DOJ Antitrust Chief Says Law 'Flexible Enough' to Address Tech Firms

The U.S. Justice Department antitrust chief said that existent U.S. antitrust laws are “flexible enough” to address harm caused by technology companies, in the face of growing criticism that such laws cannot tackle tech monopolies. Makan Delrahim spoke at an antitrust conference at Harvard Law School hosted by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which counts companies like Amazon , Facebook and Alphabet’s Google as members.

International Group of Lawmakers Want False, Misleading Political Ads Suspended

An international “grand committee” of lawmakers called for a pause on online micro-targeted political ads with false or misleading information until the area is regulated. The committee, formed to investigate disinformation, gathered in Dublin to hear evidence from Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other experts about online harms, hate speech and electoral interference.

Trump's Chief Technology Officer Criticizes Chinese Surveillance

President Trump's newly appointed Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios criticized Chinese surveillance and censorship in his first major international remarks, ramping up the Trump administration's intensifying battle to beat out China's fast-growing tech industry. Kratsios, who was confirmed as the White House's top tech adviser in August, spent the bulk of a keynote speech in Portugal urging Europe and the U.S. to "embrace innovation and defend our free system against our adversaries."

'Internet Freedom' Declining in U.S. for Third Year, Think Tank Reports

For the third straight year, American Internet users are less free, according to a study that points to the dangers of social media. That’s in part because of increased U.S. government surveillance, as well as disinformation tied to major political events from both foreign and domestic entities, according to research by the pro-democracy think tank Freedom House.

Facebook Defends Not Fact-Checking Political Ads in U.K. Election

Facebook Inc. defended its policy of not fact-checking political advertising in the U.K. general election, saying it wasn’t a matter for a private company to police political speech. Asked whether Facebook would have allowed the U.K. Conservative Party to run a recently doctored video of an interview with a senior Labour lawmaker as an advertisement -- a video that was widely criticized for being misleading -- Facebook said yes.

Facebook Argues Against Disclosing Records in Mass. Privacy Case

Facebook Inc. urged a judge not to force it to turn over records to Massachusetts’ attorney general disclosing thousands of apps the social media giant suspects misused users’ data, as part of a probe into its privacy practices. Facebook argued against the disclosure during a court hearing in Boston concerning one of several probes of Facebook by state attorneys general regarding its business practices and the extent that it has put consumer data at risk.

Calif. Attorney General Asks Court to Force Facebook to Disclose Documents

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra asked a state court to force Facebook to turn over key documents it has withheld in connection with an 18-month investigation into its privacy practices. Alleging the social-media giant has “refused” to cooperate with officials, the filing in San Francisco County Superior Court outlines for the first time the extent of Becerra’s concerns that Facebook may have violated state law after two years of damaging privacy scandals that sparked international outcry and record-breaking punishments in the United States.

Facebook Unknowingly Shared User Info with Outside Developers

Facebook Inc. said it unknowingly gave outside developers access to private user information shared within some groups on its main social network, including the names and profile photos of people who were part of those groups. The company said that some third-party developers who used Facebook’s Groups API — a software program that allows information sharing between Facebook and outside developers — could see which users shared posts or left comments inside a group even though they weren’t supposed to have that level of detail.

U.S. Charges Two Ex-Twitter Employees with Spying for Saudi Arabia

The Justice Department has charged two former Twitter employees with spying for Saudi Arabia in a case that raises concerns about the ability of Silicon Valley to protect the private information of dissidents and other users from repressive governments. The charges, unveiled in San Francisco, came a day after the arrest of one of the former Twitter employees, Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen who is alleged to have spied on the accounts of three users — including one whose posts discussed the inner workings of the Saudi leadership — on behalf of the government in Riyadh.

Lawmakers Criticize Apple, TikTok for Skipping Tech Hearing on China

Apple and TikTok took a lashing for skipping a congressional hearing meant to explore the tech industry and its ties to China, an absence that threatens to bring sustained political scrutiny of the companies’ controversial relationships with Beijing. Two empty chairs at a witness table served to illustrate the companies’ absence from the hearing, convened by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a tech-industry critic who opened the session by blasting Apple and TikTok over “the danger of Chinese tech platforms’ entry into the U.S. market and the danger of American tech companies’ operations in China.”

Russia Working Against U.S. Extradition Efforts of Alleged Hackers

For months, Moscow has pursued what current and former U.S. law-enforcement and diplomatic officials describe as part of a stepped-up and evolving campaign to prevent Russians arrested on criminal hacking charges from being extradited to the U.S. Russia has relied on a variety of techniques — whether leveraging the legal system or resorting to more coercive means, such as bribery — to pressure other countries to impede U.S. extradition efforts, current and former U.S. officials said.

No Evidence of Foreign Tampering in Elections, Justice Department Says

Voting in U.S. state and local elections on Tuesday showed no evidence of successful tampering by any foreign government, the Justice Department and six U.S. security agencies said. But Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries of the United States will seek to meddle in U.S. elections moving forward, including through social media manipulation and cyberattacks, the agencies said.

AT&T to Pay $60 Million Fine for Throttling Customers on 'Unlimited' Plans

AT&T has agreed to pay $60 million to resolve allegations it charged millions of customers for “unlimited” data plans while significantly reducing speeds if they used too much data, the Federal Trade Commission announced. In 2011, the carrier began “throttling” — slowing speeds to the point that web browsing and other routine actions became difficult or nearly impossible — customers with unlimited data plans, the FTC alleged.

Twitter Suspends Accounts Linked to Hezbollah, Hamas

Twitter Inc. has suspended accounts linked to Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and Palestinian group Hamas after U.S. lawmakers criticized the social-media company for allowing those entities to remain active on the platform even though the State Department has designated both as terrorist organizations. Twitter, on its messaging platform, shows that accounts including Hamas’s English and Arabic language accounts had been suspended for violating its rules.

Florida Police Get Warrant for Amazon Echo Recordings in Murder Case

Police in Hallandale Beach, Fla., have obtained a warrant for recordings from Amazon Echo devices they say were in the house at the time of an alleged murder, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Hallandale Beach Police Department spokesman Sgt. Pedro Abut confirmed to the Sentinel that “we did receive recordings, and we are in the process of analyzing the information that was sent to us.”

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