Senate Approves Legislation Targeting Chinese Telecom Companies

The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to approve legislation to prevent companies such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. or ZTE Corp. that are deemed security threats from receiving new equipment licenses from U.S. regulators. The Secure Equipment Act, the latest effort by the U.S. government to crack down on Chinese telecom and tech companies, was approved by the U.S. House on a 420-4 vote, and now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Senators Pushing for Update to Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

Two Democratic senators called for two bills to be voted into law that will limit what children are shown online and how their data can be used for advertising by Big Tech companies like Google's YouTube and Facebook. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey, both Democrats, called for the passage of an update of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which would, among other things, raise the age of children whose data cannot be collected without consent from 12 to 15.

CFPB Director Says Agency Reviewing Big Tech's Impact on Money Flow

Chief consumer finance watchdog Rohit Chopra told U.S. lawmakers his agency will review Big Tech's impact on the flow of money in the economy as leading technology firms use real-time consumer payments systems that collect huge amounts of personal data. Chopra, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), said Big Tech's entrance into the payment sector raises questions, including: "How will these firms harvest and monetize data they collect on our transactions? What criteria will they use to decide who is removed from the platform? How will they ensure that payment systems adhere to consumer protections?"

Judge Transfers Trump's Twitter Case, Says Ex-President Bound by Terms

A Florida federal judge ruled that Donald Trump’s status as a former president does not exclude him from following Twitter’s terms of service, the latest setback in his quest to get back on the social media platform after being banned this year. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. granted Twitter’s motion to transfer the case from the Southern District of Florida to the Northern District of California, which is required by a clause in the company’s user agreement that all Twitter users sign.

FTC Staff Investigating Facebook's Disclosures on Possible Harms

Federal Trade Commission staffers have begun looking into disclosures that Facebook Inc.’s internal company research had identified ill effects from its products, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials are looking into whether Facebook research documents indicate that it might have violated a 2019 settlement with the agency over privacy concerns, for which the company paid a record $5 billion penalty, one of the people said.

Facebook Tells Employees to Preserve Documents for Legal Requests

Facebook has told employees to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies have started inquiries into its operations, according to a company email. The move, known as a “legal hold,” follows intense media, legal and regulatory scrutiny over the social network’s harms.

U.S. Secretary of State Announces Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy

Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally announced the establishment of a new cyber bureau at the State Department to help tackle cyber and emerging technology diplomatic issues. The new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy was announced by Blinken as part of a speech around the reorganization and modernization of the State Department to meet 21st century needs, with Blinken noting he consulted with Congress and outside experts prior to establishing the office.

U.S., European Authorities Arrest 150 for Darknet Drug, Weapon Sales

The Justice Department and European police authorities said they arrested 150 people who sold and bought drugs and weapons on darknet forums, using evidence drawn from the world’s largest illegal online marketplace after it was taken down in January. Authorities rounded up people in nine countries, including the U.S., the Netherlands, Australia and the U.K., and seized around 234 kilograms of drugs, 45 guns and more than $31.6 million in cash and virtual currencies.

Executives from TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube Testify About Child Protections

TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, all social media sites popular with teens and young adults, faced a barrage of questions and accusations from lawmakers who want the companies to do more to protect children online. Executives from all three companies committed to sharing internal research on how their products affect kids — an issue that has come to the forefront in the past several weeks as tens of thousands of pages of Facebook’s internal documents have been revealed by a whistleblower.

Zuckerberg Says Leaked Documents 'Paint a False Picture of Our Company'

CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off Facebook's quarterly earnings call by addressing the latest wave of coverage based on a trove of leaked internal documents. "Good faith criticism helps us get better, but my view is that we are seeing a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture of our company," Zuckerberg said.

  • Read the article: CNN

TikTok, Snapchat Executives to Testify About Precautions for Children

TikTok and Snapchat executives will make their debut on Capitol Hill, testifying for the first time before a Senate panel about safety precautions for young users. Members of the Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee are expected to grill executives from the social media companies, along with a representative for YouTube, about their platforms’ effects on kids and teens.

Justice Department Accelerates Antitrust Investigation of Apple

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has accelerated its two-year-old antitrust probe on Apple Inc. in the last several months, increasing the likelihood of a lawsuit, the Information reported. Lawyers for the DOJ have asked Apple, its customers and competitors questions about how the company maintains its strict control over the iPhone, the report said, citing two people with knowledge of the investigation.

YouTube Says It Removed 7 Million Children's Accounts This Year

YouTube plans to tell Congress that it removed 7 million accounts believed to belong to young children and preteens on the sly in the first nine months of this year, with 3 million of those removals coming in the third quarter as the company has "ramped up our automated removal efforts." The stat is an excerpt from prepared testimony set to be delivered at a Senate hearing on online child protections.

  • Read the article: CNET

Russia Launches Attack to Gather Cloud Data from U.S. Gov't, Companies

Russia’s premier intelligence agency has launched another campaign to pierce thousands of U.S. government, corporate and think-tank computer networks, Microsoft officials and cybersecurity experts warned, only months after President Biden imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to a series of sophisticated spy operations it had conducted around the world. The new effort is “very large, and it is ongoing,” Tom Burt, one of Microsoft’s top security officers, said in an interview.

Facebook Documents Show Content Moderation Woes Outside U.S.

For all of Facebook’s troubles in North America, its problems with hate speech and disinformation are dramatically worse in the developing world. Internal company documents reveal that Facebook has meticulously studied its approach abroad — and was well aware that weaker moderation in non-English-speaking countries leaves the platform vulnerable to abuse by bad actors and authoritarian regimes.

Global Trade Union Pushes Europe to Broaden Amazon Antitrust Probe

A global trade union for the services sector urged European authorities to widen their antitrust investigation of Amazon.com Inc.to assess if the company engaged in creating knockoff goods and rigging search results on its platform. The demand by the UNI Global Union was triggered by a Reuters report based on internal Amazon documents that showed the e-commerce company ran a systematic campaign of copying products and manipulating search results to boost its own private brands such as AmazonBasics in India, a key growth market.

Twitter's Timeline Algorithm Found to Amplify Right-Leaning Politicians

Twitter’s timeline algorithm tends to amplify right-leaning politicians and news outlets more than their counterparts on the left, a study conducted by the platform found. The company analyzed millions of tweets from elected officials in seven countries — the United Kingdom, U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Japan — and hundreds of millions of tweets from news outlets between April 1 and Aug. 15, 2020.

Epic Games Asks Judge to Deny Apple's Request for Injunction Delay

"Fortnite" creator Epic Games opposed Apple Inc's efforts to put on hold orders handed down in an antitrust trial as a potentially lengthy appeals process plays out. U.S. district Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in September struck down some of the iPhone maker's App Store rules, including a prohibition on developers directing their users to other payment options beside Apple's in-app payment system, in a partial win for Epic and other app makers.

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