Amazon Sues EU EU Antitrust Regulators Over Italian Case

Amazon is suing EU antitrust regulators for allowing the Italian competition watchdog to pursue its own case against the U.S. online retail giant over the way it selects sellers, arguing that this should be wrapped into an EU investigation. Amazon took its case to the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe’s second-highest, asking it to annul the EU’s decision to exclude Italy from the wider investigation, a court filing shows.

YouTube Extends Trump's Suspension Another Week for Potential Violence

YouTube said it's extending its suspension of President Donald Trump's channel for another week over "ongoing potential for violence," a day before Joe Biden is set to be sworn in as the next U.S. president. The move lengthens the punishment the Google-owned platform imposed on Trump, which prohibited him from uploading new content and disabled comments on his videos indefinitely.

  • Read the article: CNET

Americans Divided About Social Media Companies' Crackdowns

More than a third – 37% – of Americans say they approve of how social media companies are cracking down on potentially harmful or dangerous content, with 28% saying they have gone too far and 23% saying they haven't gone far enough, according to a new survey from The Harris Poll shared exclusively with USA Today. "Most Americans saw the actions taken by Big Tech in recent weeks as necessary, but they're still deeply skeptical of the power and influence these companies have," John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, said in an emailed statement.

India's Technology Ministry Asks WhatsApp to Withdraw Privacy Policy Changes

India’s technology ministry has asked WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy the messaging platform announced earlier this month, saying the new terms take away choice from Indian users. The demand creates a new headache for WhatsApp and its U.S. parent Facebook, which have placed big bets on the South Asian nation to expand their payments and other businesses.

U.S. Government Asks Australia to Drop Law Forcing Payment for News Content

The U.S. government has asked Australia to scrap proposed laws that will make it the first country in the world to force Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay for news sourced from local media outlets. In a submission asking the government to “suspend” the plans, assistant U.S. trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers, suggested Australia instead “further study the markets, and if appropriate, develop a voluntary code.”

Right-Wing Groups Turn to Chat Apps to Avoid Law Enforcement

Right-wing groups on chat apps like Telegram are swelling with new members after Parler disappeared and a backlash against Facebook and Twitter, making it harder for law enforcement to track where the next attack could come from. After the attack on the U.S. Capitol, major tech companies clamped down on right-wing extremists, kicking thousands of conspiracy theory accounts off Twitter and shutting down the social network Parler.

Parler's Website (But Not Its App) Partially Returns with Russian Backing

Parler, a social media website and app popular with the American far right, has partially returned online with the help of a Russian-owned technology company. Parler vanished from theIinternet when dropped by Amazon Inc’s hosting arm and other partners for poor moderation after its users called for violence and posted videos glorifying the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Twitter Temporarily Suspends Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Account

Twitter said that it had temporarily suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) following "multiple" violations of the platform's content policy. In a statement to The Hill, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed that "the account referenced has been temporarily locked out for multiple violations of our civic integrity policy."

Online Misinformation About Election Fraud Dropped After Trump's Bans

Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public debate when they act aggressively. The new research by the San Francisco-based analytics firm reported that conversations about election fraud dropped from 2.5 million mentions to 688,000 mentions across several social media sites in the week after Trump was banned from Twitter.

Lawsuit Accuses Amazon of 'Conspiracy to Fix Retail Price of E-books'

Amazon.com Inc., which originally came up with the idea of charging bargain-basement prices for electronic books, is now being accused of forcing customers on other book sites to pay too much for them. A lawsuit filed in a federal district court in New York alleges that a deal between Amazon and five major book publishers has led to higher e-book prices for all consumers, because it prevents rival retailers from selling any of these publishers’ e-books at a lower price than on Amazon.

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.

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