Apple Denies Parler's Application to Return to App Store

Apple denied Parler’s application to get back on its App Store, dealing a major blow to the right-leaning social media network that reappeared online last month after going dark for several weeks. Apple refused to let Parler back on its store in a recent decision, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private business matters.

Foreign Governments Increasingly Use U.S. Servers to Stage Cyberattacks

U.S. lawmakers and security experts are voicing concern that foreign governments are staging cyberattacks using servers in the U.S., in an apparent effort to avoid detection by America’s principal cyberintelligence organization, the National Security Agency. When hackers recently targeted servers running Microsoft Corp.’s widely used Exchange software, they employed U.S.-based computers from at least four service providers to mount their attack, according to an analysis by the threat intelligence company DomainTools LLC.

Russian Government Slows Access to Twitter to 'Protect Russian Citizens'

The Russian government said that it was slowing access to Twitter, accusing the social network of failing to remove illegal content and signaling that the Kremlin is escalating its offensive against American internet companies that have long provided a haven for freedom of expression. It was a landmark step in a country where the internet has essentially remained free despite President Vladimir V. Putin’s authoritarian rule.

Irish Data Protection Commissioner Says TikTok May Send EU Data to China

TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, may be sending some European Union user data to China, its main data-protection watchdog in the EU warned. “TikTok tells us that EU data is transferred to the U.S. and not to China, however we have understood that there is possibility that maintenance and AI engineers in China may be accessing data,” Irish Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon said at an online event.

T-Mobile to Automatically Enroll Customers in Advertising Program

T-Mobile US Inc. will automatically enroll its phone subscribers in an advertising program informed by their online activity, testing businesses’ appetite for information that other companies have restricted. The No. 2 U.S. carrier by subscribers said in a recent privacy-policy update that unless they opt out it will share customers’ web and mobile-app data with advertisers starting April 26.

Twitter Sues Texas Attorney General for Retaliating Against Ban on Trump

Twitter sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing the Republican of retaliating against the social media company for banning former President Donald Trump from its platform. "Twitter seeks to stop AG Paxton from unlawfully abusing his authority as the highest law-enforcement officer of the State of Texas to intimidate, harass, and target Twitter in retaliation for Twitter's exercise of its First Amendment rights," Twitter said in a lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court.

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French Lobbying Group to File Privacy Complaint Against Apple

France Digitale will file a complaint against iPhone maker Apple with data privacy watchdog CNIL over alleged breaches of European Union rules, France’s leading startup lobby said in a statement. In the seven-page complaint seen by Reuters, the lobby, which represents the bulk of France’s digital entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, alleges Apple’s latest operating software, iOS 14, does not comply with EU privacy requirements.

Instagram Includes Anti-Vaccination Content in 'Suggested' Posts

Instagram’s “suggested” posts recommended anti-vaccination content to users, even as parent company Facebook intensified efforts to combat false and misleading statements about COVID-19, according to research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The nonprofit group says Instagram suggested anti-vaccination posts to volunteers who created accounts and showed an interest in conspiracy theories.

Lawmakers Appear to Focus on Tweaks to Section 230 Protections, Not Repeal

Former President Donald J. Trump called multiple times for repealing the law that shields tech companies from legal responsibility over what people post. President Biden, as a candidate, said the law should be “revoked.” But the lawmakers aiming to weaken the law have started to agree on a different approach. They are increasingly focused on eliminating protections for specific kinds of content rather than making wholesale changes to the law or eliminating it entirely.

House Judiciary Committee to Hear from News Outlets, Microsoft President

A House Judiciary panel focused on antitrust will hear from three witnesses who represent a range of news organizations with concerns about how big tech platforms like Facebook and Alphabet’s Google increasingly dominate their industry. The antitrust subcommittee leading the charge against tech platforms, and in this instance focusing on their relations with news organizations, will also hear from Microsoft President Brad Smith.

Hackers Appear to Breach Security Camera Data Used by Hospitals, Police

A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools. Companies whose footage was exposed include carmaker Tesla Inc. and software provider Cloudflare Inc.

Apple, Facebook, Google Fighting Over Privacy Protection, Image

Silicon Valley giants are drawing battle lines over personal data collection practices and targeted ads as the threat of regulation looms. As Apple presses ahead with plans to give users greater control over their privacy, companies like Facebook and Google have aligned themselves over the latter's more measured approach to scaling back tracking features.

House Democrats Ask Zuckerberg About Facebook's Ad Practices for Guns

A group of 23 U.S. House Democrats asked Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg for answers on the social media site’s advertising practices over targeted ads for gun accessories and protective equipment. The lawmakers, led by House Energy Commerce Committee chairman Frank Pallone, cited reports the ads were shown “next to content that amplified election misinformation” and news about the Capitol siege after January 6.

Biden Administration Faces Decisions About How to Respond to Cyberattacks

Just as it plans to begin retaliating against Russia for the large-scale hacking of American government agencies and corporations discovered late last year, the Biden administration faces a new cyberattack that raises the question of whether it will have to strike back at another major adversary: China. Taken together, the responses will start to define how President Biden fashions his new administration’s response to escalating cyberconflict and whether he can find a way to impose a steeper penalty on rivals who regularly exploit vulnerabilities in government and corporate defenses to spy, steal information and potentially damage critical components of the nation’s infrastructure.

YouTube Cuts Five Television Channels Run by Myanmar's Military

YouTube said that it had cut five television channels run by Myanmar’s military from its platform, the latest in a string of moves by American internet giants to pare back the military’s online footprint since it seized power in a coup last month. The company — a unit of Alphabet, which also owns Google — said in a statement that it had removed the channels and videos based on its community guidelines, though it did not specify what rules the military had broken.

India Threatens to Jail Employees at Facebook, Twitter Over Takedown Requests

India’s government has threatened to jail employees of Facebook Inc., its WhatsApp unit and Twitter Inc. as it seeks to quash political protests and gain far-reaching powers over discourse on foreign-owned tech platforms, people familiar with the warnings say. The warnings are in direct response to the tech companies’ reluctance to comply with data and takedown requests from the government related to protests by Indian farmers that have made international headlines, the people say.

Justice Department Indicts McAfee for Cryptocurrency Fraud Scheme

The Justice Department announced that John McAfee, the founder of anti-virus software company McAfee, has been indicted on alleged fraud and money laundering charges tied to a cryptocurrency investment scheme. McAfee, who is detained in Spain, was indicted alongside Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., an executive adviser to McAfee, according to federal officials.

Biden Names Wu as Special Assistant for Technology, Competition Policy

President Biden named Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor, to the National Economic Council as a special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, putting one of the most outspoken critics of Big Tech’s power into the administration. The appointment of Mr. Wu, 48, who is widely supported by progressive Democrats and antimonopoly groups, suggests that the administration plans to take on the size and influence of companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, including working with Congress on legislation to strengthen antitrust laws.

Microsoft Email Flaw Compromises 20,000 U.S. Organizations

More than 20,000 U.S. organizations have been compromised through a back door installed via recently patched flaws in Microsoft Corp’s email software, a person familiar with the U.S. government’s response said. The hacking has already reached more places than all of the tainted code downloaded from SolarWinds Corp, the company at the heart of another massive hacking spree uncovered in December.

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