China's New Rules Complicating Sale of TikTok to a U.S. Company

A blockbuster deal for the sale of the U.S. operations of TikTok that had been set to be completed soon has become far more complicated, according to three people close to the talks. The two groups vying to buy TikTok’s U.S. business — one is an alliance between Microsoft and Walmart, and the other is an offer led by Oracle — are discussing how to interpret China’s new rules and how to move forward, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

White House Wants to Replace FTC Chair for Resisting Social Media Rules

The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chair Joe Simons, a Republican who has publicly resisted President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on social media companies, four people with knowledge of the discussions said. Simons, a veteran antitrust lawyer, is serving a term that doesn’t end until September 2024, and he cannot legally be removed by the president except in cases of gross negligence.

Zuckerberg Admits Mistake in Not Removing Kenosha Militia Page Sooner

Facebook Inc. made an “operational mistake” in not acting sooner to remove a page for a militia group that posted a call to arms in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the company’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said. The social media company said on Wednesday it had removed the page for the Kenosha Guard, and an event listing there for Armed Citizens to Protect Our Lives and Property as it violated the company’s policy against “militia organizations”.

Facebook Appeals to U.K. Antitrust Tribunal on Giphy Acquisition

Facebook Inc. became the latest tech giant to complain about the overreach of the U.K.’s merger watchdog, warning that its demands were unreasonable and disproportionate. The social network has appealed to the U.K.’s antitrust tribunal, saying that the Competition and Markets Authority, which is considering investigating Facebook’s purchase of Giphy, has so far refused to ease up on requirements ensuring that the two companies remain separate during the merger probe.

Three Men Charged with Copyright Conspiracy for Distributing Movies Online

Three men are facing federal charges of participating in an international piracy ring that distributed popular movies and television shows online before their release dates, prosecutors announced. The men, who have been charged with copyright infringement conspiracy, were accused of being members of the Sparks Group, a sophisticated piracy outfit spanning several continents.

Facebook Sues MobiBurn for Using User Data Without Permission

Facebook filed a lawsuit against MobiBurn, alleging that apps using code written by the data monetization company harvested information about the social network's users without permission. Last November, Facebook and Twitter launched investigations into two third-party software development kits (SDKs) that security researchers found were collecting data without consent.

  • Read the article: CNET

D.C. Attorney General Sues Instacart Over Deceptive Fees

Washington, D.C., sued Instacart, alleging that the grocery delivery company charged District residents millions in deceptive fees and avoided local sales taxes. The lawsuit, filed by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, alleges that Instacart tricked users into thinking they were tipping shoppers while they were actually paying hidden fees.

Online Sellers File Antitrust Complaint Against Amazon in India

A group of more than 2,000 online sellers has filed an antitrust case against Amazon in India, alleging the U.S. company favors some retailers whose online discounts drive independent vendors out of business, a legal filing seen by Reuters showed. The case presents a new regulatory challenge for Amazon in India, where it has committed $6.5 billion in investment but is battling a complex regulatory environment.

Misinformation Campaigns on Social Media Target Black Lives Matter

Four years after Russian operatives used social media in a bid to exacerbate racial divisions in the United States and suppress Black voter turnout, such tactics have spread across a wide range of deceptive online campaigns operated from numerous nations — including from within the United States itself. The potency and persistence of the racial playbook was highlighted when Twitter deleted an account featuring a profile photo of a young Black man claiming to be a former Black Lives Matter protester who switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.

U.S. Businesses in China Worried About Trump's Ban on WeChat App

U.S. businesses in China are pushing back against a looming Trump administration ban on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat app, with a report shedding light on just how vital the tool is to companies doing business in the world’s second-largest economy. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai warned of an “enormous negative impact” on U.S. companies with international businesses if the order, whose scope has yet to be revealed, was enacted too broadly.

Dark Web Marketplace for Drugs Goes Offline, Raising 'Exit Scam' Concerns

A popular dark net marketplace for buying and selling drugs has been offline for three days, fueling speculation about its fate and despair among some users. Empire Market, similar to the infamous Silk Road site shut down by law enforcement in October 2013, had become of the most trafficked illicit online marketplaces in recent years, following the demise of other sites such as AlphaBay and Hansa.

U.S. Agencies Warn of North Korean Hackers Targeting Banks Worldwide

North Korean hackers are tapping into banks around the globe to make fraudulent money transfers and cause ATMs to spit out cash, the U.S. government warned. A technical cybersecurity alert jointly written by four different federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and FBI, said there had been a resurgence in financially motivated hacking efforts by the North Korean regime this year after a lull in activity.

Epic Games Wins Legal Ruling Against Apple, But Not for Fortnite

In a blow to Apple, a district court approved Epic Games’s request for a temporary restraining order against the iPhone maker and App Store operator, preventing Apple from barring Epic’s use of tools required for iOS and Mac software design. However, the judge also ruled that “Fortnite,” Epic Games’s flagship title which was removed from the App Store due to a violation of the store’s guidelines, would not be returned to the App Store unless it was brought back into accordance with Apple’s rules.

Pandemic Restrictions Prompt YouTube to 'Over Enforce' Take Downs

YouTube removed 11.4 million videos between April and June, with the vast majority -- 10.85 million -- flagged by automated systems alone the company said. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the video sharing site said, it had "greatly reduced human review capacity" to double-check whether videos breached its user policies. As a result, it decided to "over enforce" by using automated systems, with YouTube removing more than double the videos it removed in the period January to March.

  • Read the article: CNET

Hong Kong Security Forces Ramp Up Tactics for Digital Enforcement

Emboldened by a new national security law, Hong Kong security forces are turning to harsher tactics as they close a digital dragnet on activists, pro-democracy politicians and media leaders. Their approaches — which in the past month have included installing a camera outside the home of a prominent politician and breaking into the Facebook account of another — bear marked similarities to those long used by the fearsome domestic security forces in mainland China.

Facebook Plans to Challenge Thailand's Restrictions on Critical Content

Facebook said it was planning to legally challenge the Thai government after being “compelled” to block access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that discusses the country’s king. The social media giant blocked access to the “Royalist Marketplace” group after the Thai government threatened legal action over failure to take down content deemed defamatory to the monarchy.

Head of Cyber Command Says U.S. Disrupted Effort to Undermine Elections

The U.S. "disrupted a concerted effort to undermine the midterm elections" in 2018, writes NSA Director and head of U.S. Cyber Command Paul Nakasone, along with senior Cyber Command adviser Michael Sulmeyer, in Foreign Affairs. Nakasone and Sulmeyer reveal that lessons from those incidents are being used to protect November's election from foreign interference.

Vietnamese Tech Firm VNG Sues TikTok for Copyright Infringement on Songs

Vietnamese technology firm VNG is suing TikTok, the popular short-form video app, saying it does not have adequate licences for the songs being used in its videos, sources said. VNG is accusing the Chinese-owned company of using audio tracks owned by Zing, a VNG subsidiary, without the company’s consent, two sources familiar with the issue said.

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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.