Internet Freedom Community Worries About Changes at Open Technology Fund

When Michael Pack, a conservative filmmaker and ally of Stephen K. Bannon, recently fired the heads of four U.S. government-funded news outlets, many became alarmed that he would turn the independently operated organizations, as well as the Voice of America, into “Trump TV.” But Mr. Pack, the new chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, also cleaned house last month at the lesser-known Open Technology Fund, an internet freedom group overseen by the agency Mr. Pack now runs. Many worry that the move could have an even greater effect.

TikTok Says Chinese Government Hasn't Requested User Data

Social media app TikTok distanced itself from Beijing after India banned 59 Chinese apps in the country, according to a correspondence seen by Reuters. In a letter to the Indian government dated June 28th and seen by Reuters, TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer said the Chinese government has never requested user data, nor would the company turn it over if asked.

DuckDuckGo Restored in India After Reports of Being Blocked by Government

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has been restored in India after being unreachable for many users there since July 1st, Android Police reported. Reports about what was causing the outage have varied. Some users reported the Indian government appeared to be behind the block, and others said they were getting what appeared to be DNS lookup errors, according to Android Police.

Online Child Sex Abuse Bill Faces Amendment Over Privacy Concerns

U.S. legislation aimed at stopping online child sexual abuse material is likely to be amended to address concerns of platforms like Google and Facebook that the proposed law goes too far to weaken privacy protections for ordinary users, according to a draft of the bill seen by Reuters. In a new draft authored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, The Eliminating Abuse and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2019, or EARN IT Act, makes compliance with a set of controversial “best practices” voluntary instead of mandatory for companies such as for Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

'Facebook Does Not Profit from Hate,' Company Says in Open Letter

Facebook published an open letter saying it does not benefit from hateful content as a campaign for advertisers to boycott the platform for its failure to moderate racist, sexist and otherwise objectionable content builds steam. "I want to be unambiguous: Facebook does not profit from hate," Nick Clegg, the company's vice president of global affairs and communications, wrote in the letter.

CEOs from Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple to Testify in Antitrust Probe

The chief executives of the four U.S. tech giants — Amazon.com, Facebook, Alphabet’s Google and Apple — will testify before the U.S. Congress in late July as part of an ongoing antitrust probe into the companies, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google and Apple’s Tim Cook will appear as part of the probe by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, the sources said.

U.K. Watchdog Recommends Regulations for Online Advertising

Britain’s competition watchdog has set out recommendations for new regulations to tackle the dominance of Google and Facebook in the online advertising market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that it had proposed the creation of a “Digital Markets Unit” designed to rein in platforms with “a position of market power” when it comes to digital ads.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Facebook Removes Hundreds of Accounts Linked to 'Boogaloo' Movement

Facebook removed hundreds of accounts and groups associated with a violent network of the far-right “boogaloo” movement whose followers have been linked to violence that disrupted mostly peaceful protests around the United States. Facebook said it was designating the faction of the boogaloo movement that advocates violence as a “dangerous organization” and had taken down 220 accounts, 28 pages, 106 groups and 95 accounts on Facebook-owned Instagram that were associated with it.

Biden Campaign Accuses Facebook of Haggling with Trump Over Hateful Posts

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign demanded in a letter to Facebook that the company prevent misuse of its platform by President Trump to spread “hateful content” and misleading claims about mail-in voting ahead of the November election. The letter, obtained by The Washington Post and addressed to Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs and communications, is the latest in a series of complaints from the campaign about how Facebook enforces its rules for politicians.

FCC Designates Chinese Telecoms Huawei, ZTE as National Security Threats

The Federal Communications Commission designated the Chinese telecommunications firms Huawei and ZTE as national security threats, cutting them off from billions of dollars in federal broadband subsidies. The agency voted unanimously last year to bar telecommunications manufacturers it deemed to be threats from receiving money meant to expand internet access to underserved areas, including rural America.

Supreme Court Says Booking.com Entitled to Trademark Registration

The travel reservation company Booking.com, a unit of Booking Holdings Inc, deserves to be able to trademark its name, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, overruling a federal agency that found it too generic to merit protection. The court decided 8-1 that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was incorrect when it denied the company’s application to trademark the name Booking.com, with the justices finding it distinctive enough that the agency should have approved it.

Twitch Suspends Trump for 'Hateful Conduct,' Removes Videos

Amazon’s video site Twitch, primarily used to stream e-sports, temporarily banned President Donald Trump from its platform, citing “hateful conduct” in his posts. Twitch pointed to comments made at two rallies that led to its decision. At a campaign rally in 2016, which was recently rebroadcast on the platform, Trump said Mexico was sending over its bad actors, such as rapists or drug dealers.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Reddit Shuts Down Trump Forum for Violations of Content Policy

Reddit shut down its popular but controversial forum devoted to supporting President Trump, following years in which the social media company tried but often failed to control the racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, glorification of violence and conspiracy theories that flourished there. The move against r/The_Donald, as the forum was known, came after its volunteer moderators and much of the community had left in recent months, moving to a website that mimics Reddit’s system of conversation and user voting on content but appears to have fewer rules.

India Bans TikTok, WeChat, Other Chinese Apps, Citing Security

India banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between the two countries this month. India’s technology ministry issued an order stating the apps are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”

Justice Dep't Warns of Fake ‘Face Mask Exempt' Cards Sold on Facebook

The U.S. Department of Justice is warning Americans about fraudulent cards distributed on Facebook by a group encouraging people to not wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic. The laminated cards feature an image of an eagle and say "Face Mask Exempt Card" in bold letters across the top. They appear to be geared toward people trying to skirt state and business requirements to wear face masks in public, or to receive service. The card also references the DOJ and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

  • Read the article: CNN

Subscribe

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.