Memo Says Facebook Ignored Fake Accounts Used to Undermine Elections

Facebook reportedly ignored fake accounts being used to undermine elections via misinformation posted on the social media platform, according to a leaked memo. The 6,000-word memo, written by a former Facebook data scientist and seen by BuzzFeed News, said the site reacted slowly to evidence of coordinated campaigns to influence political results globally.

  • Read the article: CNET

Ireland’s High Court Stays Investigation of Facebook's EU Data Practices

Ireland’s High Court temporarily froze a probe by Facebook’s lead European Union regulator that threatened to halt the U.S. social media giant’s transatlantic data flows, a court spokesman said. Facebook had sought a judicial review of the Irish Data Protection Commission’s preliminary decision that the mechanism it used to transfer data from the European Union to the United States “cannot in practice be used.”

Facebook Appeals Order from Ireland's Data Protection Commission

Facebook Inc. is appealing a preliminary order by Ireland’s privacy regulator to suspend its data transfers from Europe to the U.S., pushing its stance in a case with wide-ranging implications for global tech businesses. Facebook filed the case against Ireland’s Data Protection Commission before Ireland’s High Court, according to the country’s courts service.

Beijing Opposes Forced Sale of TikTok to U.S. Company

Beijing opposes a forced sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations by its Chinese owner ByteDance, and would prefer to see the short video app shut down in the United States, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. ByteDance has been in talks to sell TikTok's U.S. business to potential buyers including Microsoft and Oracle since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened last month to ban the service if it was not sold.

Google Removes Autocomplete Predictions Related to Election

In the fight against fake news, even a search engine’s autocomplete suggestions can create confusion. Google announced that it’s updating its autocomplete policies related to elections, adding that it will “remove predictions that could be interpreted as a claim about participation in the election” as well as “predictions that could be interpreted as claims for or against any candidate or political party.” Things that sound like they might be claims about voting methods, requirements or status of voting locations will not be shown either.

Twitter Expands Policies Against Voter Suppression, Premature Victory Claims

Twitter is expanding its policies against voter suppression ahead of the 2020 election, saying it will take down or label more types of misleading election claims, such as falsely claiming a premature victory while results are still being tallied. While social media companies make changes to their misinformation policies all the time, it’s notable that Twitter is making this change ahead of what could be a contested election, with a record number of people voting by mail due to the pandemic, and with President Trump essentially disputing the election’s results before people have even started voting.

Microsoft Warns of Russian Hackers Targeting Democrats, Republicans

The Russian military intelligence unit that attacked the Democratic National Committee four years ago is back with a series of new, more stealthy hacks aimed at campaign staff members, consultants and think tanks associated with both Democrats and Republicans. That warning was issued by the Microsoft Corporation, in an assessment that is far more detailed than any yet made public by American intelligence agencies.

Some States Calling on National Guard to Help with Election Cybersecurity

Some states across the country are increasingly calling on the National Guard’s cybersecurity specialists to help with the routine but vital task of providing basic cybersecurity help to election officials. The aid is especially important in rural areas or small jurisdictions that may be short-staffed — and which federal authorities say are most vulnerable to hackers.

Irish Data Protection Commission Probes Facebook's Sharing of User Data

Facebook is facing the prospect of not being able to move data about its European users to the United States, after European regulators raised concerns that such transfers do not adequately protect the information from American government surveillance. The social network said that the Irish Data Protection Commission had begun an inquiry into its movement of data on European users to the United States.

ByteDance Discussing Ways to Avoid Full Sale of TikTok to U.S. Company

TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance Ltd., is discussing with the U.S. government possible arrangements that would allow the popular video-sharing app to avoid a full sale of its U.S. operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions around such an option have risen in prominence since the Chinese government took steps that make a sale to a U.S. technology giant like Microsoft Corp. more difficult, the people said.

France Accuses U.S. of Undermining Talks on International Digital Tax

France accused the United States of seeking to undermine international talks to update cross-border taxation for the digital age and urged Europe to prepare an EU tax if the negotiations fail. Nearly 140 countries are negotiating the first major rewrite of international tax rules in a generation to account for the rise of big digital companies like Google and Amazon.

Apple Files Counterclaims Against Fortnite, Alleges Breach of Contract

Apple shot back in its legal battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games, filing a response and counterclaims alleging that the gaming company breached its contract with Apple and seeking an unspecified amount in damages. “Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store,″ Apple said in a filing with the District Court for the Northern District of California.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Ransomware Attack Delays Reopening of Schools in Hartford, Conn.

A computer ransomware attack caused an outage of critical city systems over the weekend in Hartford, Conn., forcing the city to postpone school reopening by one day, according to officials. A software system that delivers real-time information on bus routes was among those impacted by the attack on Hartford’s servers, crippling the district’s ability to serve the roughly 4,000 students who take the bus, Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said.

Republican Senators' Bill Would Limit Section 230 Protections

Republican Sens. Roger Wicker (Miss.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) introduced legislation aimed at modifying legal protections for online platforms. The Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act would modify Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act by conditioning the protection on whether content decisions are "objectively reasonable," while also limiting the things platforms can act on.

Epic Games Again Asks Court to Force Apple to Allow Fortnite

The creator of “Fortnite” is taking another stab at getting a judge to bring the popular game back to Apple Inc.’s devices, this time disclosing that roughly a third of players access it through the tech giant’s App Store. Epic Games Inc. filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction against Apple, reiterating arguments made in a federal lawsuit last month when it accused the tech giant of monopolistic behavior after pulling “Fortnite” from the App Store.

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