Twitter Makes Election-Related Changes, Including Limiting Misleading Tweets

Twitter is making sizable changes to retweets and other features aimed at making it harder for politicians and other users to spread misinformation about the Nov. 3 election, the company announced — the latest attempt by Silicon Valley platforms to protect the vote. The changes are part of a push to protect the "critical dialogue" on Twitter "from attempts — both foreign and domestic — to undermine it," said Twitter's general counsel Vijaya Gadde and head of product Kayvon Beykpour in a blog post announcing the moves.

Facebook to Ban Marketing Firm Operating as Domestic 'Troll Farm'

Facebook said that it will permanently ban from its platform an Arizona-based marketing firm running what experts described as a domestic "troll farm” following an investigation of the deceptive behavior prompted by a Washington Post article last month. The firm, Rally Forge, was “working on behalf" of Turning Point Action, an affiliate of Turning Point USA, the prominent conservative youth organization based in Phoenix, Facebook concluded.

French Court Requires Google to Discuss Payment for News Content

Google must open talks with publishers in France about paying to use their content, an appeals court confirmed, paving the way for an industry-wide deal in the country. The ruling may reverberate outside France, as it compels Google to sit down with publishers and news agencies to find a way to remunerate them under the “neighbouring right” enshrined in revamped EU copyright rules, which allows publishers to demand a fee from online platforms for showing news snippets.

U.S. Seizes 92 Websites Used by Iran to Spread Disinformation

The U.S. Justice Department seized 92 websites it said were used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to spread disinformation. Four of the web domains -- Newsstand7.com, usjournal.net, usjournal.us and twtoday.net -- were disguised as genuine news outlets based in the U.S., which the Justice Department determined were controlled by the Iranian guard.

Facebook to Limit Poll Watching Posts, Political Ads After Election

Facebook Inc said it would remove calls for people to engage in poll watching that use “militarized language” or suggest the goal is to intimidate voters or election officials, tightening the social media company’s restrictions around the U.S. elections. Facebook also said that it would respond to candidates or parties making premature claims of victory or contesting declared outcomes by adding labels and notifications with authoritative information about the state of the race.

European Antitrust Official to Pursue More Injunctions in Tech Cases

Europe’s top competition official said she would make more use of injunctions, including in pending cases against big technology companies, after successfully forcing U.S. chip maker Broadcom Inc. to change its alleged anticompetitive practices. The European Commission, the bloc’s top antitrust watchdog, said it was closing its probe and accepted Broadcom’s legally binding commitments to refrain from any exclusivity arrangements for chips used in television set-top boxes and internet modems over the next seven years.

Supreme Court Hears Google-Oracle Java Programming Copyright Case

The Supreme Court considered whether Google should have to pay Oracle billions of dollars in a long-running lawsuit over software used on many of the world’s smartphones, wrestling during a lively argument with the potentially enormous implications of what has been called the copyright case of the decade. The case, Google v. Oracle America, No. 18-956, concerns Google’s reliance on aspects of Java, a programming language, in its Android operating system.

Judge Sets Hearing, After Election, on U.S. Effort to Ban TikTok

A U.S. judge said he would hold a Nov. 4 hearing on whether to allow the U.S. government to bar transactions with TikTok, a move that the Chinese-owned short video-sharing app has warned would effectively ban its use in the United States. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington issued a preliminary injunction on Sept. 27 that barred the U.S. Commerce Department from ordering Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google app stores to remove TikTok for download by new users.

Congressional Investigators Fault Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google for Antitrust

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google engaged in anticompetitive, monopoly-style tactics to evolve into four of the world’s most powerful corporate behemoths, according to congressional investigators, who called in a wide-ranging report for sweeping changes to federal laws so that government regulators can bring Silicon Valley back in check. The roughly 450-page report, capping a 15-month investigation by the House’s top antitrust committee, found the four tech giants relied on dubious, harmful means to solidify their dominance in search, smartphones, social networking and shopping — and in the process evaded the very federal regulators whose primary task it is to ensure that companies do not grow into such corporate titans.

Jewish Members of Congress Facing Anti-Semitic Attacks on Twitter

Jewish members of Congress are facing anti-Semitic attacks on Twitter in the lead-up to the November election, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League. “The findings of this report, while limited, are alarming and, unfortunately, not surprising,” said the ADL, which reviewed 5,954 tweets directed at 30 Jewish members of Congress who are up for re-election in November.

FCC Chairman Proposes Rules Changes, Defends Net Neutrality Stance

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he stands by the agency’s repeal of landmark net neutrality rules and circulated a proposal to address three issues raised by a U.S. appeals court. A federal appeals court in October 2019 largely upheld the FCC’s December 2017 net neutrality repeal, but directed the agency to reconsider the order’s impact on public safety, regulations on attachments to utility poles and the agency’s ability to provide subsidies for broadband service.

Breaking Up Facebook Would Harm Consumers, Law Firm Document Says

A government effort to break up Facebook Inc. from Instagram and WhatsApp would defy established law, cost billions of dollars and harm consumers, according to a paper company lawyers have prepared in the wake of rising antitrust legal threats. The 14-page document, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, offers a preview of the social-media giant’s defense as federal antitrust enforcers and members of Congress continue to pursue investigations into Facebook’s power and past competitive behavior.

Despite Some Early Actions Against It, QAnon Built Online Following

Although Facebook and Twitter took actions against individual QAnon accounts and pages in the years before the recent crackdowns — including in April, when Facebook took down five pages and six QAnon-affiliated groups that had amassed more than 100,000 members and followers — by the time of more systemic action this summer, more than 7,000 accounts affiliated with QAnon were spreading what Twitter called harmful disinformation on its service. Researchers say these moves curbed QAnon’s reach somewhat, but several asked: What took so long?

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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.