Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Take Steps Secure Afghan Citizens' Accounts

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn said they had moved to secure the accounts of Afghan citizens to protect them against being targeted amid the Taliban's swift takeover of the country. Facebook has temporarily removed the ability for people to view or search the friends lists of accounts in Afghanistan, its security policy head Nathaniel Gleicher tweeted.

Taliban Using Social Media Techniques to Build Political Momentum

For a group that espouses ancient moral codes, the Afghan Taliban has used strikingly sophisticated social media tactics to build political momentum and, now that they’re in power, to make a public case that they’re ready to lead a modern nation state after nearly 20 years of war. In accounts swelling across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — and in group chats on apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram — the messaging from Taliban supporters typically challenges the West’s dominant image of the group as intolerant, vicious and bent on revenge, while staying within the evolving boundaries of taste and content that tech companies use to police user behavior.

Facebook Removes Dozens of Pages Spreading Vaccine Misinformation

Facebook Inc. said it removed over three dozen pages spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, after the White House called on social media firms to tighten controls on pandemic-related facts shared on their platforms. "We have also imposed penalties on nearly two dozen additional Pages, groups or accounts linked to these 12 people," Facebook said in a blogpost titled "How We're Taking Action Against Vaccine Misinformation Superspreaders".

Amazon Warns Third-Party Merchants About Proposed Antitrust Reforms

Amazon is reaching out to third-party merchants to warn them that proposed antitrust reforms in Congress could limit their ability to hawk their wares on its marketplace. Members of Amazon’s public policy team recently contacted a small number of third-party sellers with successful businesses on its marketplace about setting up meetings to discuss the legislation, according to an email viewed by CNBC.

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YouTube Continues Banning Taliban Accounts; WhatsApp Shuts Down Helpline

Alphabet Inc’s YouTube said it has a long held policy of not allowing accounts believed to be operated by the Taliban on its site, as social media companies faced questions about how they would handle the group that fast gained control of Afghanistan. Separately, the Financial Times reported that Facebook Inc's WhatsApp messaging service has shut down a complaints helpline for Afghans to contact the Taliban, set up by the group after it took control of Kabul.

Court in Moscow Fines Google for Violating Russian Rules on Banned Content

A Moscow court fined Alphabet Inc's Google a total of 14 million roubles ($190,398) for violating Russian rules on banned content, the penalty coming amid a wider stand-off between Russia and Big Tech companies. Russia has routinely fined social media giants for failing to remove prohibited content and is seeking to compel foreign technology companies to open offices in the country.

Twitter Testing Feature to Let Users Report Misinformation

Twitter introduced a new test feature that allows users to report misinformation they run into on the platform, flagging it to the company as “misleading.” In the new test, Twitter users will be able to expand the three dot contextual menu in the upper right corner of a tweet to select “report tweet” where they’ll be met with the new option to flag a misleading tweet.

Chinese Government Takes Ownership Stake in Company Behind ByteDance

In another sign of China’s tightening grip on the country’s growing technology sector, the government has taken an ownership stake in a subsidiary that controls the domestic Chinese social media and information platforms of ByteDance, the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok. The ownership stake does not appear to directly affect TikTok, the wildly popular video service that last year surpassed Facebook Messenger as the most downloaded app in the United States. But the development could prompt fresh debate about whether TikTok poses national-security risks to American users.

China Expected to Pass Privacy Law Giving It Wide Access to Data

China’s top legislative body is expected to pass a privacy law that resembles the world’s most robust framework for online privacy protections, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. But unlike European governments, which themselves face more public pressure over data collection, Beijing is expected to maintain broad access to data under the new Personal Information Protection Law.

Facebook 'Proactively' Removing Content Promoting Taliban

A Facebook Inc. executive said the company is “proactively” removing content from its platforms that promotes the Taliban as the group seizes power in Afghanistan. The Taliban is on the company’s list of dangerous organizations and therefore any content promoting or representing the group is banned, Adam Mosseri, head of Facebook’s photo-sharing app Instagram, said during a Bloomberg Television interview.

Apple Foe Offers $5,000 Grants to Research Scanning Software

One of Apple’s legal foes has offered to help independent researchers analyze the tech giant’s controversial new scanning software for detecting child sexual abuse material on iPhones. Corellium’s new “Open Security Initative” will offer $5,000 grants to security researchers to support “independent public research into the security and privacy of mobile applications,” according to the company’s announcement.

Twitter Unblocks Account of India's Main Opposition Party Congress

Twitter unblocked the accounts of India's main opposition party Congress, its leader Rahul Gandhi and other party officials, days after suspending the accounts over a tweet on the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl. Gandhi's account was locked after he posted a photograph of himself with the parents of a girl who was allegedly raped and killed in New Delhi on Aug. 1, saying the family deserved justice.

Jury Orders Apple to Pay $300 Million in Optis Wireless Patent Trial

A U.S. jury awarded Optis Wireless Technology LLC and several related companies $300 million in damages after a second patent trial against iPhone maker Apple Inc. A jury had previously found that Apple had infringed five Optis wireless standard essential patents and awarded $506 million in damages, but U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap in Marshall, Texas, vacated that award in April and ordered a new trial to determine the amount of damages.

Google Infringed Sonos Patents, ITC Says in Preliminary Finding

Google infringed on speaker-technology patents held by Sonos and should not be allowed to import products that violate Sonos’s intellectual property, a judge said in a preliminary finding by the United States International Trade Commission. In January 2020, Sonos sued Google in federal court and in front of the United States International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial body that decides trade cases and can block the import of goods that violate patents.

Cyberspace Commission Cites U.S. Progress Against Cyber Threats

The federal government has made “significant” progress on strengthening the United States against cyber threats over the past year, but more work remains, a congressionally established bipartisan committee concluded in a report. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) – a group composed of members of Congress, federal officials, and industry leaders – found in its 2021 implementation report that around three-quarters of its recommendations for defending the U.S. against cyber threats have been implemented since March 2020.

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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.