more information about Romanian intelligence files suggesting that Moscow coordinated influencers on its platform to promote an election candidate who became the surprise front-runner in the nation’s presidential election. The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch is using its sweeping digital rulebook to scrutinize the video-sharing app’s role in the vote. which saw the far-right populist Calin Georgescu coming from out of nowhere to take top spot.

FCC Chairwoman Proposes Annual Certification for Cybersecurity Plans

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing that communications service providers be required to submit an annual certification attesting that they have a plan in place to protect against cyberattacks, the agency said in a statement. The proposal is in part in response to efforts by an allegedly Beijing-sponsored group of hackers, dubbed "Salt Typhoon," to burrow deep into American telecommunications companies to steal data about U.S. calls.

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.