Second Judge Blocks Trump Administration's Attempt to Ban TikTok

A federal judge fully blocked the Trump administration's attempt to ban TikTok in the U.S., the latest defeat in the White House's legal crusade against the video-sharing app. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington found that Trump overstepped his authority in using his emergency economic powers to try to effectively put the wildly popular app out of business. He was the second judge to rule against the president's ban.

  • Read the article: NPR

Tinder's Parent Company Working with Anti-Sexual Violence Groups

Tinder parent company Match Group is partnering with one of the largest anti-sexual violence groups in the U.S. to audit how it handles reports of sexual assault across its many dating platforms. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) will “conduct a comprehensive review of sexual misconduct reporting, moderation and response across Match Group's dating platforms and to work together to improve current safety systems and tools,” the company said.

Google Removes IAC/InterActive Browser Extensions for 'Policy Violations'

Alphabet Inc’s Google said it has removed a number of browser extensions of online conglomerate IAC/InterActive Corp for “policy violations” and is reviewing “enforcement options.” “We continue to have conversations with IAC related to Chrome Web Store policies and we have already removed a number of their extensions for violating our policies”, a Google spokesman said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Senate Democrats Urge Google to Improve Ad Policies for Election Disinformation

Senate Democrats urged Google to improve its ad policies regarding election disinformation and voter suppression, accusing the company of failing even to enforce its own “inadequate” policy. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) led the group of 11 senators in a letter that called on the tech giant to strengthen the enforcement of its policies regarding election-related disinformation, including rejecting all ads spreading election disinformation and stopping ad services on websites that spread false information.

Senate Runoffs in Georgia Lead to Misleading Posts on Facebook, Twitter

The Senate's January runoffs in Georgia have become the nation's latest battleground for election misinformation as false and misleading posts swarm Facebook and Twitter. A new report from human rights group Avaaz found a dozen false claims on Facebook including voter fraud and intimidation spread through 204 posts in English and Spanish which generated 643,000 interactions.

FCC Awards $9.2 Billion to for Broadband Internet Service in Rural Areas

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it has awarded $9.2 billion to provide high-speed broadband internet service to 5.22 million unserved homes and businesses, boosting access in rural areas. The FCC said in its “Rural Digital Opportunity Fund” auction that Charter Communications Inc won $1.22 billion to provide service to 1.06 million locations, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX won $885 million to serve 642,000 locations.

Chinese Professor Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBI to Help Huawei

A Chinese professor accused by U.S. prosecutors of helping steal American technology to benefit China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, but is expected to be allowed to return home after prosecutors decided not to pursue a more serious charge. The professor, Bo Mao, had been charged with conspiring to defraud Silicon Valley’s CNEX Labs and faced up to 20 years behind bars.

Report Says Tech Companies Actually Enable Spread of Covid Disinformation

Google, Facebook, Apple and other technology companies that try to keep covid-19 disinformation and fraud off their own platforms are enabling their spread through online services, tools and code used by websites that push such content, according to a new report from Oxford University. The 120 websites studied by the Oxford researchers support protests against government health restrictions or spread misleading information about the disease caused by the coronavirus — false cures, fake charities or misleading health advice.

UAE Official Said It Was Targeted by Cyberattacks After Creating Israeli Ties

The United Arab Emirates was the target of cyber attacks after establishing formal ties with Israel, the Gulf Arab state’s cyber security head said. The UAE in August broke with decades of Arab policy when it agreed to forge ties with Israel in a move that angered Palestinians and some Muslim states and communities. Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit.

Facebook Revising 'Race-Blind' Algorithms for Detecting Hate Speech

Facebook is embarking on a major overhaul of its algorithms that detect hate speech, according to internal documents, reversing years of so-called “race-blind” practices. Those practices resulted in the company being more vigilant about removing slurs lobbed against White users while flagging and deleting innocuous posts by people of color on the platform.

EU to Introduce Regulations on Illegal Content for Online Platforms

The European Union plans to introduce in coming weeks new proposals aimed at changing behavior — and, in some cases, business models — at large online platforms, reasserting the bloc’s role as global tech cop. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is completing regulatory plans outlining how online platforms should remove illegal content quickly and refrain from using their power to quash rivals or push their own products on their sites.

Trump Signs Executive Order on Federal Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence

The White House said President Donald Trump is signing an executive order setting guidance for federal agency use of artificial intelligence that aims to foster public acceptance of the technology in government decision making. The order directs agencies to prepare inventories of AI-use cases throughout their departments and directs the White House to develop a roadmap for policy guidance for administrative use of AI.

U.S. Sues Facebook for Illegally Reserving High-Paying Jobs for Immigrants

The Trump administration has sued Facebook Inc., accusing the social-media company of illegally reserving high-paying jobs for immigrant workers it was sponsoring for permanent residence, rather than searching adequately for available U.S. workers who could fill the positions. In a 17-page complaint, the Justice Department’s civil-rights division said Facebook inadequately advertised at least 2,600 positions between 2018 and 2019 that were filled by immigrants on H-1B high-skill visas when the company was applying to sponsor those workers for permanent residency, known as green cards.

20-30 States Preparing to File Antitrust Lawsuit Against Facebook

State attorneys general are preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook as soon as next week, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC’s Ylan Mui. At least 20 to 30 states could join in, the sources said. The news comes as multiple outlets have reported the Federal Trade Commission is likely to file its own antitrust lawsuit against the social media giant.

  • Read the article: CNBC

U.S. Worked with Estonia Before Election to Thwart Russian Hackers

The United States deployed operatives to Estonia in the weeks before the November election to learn more about defending against Russian hackers as part of a broader effort to hunt down foreign cyberattacks, American and Estonian officials said. Estonian officials believe the growing cooperation with the United States will be an important deterrent to any attacks by neighboring Russia, while American officials have used the collaboration to help bolster their election defenses.

Subscribe

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.