Religious Leaders Ask Zuckerberg to Drop Plans for Kids' Version of Instagram

A coalition of 75 faith leaders signed a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, asking him to ditch permanently plans to create an Instagram platform for kids under 13. In September, the company said it would put the plans on pause after internal documents leaked by a whistleblower escalated scrutiny on Instagram’s impact on teen and youth users, but it did not go so far as to totally drop the plans — as advocates and lawmakers have pushed for.

European Justice Ministers, Google, Meta Agree Changes Needed to Fight Hate

European justice ministers and tech giants Google's and Meta agreed that a clear legal framework was needed to step up cooperation against online hate, France's justice minister said. Social media and online platforms face a raft of legislative proposals on both sides of the Atlantic that will require them to do more to counter online hate speech and disinformation.

Meta to Launch 'Personal Boundary' Tool for Users of Virtual Reality Platforms

Facebook's parent Meta Platforms said it is launching a tool for people using its virtual reality social platforms to maintain personal space boundaries, as concerns have mounted about user safety and sexual harassment in the metaverse. Its new "personal boundary" tool will make users feel like they have nearly four feet (1.2 meters) between their virtual avatar and others when they access the immersive Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues apps through VR headsets.

U.K.'s Competition Regulator Fines Meta $2 Million Related to Giphy Probe

Meta Inc. was fined 1.5 million pounds ($2 million) from the U.K.’s competition regulator for breaching an enforcement order during its Giphy merger probe, the latest twist in an increasingly messy fight for control of the GIF search engine. The Facebook parent failed to inform the Competition and Markets Authority that three “key” U.S. employees had left the company, a breach of its merger investigation rules, the regulator said.

Lawmakers Question Amazon About Sale of Preservative Used in Suicides

In a letter sent to Andy Jassy, Amazon’s president and chief executive, a bipartisan group of House members sought an accounting of the company’s sales of a preservative used as a poison to die by suicide, details on how the retailer had addressed the dangers, and an explanation of how it had responded to complaints. The move comes just weeks after publication of a Times investigation that linked a website, which provides explicit instructions on suicide, to a long trail of deaths.

Meta Rethinking Policy of Banning Political Ads Close to Elections

Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. is rethinking its policy of banning new political advertisements in the final days before an election, part of its preparation for the 2022 midterms, according to a person familiar with the matter. Meta employees in recent days have been re-evaluating how that policy was executed during the 2020 U.S. election and whether there were potential unintended consequences, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record.

Biden Administration Forms Cyber Safety Review Board with Private Sector

The Biden administration has formed a panel of senior administration officials and private-sector experts to investigate major national cybersecurity failures, and it will probe as its first case the recently discovered Log4j internet bug, officials said. The new Cyber Safety Review Board is tasked with examining significant cybersecurity events that affect government, business and critical infrastructure.

News Corp Says Hackers Linked to China Accessed Journalists' Emails

News Corp was the target of a hack that accessed emails and documents of some employees, including journalists, an incursion the company’s cybersecurity consultant said was likely meant to gather intelligence to benefit China’s interests. The attack, discovered on Jan. 20, affected a number of publications and business units including The Wall Street Journal and its parent Dow Jones; the New York Post; the company’s U.K. news operation; and News Corp headquarters, according to an email the company sent to staff.

Investigators Prepare for Another Cyberattack Targeting Ukraine

As investigators in Ukraine continue to trace a January cyberattack that disrupted government websites and wiped data on computer systems, government officials and cybersecurity experts are preparing for another incident. During last month’s attack, 90 websites, operated by 22 Ukrainian organizations, were defaced and a form of malicious software masquerading as ransomware destroyed a few dozen computers in two government agencies, according to Viktor Zhora, deputy chief of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection.

FBI Tested Pegasus Spyware for Possible Use in Criminal Investigations

The FBI tested Pegasus spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group for possible use in criminal investigations, even as the FBI and Justice Department were investigating whether the NSO software had been used to illegally hack phones in the United States, people familiar with the events have told The Washington Post. Justice Department lawyers at the time discussed that if the FBI were actually to deploy the tool, it could complicate any subsequent prosecution if the department brought charges, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

Commerce Department Revising Rules to Address Risks from Foreign Apps

The Biden administration is moving to revise federal rules to address potential security risks from TikTok and other foreign-owned apps, eight months after opting not to pursue a forced shutdown of the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform. The Commerce Department recently concluded a public-comment period on the proposed rule change, which would expand federal oversight to explicitly include apps that could be used by “foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data,” according to a filing in the Federal Register.

State Department Calls Cyberattack on Red Cross 'Dangerous Development'

A cyberattack on the International Committee of the Red Cross was a “dangerous development,” the U.S. State Department said, warning it could harm vulnerable people. “We are concerned by the breach, announced last month, of sensitive data held by the International Committee of the Red Cross,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “Targeting the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s sensitive and confidential data is a dangerous development.”

Indian Officials Criticize Social Media Services for Not Removing Fake News

Indian officials have held heated discussions with Google, Twitter and Facebook for not proactively removing what they described as fake news on their platforms, sources told Reuters, the government's latest altercation with Big Tech. The officials, from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), strongly criticized the companies and said their inaction on fake news was forcing the Indian government to order content takedowns, which in turn drew international criticism that authorities were suppressing free expression, two sources said.

Advertisers Want Germany to Expand Antitrust Probe of Google News

Digital advertisers are seeking a wider German antitrust probe of Google’s news service, potentially deepening scrutiny of how the search engine gathers data. The Movement for the Open Web, a group of advertising technology and publishing companies that prefer not to be named for fear of retaliation from the Alphabet Inc. unit, filed a complaint with the German Federal Cartel Office.

FTC, Not Justice Department, to Review Microsoft's Activision Acquisition

The U.S. antitrust review of Microsoft Corp's $68.7 billion proposed acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard Inc. will be handled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The FTC, instead of the Justice Department, will investigate whether the takeover will harm competition, the report said.

FTC Issues Report About Increase in Scams Originating on Social Media

Scams that originate on social media, from fake Instagram Shops to false online romances that lead to extortion, ballooned between 2020 and 2021, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. Bad actors can “use the tools available to advertisers on social media platforms to systematically target people with bogus ads based on personal details such as their age, interests, or past purchases,” the FTC said in its report.

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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.