Republicans Support Antitrust Reform for Social Media Services

Several high-profile Republican lawmakers suggested they would support antitrust reforms in the wake of Facebook's Independent Oversight Board upholding former President Trump's ban from the platform. House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (La.) said in a statement that if “Big Tech believes they have the power to silence a president of the United States, then we need to take a serious look at antitrust laws to limit their monopolistic power.”

Facebook Oversight Board Upholds Trump's Ban But Wants 6-Month Review

A Facebook-appointed panel of journalists, activists and lawyers upheld the social network’s ban of former President Donald J. Trump, ending any immediate return by Mr. Trump to mainstream social media and renewing a debate about tech power over online speech. Facebook’s Oversight Board, which acts as a quasi-court over the company’s content decisions, ruled the social network was right to bar Mr. Trump after the insurrection in Washington in January, saying he “created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.”

Facebook Warns Apple Users Their Data Keeps Its Services Free

Facebook and Instagram began to warn users on Apple platforms that their data shared to target ads on the platforms help keep them "free of charge," according to a company blog post. A recent announcement indicated that Apple users would begin seeing popups notifying them that new privacy requirements on Apple's iOS 14 force apps to seek permission for collecting data from users, including search histories, that are used to target ads on personal feeds.

DDoS Attack Takes Down Most of Belgium Government's Network

Most of the Belgium government’s IT network went down after a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack knocked offline both internal systems and public-facing websites. The attack targeted Belnet, a government-funded ISP that provides internet connectivity for Belgian government organizations, such as its Parliament, educational institutes, ministries, and research centers.

Judge Questions Epic CEO on How Apple Changes Would Impact Developers

A U.S. judge pressed the chief executive of "Fortnite" creator Epic Games on how the fundamental changes the game maker is asking her to force on Apple Inc's App Store would affect the livelihoods of millions of developers who make software for Apple devices. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is presiding over a three-week trial that kicked off in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

WhatsApp Returns Its Payment Service in Brazil After Suspension

WhatsApp is again rolling out its payments service in Brazil, after the service was suspended by Brazil’s Central Bank in June of 2020 a few days after it launched there. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video aired in Brazil, where he spoke about how the payment information added to WhatsApp will also be able to be used on Facebook and Instagram.

Cyberspace Administration of China Says 33 Apps Break Data Privacy Rules

China's main internet watchdog has found that 33 mobile phone apps have broken data privacy rules by collecting data without consent, among other issues. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), in a statement published on its official website, identified map apps, those used for instant messaging and others with more functions, such as the downloading of emojis.

Florida Bill Prevents Social Media Companies from Banning Politicians

Florida could soon become the first U.S. state to prohibit social media companies like Facebook and Twitter from kicking politicians off their sites, following the high-profile banning earlier this year of then-President Donald Trump. A bill passed by Florida's Republican-led House and Senate and headed for the governor's desk says social sites can't "deplatform" political candidates, meaning they can't permanently send them packing or temporarily ban them for more than 14 days.

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Arguments in Epic v. Apple Trial Set to Begin, Focusing on App Store Fees

The tech battle between Apple and “Fortnite”-maker Epic Games is headed to court as a judge will begin hearing arguments over whether Apple is running a monopoly in its App Store and whether it should be allowed to take a 30 percent cut of revenue from purchases made using its in-app purchase system. The case could change the way we use our smartphones.

EU Regulators Accuse Apple of Antitrust Violations on App Store

European Union regulators accused Apple of violating antitrust laws by imposing unfair rules and fees on rival music-streaming services that depend on the App Store to reach customers. Amid growing scrutiny of the tech industry worldwide, the case will be an important test of a government's ability to force one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful companies to change its behavior. Europe is seen as a global bellwether on tech policy, but Apple has vowed to fight the charges.

Amazon’s Algorithms Promote Conspiracy Theories to Some Users, Report Says

A new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue says Amazon’s algorithms steer people to books about conspiracy theories and extremism, sometimes introducing them to the work of conspiracy theorists who’ve been banned by other online platforms. People browsing a book about one conspiracy on Amazon are likely to get suggestions for more books on that topic as well as books about other conspiracy theories about everything from QAnon to the COVID-19 vaccine, the report found.

China Imposes Tighter Data Regulation on Large Tech Companies

China is reining in the ability of the country’s internet giants to use big data for lending, money-management and similar businesses, ending an era of rapid growth that authorities said posed dangers for the financial system. China’s central bank and other regulators ordered 13 firms, including many of the biggest names in the technology sector, to adhere to much tighter regulation of their data and lending practices.

U.S. Government Investigates Hack Against Federal Agencies Using VPN

For at least the third time since the beginning of this year, the U.S. government is investigating a hack against federal agencies that began during the Trump administration but was only recently discovered, according to senior U.S. officials and private sector cyber defenders. It is the latest so-called supply chain cyberattack, highlighting how sophisticated, often government-backed groups are targeting vulnerable software built by third parties as a stepping-stone to sensitive government and corporate computer networks.

Supreme Court Hears Free Speech Arguments in Student's Snapchat Case

The Supreme Court explored the extent of protections for student speech that occurs off campus, in a case that could break new First Amendment ground in the social media age. Hearing arguments by phone, the court grappled with a dispute pitting a teen cheerleader against her Pennsylvania high school district, which imposed a yearlong suspension from the squad after she made a profane Snapchat post off campus and outside of school hours.

Microsoft President Says Google Has Broken Promise of 'An Open Web'

Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith said Google has hurt the concept of the open web and impaired content creators’ ability to make money, continuing an attack the software maker began earlier this year over whether internet companies need to pay news organizations for content they re-share. “The reality is that Google has fundamentally sucked most of the oxygen out of the opportunities for people who create content to actually earn a living through advertising,” said Smith, who is also Microsoft’s chief legal officer, in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Officials Consider Cryptocurrency Regulation to Fight Ransomware

Government and industry officials confronting an epidemic of ransomware, where hackers freeze the computers of a target and demand a payoff, are zeroing in on cryptocurrency regulation as the key to combating the scourge, sources familiar with the work of a public-private task force said. In a report, the panel of experts is expected to call for far more aggressive tracking of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. While those have won greater acceptance among investors over the past year, they remain the lifeblood of ransomware operators and other criminals who face little risk of prosecution in much of the world.

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.