Court Blocks Trump Administration's Plan to Ban WeChat, Citing First Amendment

A federal court has granted a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration’s planned ban of Chinese app WeChat, in response to a plaintiff lawsuit saying the ban would harm their First Amendment rights. In an order, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said the plaintiffs, a group of WeChat users, had shown there are “serious questions” related to their First Amendment claim.

Trump Approves TikTok Deal with Oracle, Walmart, Averting U.S. Shutdown

President Trump said that he had approved a deal between the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok and major American companies, an agreement that will delay the U.S. government’s threat to block the popular app in the United States over national security concerns. The deal, which must still gain formal U.S. approval, would create a new U.S.-based company, TikTok Global, in which Oracle, an American software maker, and Walmart would own 20 percent, placing more equity in the service into the hands of American companies and investors.

Germany Investigating Woman's Death After Ransomware Attack on Hospital

German authorities are investigating the death of a patient following a ransomware attack on a hospital in Duesseldorf. The patient, identified only as a woman who needed urgent medical care, died after being re-routed to a hospital in the city of Wuppertal, more than 30 km away from her initial intended destination, the Duesseldorf University Hospital.

FBI Director Warns Against Getting Election Information from Social Media

If a Facebook page or an Instagram post is offering the location of your polling place, you should double check that with your local elections office, the FBI director said at a congressional hearing. Better yet, don't get your election information from social media at all. The House Committee on Homeland Security hosted its annual worldwide threats hearing, where intelligence agencies in past years have warned about international cyberattacks and online disinformation.

  • Read the article: CNET

Twitter Adds Security Measures to 'High-Profile, Election-Related' Accounts

Twitter is taking steps to tighten account security for a range of users ahead of the US presidential election, including by requiring the use of strong passwords. “We’re taking the additional step of proactively implementing account security measures for a designated group of high-profile, election-related Twitter accounts in the US. Starting today, these accounts will be informed via an in-app notification from Twitter of some of the initial account security measures we will be requiring or strongly recommending going forward,” it said in a blog post announcing the preemptive step.

Amazon Removes Peptide Listings After Investigation of Doping

Amazon has removed dozens of listings for peptides, drugs that can be used for doping, after an investigation from The Markup found 66 examples of such products on the site. Peptides are made naturally in the body, but synthetic versions, which can be sold in vials and then reconstituted and injected, are often used as performance-enhancing drugs since they can speed recovery from injuries.

ByteDance Agrees to Trump Administration's Changes to TikTok Deal

The Chinese company that owns TikTok has accepted the Trump administration’s changes to a deal designed to mitigate the White House’s concerns that the popular app poses a national security threat, two people with knowledge of the talks said. The Treasury Department, which leads a group reviewing the deal for national security purposes, provided TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, with revisions to its proposal, one of the people said.

Twitter Removes Kanye West Post Sharing Forbes' Editor's Phone Number

Twitter removed a post by Kanye West that shared personal information about a Forbes editor, but only after the tweet was up long enough to garner about 17,000 retweets. West, the rapper who at times appears to post a stream of consciousness on Twitter, called Forbes' chief content officer a white supremacist and shared his phone number, which is against Twitter's policies.

  • Read the article: CNET

Republican Senators Raise Concerns About TikTok's Deal with Oracle

A group of Republican Senators led by Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) raised concerns about a proposed partnership between Oracle and TikTok. In a letter to President Trump, the lawmakers warned that a partnership where Oracle simply assumes a management role of the social media platform would not resolve the national security risks outlined in the executive order that has compelled the app's divestiture.

Justice Department Charges Seven Foreigners in Video Game Hacking Campaign

The Justice Department announced charges against five Chinese hackers and two Malaysian tech executives who it tied to a six-year campaign against multiple video game companies. The five from China -- Zhang Haoran, Tan Dailin, Qian Chuan, Fu Qiang and Jiang Lizhi -- are allegedly responsible for hacking more than 100 entities, including social networks, telecommunications providers, universities and nonprofit organizations.

  • Read the article: CNET

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.

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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.