U.S. Sanctions Two Russians for $17 Million Phishing Campaign

The Trump administration announced it was sanctioning two Russian men for a phishing campaign that resulted in nearly $17 million in cyber currency theft. The pair -- identified by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security as Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi -- allegedly operated a phishing campaign in 2017 and 2018 that targeted two U.S.-based and one foreign virtual asset service provider and stole money from customers accounts, the agencies said in a press release.

Celebrities Plan to 'Freeze' Facebook, Instagram Accounts to Fight Hate Speech

Kim Kardashian West, Katy Perry and other celebrities with many millions of social media followers plan to "freeze" their accounts on Facebook and its photo site, Instagram, as part of a campaign by civil rights groups to get Facebook to do more to combat hate speech. "I love that I can connect directly with you through Instagram and Facebook, but I can't sit by and stay silent while these platforms continue to allow the spreading of hate, propaganda and misinformation -- created by groups to sow division and split America apart -- only to take steps after people are killed," Kardashian West wrote in a tweet.

  • Read the article: CNET

FTC Preparing Antitrust Lawsuit Against Facebook Before End of Year

The Federal Trade Commission is gearing up to file a possible antitrust lawsuit against Facebook Inc. by year-end, according to people familiar with the matter, in a case that would challenge the company’s dominant position in social media. The case preparations come after the FTC has spent more than a year investigating concerns that Facebook has been using its powerful market position to stifle competition, part of a broader effort by U.S. antitrust authorities to examine the conduct of a handful of dominant tech companies.

Senators Question Google Executive Over Digital Dominance, Perceived Bias

Senators grilled a Google executive over its dominance in the digital ad market, shedding light on Congress’ ongoing investigation of the company as it faces mounting antitrust scrutiny from multiple branches of the government. The hearing, hosted by the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, came more than a month after the House held its own exhaustive hearing on potential monopoly power with the chief executives of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple.

Trump Says ByteDance 'Very Close to a Deal' for Sale of TikTok

President Donald Trump said he had heard Oracle Corp. was very close to a deal over ByteDance's TikTok, even as sources said the Chinese company was seeking to keep majority ownership of the popular short video app. Under ByteDance’s proposal, the Beijing-based company would keep a majority stake in TikTok’s global business and create headquarters for TikTok in the United States, the sources said.

Privacy Bug in Biden's App Allowed Access to Sensitive Voter Information

A privacy bug in Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s official campaign app allowed anyone to look up sensitive voter information on millions of Americans, a security researcher has found. The campaign app, Vote Joe, allows Biden supporters to encourage friends and family members to vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election by uploading their phone’s contact lists to see if their friends and family members are registered to vote.

Left-Wing Groups Embracing Violent Themes in Social Media, Report Says

Months of civil unrest have coincided with a significant rise in social media posts critical of police that sometimes are laced with violent themes, including calls to destroy property and attack officers, according to research. The report, by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which previously has studied right-wing violence from groups such as the “boogaloo boys,” warns that some left-wing groups have embraced similar social media tactics, including memes and humorous catchphrases, to spread their messages and possibly help coordinate offline activity.

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.

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