Facebook Bans Ads for Military Gear, Gun Accessories Before Inauguration

Facebook is temporarily prohibiting ads for military gear and gun accessories in the US until after the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration, the company said. "We are banning ads that promote weapon accessories and protective equipment in the US at least through January 22, out of an abundance of caution," the company said in an update to a Monday blog post about the social network's preparations leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

  • Read the article: CNET

Senator Wants Tech Companies to Explain Social Media Bans

The outgoing Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee asked the chief executives of five major U.S. tech firms to answer detailed questions about decisions to restrict or permanently ban accounts of conservative users. Senator Roger Wicker sent letters to Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc and Twitter in which he said “thousands of conservative users’ accounts and content” have been “restricted or permanently removed from platforms.”

WhatsApp Delays New Privacy Policy, Citing 'a Lot of Misinformation'

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging app, announced it is delaying its new privacy policy by three months, citing confusion and "a lot of misinformation." The update, which was scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 8, aims to refresh the app's terms of use and privacy policy — expanding how the app's business users can store their communications.

Parler Asks Judge to Order Amazon to Restore Its Account

Parler urged a U.S. judge to order Amazon.com Inc to restore the company’s account, saying Amazon had no evidence the social media platform was used to incite last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol. At a hearing in Seattle federal court, Parler’s lawyer David Groesbeck said the company would suffer irreparable harm if forced to close and that keeping it alive served the public interest.

Some Groups Promoting 'Stop the Steal' Remain on Facebook Despite Ban

Ninety groups on Facebook promoting debunked claims about election fraud remained on the platform, after the social media giant said it would remove content containing the phrase “stop the steal,” according to an analysis released Thursday by nonprofit advocacy group Avaaz. Facebook said it would take content down containing the phrase “Stop the Steal” under its Coordinating Harm policy after the deadly riot at the Capitol.

Labor Department's Statistical Arm Breached, But Data Not Stolen

The Labor Department’s statistical arm — which prepares the jobs report and other market-sensitive information about the U.S. economy — was breached in the SolarWinds hack, but data wasn’t lost or corrupted, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said. He added that the intrusion was isolated and that the hack didn’t affect the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, nor did it spread to other agencies within the department.

Human Rights Groups Want Facebook, Twitter to Take Action Outside U.S.

Facebook and Twitter’s decisions to cut off President Trump from their platforms for inciting a crowd that attacked the U.S. Capitol have angered human rights groups and activists, who are now urging the companies to apply their policies evenly, particularly in smaller countries where the platforms dominate communications. “When I saw what the platforms did with Trump, I thought, ‘You should have done this before, and you should do this consistently in other countries around the world,’” said Javier Pallero, policy director at Access Now, a human rights group.

Petition Challenges WhatsApp's Privacy Policy Changes in India

WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy verges on user surveillance and threatens India’s security, a petition filed in an Indian court said, presenting another legal challenge for the Facebook Inc-owned messenger. California-based WhatsApp said on Jan. 4 it reserved the right to share some data including location and phone number with Facebook and its units such as Instagram and Messenger.

Snapchat Plans to Permanently Ban Trump After Biden's Inauguration

Snapchat plans to permanently ban President Trump’s account from the social media platform once President-elect Joe Biden takes office later this month, a Snapchat spokesperson confirmed to The Hill. “In the interest of public safety, and based on his attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incite violence, which are clear violations of our guidelines, we have made the decision to permanently terminate his account,” the spokesperson said.

Telegram Messaging App Removes 'Dozens' of Accounts Linked to Violence

With many social networks suddenly reevaluating their policies in light of recent political violence in the U.S., the popular messaging app Telegram is implementing a crackdown of its own. Telegram confirmed to TechCrunch that it has removed “dozens” of public channels over the course of the last 24 hours after those accounts, some of which boasted thousands of followers, issued calls for violent action.

Connecticut Probing Amazon's E-Book Practices, Attorney General Says

Connecticut is actively investigating how Amazon.com Inc. sells and distributes digital books, according to the state’s attorney general, the latest of several state and federal probes into the tech giant’s business practices. The investigation is examining whether Amazon engaged in anticompetitive behavior in the e-book business through its agreements with certain publishers, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement.

CEO Vows Parler Will 'Be Stronger' After It Finds a Way Back Online

Social media platform Parler, which has gone dark after being cut off by major service providers that accused the app of failing to police violent content, may never get back online, said its CEO John Matze. As a procession of business vendors severed ties with the two-year-old site following the storming of the U.S. Capitol last week, Matze said in an interview with Reuters that he does not know when or if it will return.

Dorsey Says Banning Trump 'Was Right Decision for Twitter'

In a lengthy philosophical tweetstorm, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said he took no pride in the decision to remove President Trump’s account from the service last week, describing the decision as a “failure” to ultimately create a service that could sustain civil discourse and healthy conversations. Dorsey’s statements — the first time the CEO spoke about the decision — arrived on the heels of an emotional week in which right-wing figures disavowed the power of Silicon Valley companies, while employees and the public had begged the company for more explanation of its actions in response to the violent Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally at the Capitol.

Court Adviser Says Any EU Country Can Take Action Over Privacy Rules

Any EU country can take legal action against companies like Facebook over cross-border violations of data privacy rules, not just the main regulator in charge of the company, a top court adviser said. The preliminary opinion is part of a long-running legal battle between Facebook and Belgium’s data protection authority over the company’s use of cookies to track the behavior of internet users, even those who weren’t members of the social network.

Fringe Social Media Networks Growing After Twitter Bans Trump

Fringe social media networks are seeing their user bases swell in the aftermath of the insurrection at the Capitol building and the subsequent banning of President Trump and some of his loudest supporters from Facebook and Twitter. That migration raises concerns from experts that otherwise peaceful supporters of the president are moving into close proximity with extremist groups that congregate in those spaces.

Tech Companies Vow to Give Users Greater Control Over Their Data

Heads of privacy at Amazon, Google and Twitter took the virtual stage at CES on Tuesday to talk about how new privacy laws — and growing privacy concerns from users — have changed the way they do business. Google Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright, Twitter Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Amazon's director of trust for Alexa, Anne Toth, said on a panel that tech companies must now allow users greater control over their data and explain how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence access personal information.

  • Read the article: CNET

Twitter Doesn't Remove Tweet About 'Stolen' Election from Trump Supporter

A week after false claims of a stolen U.S. presidential election drove a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Twitter is allowing a far-right supporter of President Donald Trump to claim the election was stolen. Anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller, in a tweet about banks freezing political donations after a pro-Trump mob stormed the seat of the U.S. government, said the banks’ decision was, “Further proof the election was stolen.”

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