U.S. Commerce Department Drops Plan to Ban Chinese Drones

The U.S. Commerce Department said it has withdrawn a plan to impose restrictions on Chinese drones to address national security concerns after an earlier crackdown on passenger cars and trucks. Last month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission barred imports of new models of foreign-made drones and critical components including from China's DJI and Autel on U.S. national security grounds.

Iran Experiencing 'Near-Total Internet Shutdown' Amid Economic Protests

Iran was plunged into a nationwide Internet blackout, Internet monitoring groups said, amid widespread protests over dire economic conditions and anger at the Islamic Republic. As the government cracked down in various cities, Internet connectivity data showed an abrupt and near-total drop in connection levels in Iran, according to NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, and the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Internet Outage Detection and Analysis database.

Character.AI, Google Agree to Settle Suits Over Teen Suicides

An artificial-intelligence startup and Google have agreed to settle several lawsuits with families of teenagers who killed or harmed themselves after interacting with the startup’s chatbot, potentially resolving some of the most high-profile cases involving AI and mental health. The families had sued the maker of the popular chatbot Character.AI and Google in states including Florida, Colorado, Texas and New York for hurting their children and negligence.

More Judges Embracing AI Tools to Help Them Save Time

AI has a somewhat dubious reputation in the legal world, where lawyers in recent months have drawn ridicule and reprimand for submitting briefs riddled with citations to fictional cases and factual errors. But a growing contingent of judges are increasingly embracing AI to help them draft opinions, analyze court filings and quickly conduct legal research.

China Reviewing Meta's $2 Billion Acquisition of AI Startup Manus

Chinese officials are reviewing Meta's $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus for possible technology control violations, the Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Chinese commerce ministry officials began assessing whether the relocation of Manus' staff and technology to Singapore and the consequent sale to Meta required an export license under Chinese law, the report said.

French Court Finds 10 People Guilty of Cyberbullying First Lady

A Paris court found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, including allegations that she was born a male. One defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, while eight were handed suspended sentences between four and eight months. All 10 were ordered to attend cyberbullying awareness training.

Poland Wants EC to Probe TikTok Over Posts It Says Linked to Russia

Poland has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after the social media platform hosted artificial intelligence-generated content including calls for Poland to withdraw from the EU, it said, adding that the content was almost certainly Russian disinformation. A TikTok profile showing videos of young women dressed in Polish national colors and calling for Poland to leave the EU has gained popularity in recent weeks.

Reporter Sues AI Companies for Using Books Without Permission

An investigative reporter best known for exposing fraud at Silicon Valley blood-testing startup Theranos sued Elon Musk's xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Perplexity for using copyrighted books without permission to train their artificial intelligence systems. New York Times reporter and "Bad Blood" author John Carreyrou filed the lawsuit, opens new tab in California federal court with five other writers, accusing the AI companies of pirating their books and feeding them into the large language models (LLMs) that power the companies' chatbots.

U.S. Bars Five Prominent Europeans, Accuses Them of Censorship Online

The Trump administration is barring five prominent Europeans from the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, accusing them of being involved in online censorship of Americans, a claim they have disputed. The action sharply escalated the administration’s fight against European efforts to monitor content on major social media platforms, including Elon Musk’s X as well as Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta.

Google Sues Alleged Chinese Cybercriminals for Phishing

Alphabet Inc.’s Google filed a lawsuit against alleged Chinese cybercriminals, accusing the group of orchestrating a vast phishing campaign designed to dupe Americans into turning over their credit card numbers. The group, which Google refers to as “Darcula,” developed a malicious software kit that enables users with little technical knowledge to automatically send waves of text messages purporting to offer free versions of Google services such as YouTube Premium, according to the complaint.

FCC Bans Drones, Critical Components Made Outside U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission banned all drones and critical components made in a foreign country, and all communications and video-surveillance equipment from major Chinese drone manufacturers SZ DJI Technology and Autel Robotics. The designation means the companies, their subsidiaries and partners won’t be able to import, market or sell new drone equipment in the U.S.

Aflac Blames Social Engineering Tactics for Hacking Attack

Aflac, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, says hackers stole an unknown quantity of its customers’ personal information from its network during a cyberattack earlier this month. The insurance giant confirmed Friday in a legally required filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company identified hackers in its system on June 12 and contained the incident.

French Postal Service Blames Cyberattack for Disrupting Services

A suspected cyberattack disrupted services provided by French postal service La Poste, delaying package deliveries and online payment systems during the holiday season. The company said in a statement that a “major network incident” had disrupted its information systems, which included services operated by its online banking arm, La Banque Postale and the laposte.fr website, which displayed a message stating that it was currently unavailable.

Italy Orders Meta to Suspend Contract Terms on AI Chatbots

Italy's antitrust authority ordered Meta Platforms to suspend contractual terms that could shut rival AI chatbots out of WhatsApp, as it investigates the U.S. tech group for suspected abuse of a dominant position. A spokesperson for Meta called the decision "fundamentally flawed," and said the emergence of AI chatbots "put a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support".

Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Age Checks for App Store Users

A federal judge blocked Texas from enforcing a new state law that requires companies that run app stores, like Apple and Google, to verify the ages of users — a win for the tech giants and a blow to parents who want more control over the apps their children download. Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction against the law, the App Store Accountability Act, saying it likely violated the First Amendment.

WhatsApp Criticizes Russia's Warnings About Blocking Service

WhatsApp criticized restrictions to its service in Russia, accusing the authorities of trying to deprive more than 100 million Russians of the right to private communications before the holiday season. WhatsApp's statement followed a repeat warning by Russia's communications regulator that it would completely block WhatsApp if it did not comply with its demands to bring its services into line with Russian law.

Texas Attorney General Sues TV Companies Over Data Collection

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for a Senate seat, is suing five major television companies, claiming they use their smart TVs to spy on Texans. According to a press release from Paxton’s office, the five corporations being sued are Sony, Samsung, and LG, as well as China-based companies Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation.

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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.