House Panel Investigating YouTube's Advertising Practices for Children

A House panel launched an investigation into YouTube’s advertising practices on its platform for children. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chair of the Oversight and Reform subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki requesting documents about YouTube Kids amid concerns over the content and advertisement practices for children.

Facebook Removes 300 Accounts Created by Troll Farm in Albania

Facebook said it pulled down more than 300 accounts, pages and groups that appeared to have been created by a troll farm in Albania linked to Mojahedin-e Khalq, an exiled militant group that opposes the Islamic Republic of Iran. The social media giant removed 128 Facebook accounts, 41 pages, 21 groups and 146 Instagram accounts in March for violating its rules against misleading others about their identity and purpose on behalf of a foreign entity.

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Supreme Court Vacates Ruling Against Trump for Blocking Twitter Users

The Supreme Court vacated a lower court ruling that found former President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking followers on Twitter, ordering the case to be dismissed as moot now that he is no longer in office. Though the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion that the "unprecedented" amount of control that Twitter and other digital platforms have over speech must be addressed in the future.

Grand Jury Indicts California Resident for Stealing Shopify Customer Data

A grand jury has indicted a California resident accused of stealing Shopify customer data on over a hundred merchants, TechCrunch has learned. The indictment charges Tassilo Heinrich with aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud by allegedly working with two Shopify customer support agents to steal merchant and customer data from Shopify customers to gain a competitive edge and “take business away from those merchants,” the indictment reads.

Twitter Says Automated Systems Erroneously Blocked Rep. Greene

Twitter said it had mistakenly suspended the account of freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), calling the incident an “error.” "We use a combination of technology and human review to enforce the Twitter Rules across the service. In this case, our automated systems took enforcement action on the account referenced in error,” a Twitter spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Hill.

Russia Extends Twitter Slowdown for Not Removing Illegal Content

Russia said it would extend a punitive slowdown of Twitter until May 15 though it acknowledged the U.S. social media company had speeded up deletion of banned content. Moscow has traditionally taken a more hands-off role in policing the internet than neighbouring China. But as friction has grown this year over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, it has signalled a tougher line.

UK Home Office Plans Attack on Use of End-to-End Encryption in Apps

The UK is planning a new attack on end-to-end encryption, with the Home Office set to spearhead efforts designed to discourage Facebook from further rolling out the technology to its messaging apps. Home Secretary Priti Patel is planning to deliver a keynote speech at a child protection charity’s event focused on exposing the perceived ills of end-to-end encryption and asking for stricter regulation of the technology.

Lawmakers Question Whether Digital Advertising Threatens National Security

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is asking questions about the inner workings of digital advertising amid worries the industry’s user-targeting capabilities could pose a threat to national security. A group of U.S. senators led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) sent a letter to the largest companies running these auctions— AT&T Inc., Index Exchange Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Magnite Inc., OpenX Software Ltd., PubMatic Inc., Twitter Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. — asking them what steps they take to make sure companies joining the auctions do so for the sole purpose of buying ad slots.

Some Facebook Staff Say Company Being Used for Chinese Propaganda

Some Facebook staff are raising concerns on internal message boards and in other employee discussions that the company is being used as a conduit for Chinese propaganda, highlighting sponsored posts from Chinese organizations that purport to show Muslim ethnic minority Uyghurs thriving in China’s Xinjiang region, according to people familiar with the matter. The U.S. and some European governments say Beijing is committing genocide against the Uyghurs, citing a campaign that includes political indoctrination, mass internment and forced sterilizations.

Hacker Publishes Personal Data on 533 Million Facebook Users

A user in a low level hacking forum published the phone numbers and personal data of hundreds of millions of Facebook users for free online. The exposed data includes personal information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the U.S., 11 million on users in the UK, and 6 million on users in India.

Facebook Removes Accounts for Suspect in Car Attack at U.S. Capitol

Facebook has removed the account belonging to the suspect in the attack at the Capitol that killed one Capitol Police officer and wounded another. The platform confirmed to The Hill that it is scrapping the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Noah Green, the 25-year-old suspect in the attack, and scrubbing any content from him that violates its policies.

Top Republicans Question 'Procedural Fairness' in Tech Firms' Parler Removals

Top Republicans on the House and Senate antitrust committees sent letters to Google, Apple and Amazon pressing the tech giants over their actions to remove from their platforms the fringe social media site Parler after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. In a letter sent by Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the lawmakers question whether the companies followed “procedural fairness” in pulling Parler.

Texas Senate Approves Bill to Stop Social Media Sites from Political Bans

The Texas Senate approved a bill that would prohibit social media companies with at least 100 million monthly users from blocking, banning, demonetizing or discriminating against a user based on their viewpoint or their location within Texas. The measure, which would apply to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, among others, would also require the companies to disclose their content moderation policies, publish regular reports about the content they remove and create an appeals process for user content that has been taken down.

Supreme Court Rules for Facebook in Lawsuit Over Anti-Robocall Law

The U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for businesses to pester consumers with phone calls or text messages by tossing out a lawsuit accusing Facebook Inc of violating a federal anti-robocall law. The justices, in a 9-0 decision authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, sided with Facebook over its argument that text messages the social media company sent did not violate a 1991 federal law called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Italian Menswear Brand Boggi Milano Targeted by Ransomware Attackers

A group of hackers executed a ransomware attack on Italian menswear premium brand Boggi Milano, according to people familiar with the matter and documents seen by Bloomberg. The company confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber-attack and that an investigation into the incident was under way. A Boggi Milano representative said the company didn’t believe the attack had any significant impact and that the company was cooperating with authorities.

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