China Bans 'Fake News' Using Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality

Chinese regulators have announced new rules governing video and audio content online, including a ban on the publishing and distribution of “fake news” created with technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Any use of AI or virtual reality also needs to be clearly marked in a prominent manner and failure to follow the rules could be considered a criminal offense, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on its website.

TikTok Apologizes to Teen After Blocking Account Criticizing Chinese Treatment

The popular video app TikTok apologized to a teen user after it said it erroneously blocked access to her account and removed one of her videos criticizing Chinese treatment of Uighur Muslims. Feroza Aziz, 17, uploaded what at first appears to be a beauty video but turns out to be her listing the harsh conditions the minority group has faced in China.

EU Antitrust Regulators Probing Google's Data Collection Practices

EU antitrust regulators are investigating Google’s collection of data, the European Commission told Reuters, suggesting the world’s most popular internet search engine remains in its sights despite record fines in recent years. Competition enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic are now looking into how dominant tech companies use and monetise data.

Man Accused of Trying to Help North Korea Avoid Sanctions with Cryptocurrency

A man was arrested in California and accused of traveling to North Korea to deliver a presentation on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology that could help the country evade sanctions, federal prosecutors in New York said. Virgil Griffith, 36, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after he allegedly traveled North Korea in April and provided technological information that could assist in evading sanctions imposed on the country by the U.S., the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York said in a statement.

Most Presidential Candidates Not Using Email Security Feature

Just one-third of the 2020 U.S. presidential candidates are using an email security feature that could prevent a similar attack that hobbled the Democrats during the 2016 election. Out of the 21 presidential candidates in the race according to Reuters, only seven Democrats are using and enforcing DMARC, an email security protocol that verifies the authenticity of a sender’s email and rejects spoofed emails, which hackers often use to try to trick victims into opening malicious links from seemingly known individuals.

Singapore Requires Facebook to Post Correction Under 'Fake News' Law

Singapore instructed Facebook to publish a correction on a user’s social media post under a new “fake news” law, raising fresh questions about how the company will adhere to government requests to regulate content. The government said in a statement that it had issued an order requiring Facebook “to publish a correction notice” on a Nov. 23 post which contained accusations about the arrest of a supposed whistleblower and election rigging.

Twitter Permanently Suspends Account for Republican Congressional Candidate

A Republican candidate running to challenge Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota had her Twitter account permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter rules, according to a Twitter spokesperson. Danielle Stella says she was banned for a tweet in which she spread a baseless claim about Omar and said if the claim is true, Omar should be tried for treason and hanged, according to a post to her Facebook account.

  • Read the article: CNN

Judge Denies Facebook Users Class-Action Status for Damages in Privacy Case

A federal judge said up to 29 million Facebook Inc. users whose personal information was stolen in a September 2018 data breach cannot sue as a group for damages, but can seek better security at the social media company after a series of privacy lapses. U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said neither credit monitoring costs nor the reduced value of stolen personal information was a “cognizable injury” that supported a class action for damages.

More Than One-Third of Online Reviews Identified as Fraudulent

More than a third of online reviews on major websites, including those on Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc. and Sephora, are fake, meaning they are generated by robots or people paid to write them, according to Fakespot Inc., which identifies fraudulent reviews. The problem has become so pervasive that the Federal Trade Commission has started cracking down on violators, and lawmakers are pressing Amazon to do a better job of policing reviews on its website.

Civil Rights Groups Want Congress to Probe Ring's Video Recording System

A coalition of more than a dozen civil rights groups called for a congressional investigation into Amazon's "surveillance empire" amid escalating scrutiny of the tech giant's home security subsidiary, Ring. Advocacy groups such as Demand Progress, Color of Change and the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Congress to invite Amazon executives to testify publicly about "the threats their nationwide surveillance network pose."

Berners-Lee Launches 'Contract for the Web' to Protect Against Abuse

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has launched a global action plan to save the web from political manipulation, fake news, privacy violations and other malign forces that threaten to plunge the world into a “digital dystopia.” The Contract for the Web requires endorsing governments, companies and individuals to make concrete commitments to protect the web from abuse and ensure it benefits humanity.

China's Central Bank Warns Investors About Virtual Currencies

China’s central bank told businesses involved with cryptocurrencies to correct any improper actions, and warned investors to be wary of virtual currencies. Speculation over cryptocurrencies has revived following the recent promotion of blockchain technology, the Shanghai Bureau of the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website.

Unprotected Server Exposed 1.2 Billion Records of Personal Data

Security researchers found an unprotected server that exposed 1.2 billion records of personal data, including email addresses, employers, locations, job titles, names, phone numbers and social media profiles, according to a notification sent Friday to people affected by the exposure. "In October 2019, security researchers Vinny Troia and Bob Diachenko identified an unprotected Elasticsearch server," according to the email.

  • Read the article: CNET

U.S. Utilities Targeted in Wave of Cyberattacks Operate in 18 States

More than a dozen U.S. utilities that were targets in a recent wave of cyberattacks have been identified by The Wall Street Journal. Some of the utilities, most of which are relatively small, are located near dams, locks and other critical infrastructure. The targeted utilities, which operate in 18 states from Maine to Washington, include Cloverland Electric Cooperative in Michigan, which sits next to the Sault Ste. Marie Locks, a critical juncture for the transport of iron ore to U.S. steel mills; Klickitat Public Utility District in Washington state, which is near major federal dams and transmission lines that funnel hydroelectricity to California; and Basin Electric Power Cooperative in North Dakota, one of the few utilities that is capable of delivering electricity to both the nation’s eastern and western grids.

YouTube Warns Creators About Changes to Monetization for Children's Content

YouTube starting this month is requiring all creators, regardless of location and whether or not they produce content intended for children, to designate whether their videos are made for kids. And many YouTubers are concerned that the new rules will hurt their monetization — or even expose them to fines if their content is mislabeled.

Court of Appeals Voids VirnetX's $503 Million Patent Award Against Apple

A U.S. appeals court voided a jury’s calculation that Apple should pay $503 million for infringing patents owned by licensing firm VirnetX Holdings Corp , setting the stage for another potential trial in a decade-old legal battle. In a partial victory for VirnetX, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit left in place a Texas jury’s finding that Apple iPhones infringed two VirnetX patents relating to secure communications technology.

Court Says Fifth Amendment Allows Suspect to Keep Password Secret

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars people from being forced to turn over personal passwords to police, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled. In a 4-3 ruling, justices from Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned a lower-court order that required the suspect in a child-pornography case to turn over a 64-character password to his computer.

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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.