Facebook to Stop Banning Posts Claiming Covid-19 Virus Man-Made

Facebook will no longer take down posts claiming that Covid-19 was man-made or manufactured, a company spokesperson told POLITICO on Wednesday, a move that acknowledges the renewed debate about the virus’ origins. Facebook’s policy tweak arrives as support surges in Washington for a fuller investigation into the origins of Covid-19 after the Wall Street Journal reported that three scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized in late 2019 with symptoms consistent with the virus.

Google Nears Settlement of Undisclosed Antitrust Case in France

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is nearing a settlement of an antitrust case in France alleging the company has abused its power in online advertising, and is likely to pay a fine and make operational changes, people familiar with the matter said. The French case, which hasn’t been previously disclosed, is one of the most advanced in the world looking at Google’s dominance as a provider of tools for buying and selling ads across the web.

Twitter Criticizes India Police's 'Intimidation Tactics' Against Online Speech

Twitter pushed back against India’s increasingly heavy-handed efforts to control online speech, calling on the government to respect freedom of expression and criticizing what it called “intimidation tactics” by the country’s police. The statement comes as the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces mounting pressure for its handling of a devastating second wave of the coronavirus.

Two Tech Trade Groups Sue Florida Over Law Creating Fines for Social Media

Two tech trade groups filed a lawsuit against Florida over a new law that would fine social media companies that ban political candidates, which they said violated free speech rights. The lawsuit, which said the bill signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was unconstitutional, was filed by internet lobbying groups NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA).

Peloton, Echelon Didn't Strip Data from User Photos, Researchers Say

Security researchers say at-home exercise giant Peloton and its closest rival Echelon were not stripping user-uploaded profile photos of their metadata, in some cases exposing users’ real-world location data. Almost every file, photo or document contains metadata, which is data about the file itself, such as how big it is, when it was created and by whom.

European Union Close to Opening Formal Antitrust Probe of Facebook

The European Union is close to opening its first formal antitrust investigation into Facebook Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, ramping up its competition enforcement of big tech companies. The EU’s top competition watchdog, the European Commission, is likely in coming weeks to open formal antitrust proceedings against Facebook, a key procedural step in one of its long-running investigations into the company, the person said, adding that the timing could still change.

Company Files Antitrust Suit Against Apple Over Watch Heart-Rate Monitoring

A Silicon Valley company has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple Inc. of cornering the market for heart-rate monitoring technology for the Apple Watch, and endangering wearers' health. In a complaint, AliveCor Inc. said Apple shut out rivals by changing the heart-rate algorithm on its watch's operating system, making rival technology incompatible.

Facebook Calls Russia Largest Producer of Disinformation

A Facebook report says that Russia is still the largest producer of disinformation, a notable finding just five years after Russian operatives launched a far-reaching campaign to infiltrate social media during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Facebook says it has uncovered disinformation campaigns in more than 50 countries since 2017, when it began the cat-and-mouse game of cracking down on political actors seeking to manipulate public debate on its platform.

France's Government Praises Social Media Influencers in COVID Campaign

France's government offered strong praise to YouTubers and other social media influencers who resisted a mysterious effort to recruit them for a smear campaign to spread disinformation to their millions of young followers about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Multiple France-based influencers with sizable audiences on Twitter, Instagram and other platforms said they were contacted with offers of hush-hush payments to make bogus claims about supposed deadly Pfizer vaccine risks.

WhatsApp Sues Indian Government to Block Internet Tracing Rules

WhatsApp sued the Indian government to stop what it said were oppressive new Internet rules that would require it to make people’s messages “traceable” to outside parties for the first time. The lawsuit, filed by WhatsApp in the Delhi High Court, seeks to block the enforceability of the rules that were handed down by the government this year.

Brooklyn Jury Deliberates Fate of Russian Known as 'King of Fraud'

A jury in Brooklyn, New York, is set to begin deliberating whether the Russian national Aleksandr Zhukov is guilty of being the “King of fraud,” as he texted in a 2014 message to an associate. According to federal prosecutors, Zhukov, 41, was the ringleader of an online scam that used 1,900 servers to create fake web traffic at media sites including the New York Times that led companies like Pepsi Co. to pay inflated advertising rates.

D.C. Files Antitrust Suit Against Amazon for Creating Increased Prices

The District of Columbia sued Amazon, accusing it of artificially raising prices for products around the web by abusing its monopoly power, a sign that regulators in the United States are increasingly turning their attention to the company’s dominance across the economy. In the lawsuit, believed to be the first government antitrust suit against Amazon in the United States, the district government said Amazon had effectively prohibited merchants that use its platform from charging lower prices for the same products elsewhere online.

Biden Administration Working with Pipeline Companies on Cyber Protections

The Biden administration is working with pipeline companies to strengthen protections against cyberattacks following the Colonial Pipeline hack, with announcements of actions planned in coming days, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said. A ransomware attack forced Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Texas to New Jersey, to shut much of its network for several days this month, leaving thousands of gas stations across the U.S. Southeast without fuel. Motorists fearing prolonged shortages raced to fill their tanks as the outage laid bare the nation's reliance on a few key pipelines for fuel needs.

Russia Targets Google, Twitter in Effort to Ban Prohibited Content

Russia's communications watchdog gave Google 24 hours to delete what it called prohibited content or be fined and said Moscow could eventually slow down the company's traffic in the country. Russia has already placed a punitive slowdown on U.S. social network Twitter for not deleting banned content, part of a push by Moscow to rein in Western tech giants and beef up what it calls its internet "sovereignty".

Walmart Says 'External Bad Actor' Used Racial Epithet to Send Emails

Walmart is faulting an "external bad actor" for a slew of phony accounts that generated emails using the company's domain that addressed recipients with a racial epithet. Those behind the attack created new accounts for people whose emails were not previously identified by the company as belonging to Walmart customers, automatically sending a "Welcome to Walmart" email that replaced the receiver's name with a racist smear.

WhatsApp Tells Indian Government Privacy 'Remains Our Highest Priority'

Facebook Inc-owned WhatsApp said that it had told the Indian government that the privacy of users was its highest priority after the country's technology ministry raised questions about the messaging app's new privacy policy. India's technology ministry asked WhatsApp in a May 18 letter to withdraw its updated privacy policy, which came into effect on May 15, and also said the government could take legal action against the company.

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.