TikTok Says It Will Let Experts to Examine Its Underlying Source Code

TikTok pledged it will allow U.S. regulators and privacy experts to take a closer look under its digital hood, offering them the ability to “examine” its underlying software code in response to claims it is handing off data to the Chinese government. The commitment from the company’s chief executive — Kevin Mayer, who recently arrived from Disney — is part of an enhanced push by the popular short-form video app to “show users, advertisers, creators, and regulators that we are responsible and committed members of the American community that follows US laws,” he wrote in a blog post.

Arizona Leads Investigation of Apple Slowing Older iPhones

Arizona is leading a multi-U.S. state probe into whether Apple Inc’s deliberate slowing of older iPhones violated deceptive trade practice laws, documents reviewed by Reuters showed. Last week, a separate document released by a tech watchdog group showed the Texas attorney general might sue Apple for such violations in connection with a multi-state probe, without specifying charges.

Twitter Suspends Trump Jr.'s Account for Sharing Coronavirus Misinformation

Twitter has temporarily limited the account belonging to Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump's eldest child, for 12 hours after he posted content that violated the company's policies on misinformation related to the coronavirus pandemic. A Twitter spokesperson says the tweet with video Trump Jr. directly shared -- dismissing masks and lockdowns and promoting hydroxychloroquine -- violated its "COVID-19 misinformation policy." President Trump separately retweeted the video.

Bill Would Limit Protections for Platforms Using Behavioral Advertising

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced legislation that would condition legal protections for online platforms that utilize behavioral advertising, the use of browsing habits to serve tailored ads to users. The Behavioral Advertising Decisions Are Downgrading Services (BAD ADS) Act would take Section 230 protections away from the biggest tech companies that use the advertising method.

Google Rejects Liberal Political 'Police State' Ad Due to Graphic Violence

A sequence of clips showing police officers beating, pushing and tasing protesters and other unarmed Americans is set against President Trump’s description of himself as “your president of law and order” and his notorious 2017 directive to law enforcement, “Please don’t be too nice.” The 30-second spot, aimed at mobilizing black voters, was rejected by Google, along with Hulu and Verizon. Facebook, by contrast, approved the ad.

Prosecutors Ask Judge to Drop Charges Against Former Twitter Employees

The U.S. sought to dismiss charges it brought late last year against two former Twitter Inc. employees and a Saudi national for allegedly helping Riyadh spy on dissidents who use the social network. Prosecutors in San Francisco asked for a judge’s permission to drop the charges. The two-page filing doesn’t offer a reason but specifies that the dismissal would be “without prejudice,” meaning the government could file new charges.

Cybersecurity Group Says Election Administrators Vulnerable to Cyberattacks

Election administrators across the country are vulnerable to cyberattacks that originate through malicious phishing emails, a report found. The report, compiled by cybersecurity group Area 1 Security, found that over 50 percent of election administrators have “only rudimentary or non-standard technologies” to protect against malicious emails from cyber criminals, with less than 30 percent using basic security controls to halt phishing emails.

Facebook Sues EU Antitrust Regulators Over 'Exceptionally Broad' Requests

Facebook is suing EU antitrust regulators for seeking information beyond what is necessary, including highly personal details, for their investigations into the company’s data and marketplace, the U.S. social media group said. Facebook has been under EU competition enforcers’ scrutiny since last year, with one investigation focused on its trove of data and the other on its online marketplace launched in 2016 and used by 800 million Facebook users in 70 countries to buy and sell items.

Trump Says He Often Regrets Sending His Tweets, Retweets

President Trump acknowledged in an interview that he “often” regrets his tweets and retweets. “It used to be in the old days before this, you’d write a letter and you’d say, ‘this letter is really bad,’ you put it on your desk and you go back tomorrow and you say, ‘oh, I’m glad I didn’t send it,’” Trump told Barstool Sports’ founder Dave Portnoy.

Quantum Internet Would Offer Economic, National Security Advantages

U.S. officials and scientists unveiled a plan to pursue what they called one of the most important technological frontiers of the 21st century: building a quantum Internet. Speaking in Chicago, one of the main hubs of the work, they set goals for forging what they called a second Internet — one that would function alongside the globe’s existing networks, using the laws of quantum mechanics to share information more securely and to connect a new generation of computers and sensors.

House Antitrust Subcommittee Reschedules Hearing with Top Tech CEOs

A congressional hearing on digital marketplace competition featuring the chief executives of four of the largest American tech companies has been rescheduled after it was postponed for the lying in state at the Capitol Building of the late Representative John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement. The CEOs of Facebook, Amazon.com, Alphabet’s Google and Apple are to appear virtually, the House Antitrust Subcommittee said.

Multiple States Investigating Apple for Deceiving Consumers

Multiple U.S. states are investigating Apple Inc. for potentially deceiving consumers, according to a March document obtained by a tech watchdog group. The Texas attorney general may sue Apple for violating the state’s deceptive trade practices law in connection with the multi-state investigation, according to the document, which was obtained by the Tech Transparency Project.

Wozniak Sues Google Over YouTube Cryptocurrency Scam Using His Image

Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder and tech entrepreneur, filed a lawsuit against Google over a YouTube scam that allegedly used his name and likeness to convince viewers to send cryptocurrency during a fake bitcoin giveaway event. The fraudsters also apparently used images and video of other celebrities, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

  • Read the article: CNET

Garmin Shuts Down Some Services to Deal with Ransomware Attack

Smartwatch and wearables maker Garmin has shut down several of its services to deal with a ransomware attack that has encrypted its internal network and some production systems. The company is currently planning a multi-day maintenance window to deal with the attack's aftermath, which includes shutting down its official website, the Garmin Connect user data-syncing service, and even some production lines in Asia.

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