Meta Tells Employees Not to Openly Discuss Supreme Court's Abortion Ruling

Meta told its workers not to openly discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion on wide-reaching communication channels inside the company, people with knowledge of the situation said. Managers at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, cited a company policy that put “strong guardrails around social, political and sensitive conversations” in the workplace, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Supreme Court's Abortion Decision Prompts Push for Data Privacy Laws

Supporters of proposals offering protections around data that could provide information about people seeking abortions are pushing for swift action after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. As Democrats weigh responses to the 6-3 court decision that will trigger abortion bans in 13 states, and likely lead to severe restrictions in others, supporters of key data privacy proposals said it is urgent to ensure Americans’ location, search and call data isn’t used to target people seeking abortion care.

Justice Department Dismantles Russian Network of Hacked Devices

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it has dismantled a Russian network of hacked internet-connected devices in a coordinated effort with foreign counterparts to crack down on malicious cyber activities. The DOJ said it worked with law enforcement agencies in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to take down the Russian botnet, known as RSOCKS.

Senators Ask TikTok CEO About Allowing Russian State-Approved Media

Republican senators asked TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew about reports the social media site had allowed Russian state-approved media content but barred other videos. "Recent reports indicate TikTok… has allowed Russian state media to flood the platform with dangerous pro-war propaganda. No company should find itself in the position of amplifying the Kremlin’s lies, which fuel public support for Russia’s war of choice in Ukraine," said the letter, led by Steve Daines and signed by John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, John Barrasso, James Lankford and Cynthia Lummis.

Amazon CEO Personally Asking Senators to Oppose Tech Antitrust Bill

Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy has been directly calling senators to urge them to oppose an antitrust bill that could significantly rein in the tech giants, marking an escalation in the big tech companies’ ferocious lobbying against the legislation. The tech executive has called multiple senators in recent weeks to lobby against the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), according to three people familiar with the outreach.

Lawmakers Ask Google CEO to Probe Misleading Abortion-Related Searches

A group of Democratic senators and representatives called on Google to look into search results and ads tied to “anti-abortion ‘fake clinics’” amid a recent report that showed their prevalence in 13 states with so-called “trigger laws” that would almost immediately ban or severely restrict abortion should Roe v. Wade be overturned by the Supreme Court. Thirteen senators and eight representatives signed a letter to Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., in which they highlighted a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) that showed that in 13 states with trigger laws, searches for “abortion pill” or “abortion clinic near me” showed clinics that did not provide those services 11 percent of the time.

YouTube Removes Trump Clip Posted by January 6 House Committee

YouTube took down a clip uploaded by the Jan. 6 committee to the video platform, saying the video, which featured a clip of former president Donald Trump telling lies about the 2020 election, spread misinformation without the proper context. The video was one of many uploaded by the House committee, which is investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, as a way to create an online record of its work and share it with a larger number of people.

Former Amazon Software Engineer Found Guilty in Capitol One Hack

A Seattle jury has found Paige Thompson, a former Amazon software engineer accused of stealing data from Capital One in 2019, guilty of wire fraud and five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer. The Capital One hack was one of the biggest security breaches in the US and compromised the data of 100 million people in the country, along with 6 million people in Canada.

Ukrainian Government Officials Start Storing Data Outside Country

Ukrainian government officials have begun storing sensitive data outside the country to protect it from Russian cyber and physical assault, and are negotiating with several European nations to move more databases abroad. Since the start of the war, around 150 registries from different government ministries and offices, or backup copies of them, have been moved abroad or are in discussions to be transferred, said George Dubinskiy, Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital transformation.

Canadian Bill Would Require Infrastructure Sectors to Report Cyber Attacks

Canadian businesses operating in critical infrastructure sectors would be required to report cyber attacks to the federal government and would have to fortify their cyber systems under a new law. The legislation identifies finance, telecommunications, energy and transportation sectors as being vital to national security and public safety, but stops short of naming any companies.

Bipartisan Online Privacy Bill Gains Momentum at House Hearing

Bipartisan legislation to bolster consumers’ online privacy rights gained momentum at a House hearing, even as some tech industry representatives raised concerns that could slow its progress. The draft legislation, which would put new limits on how technology companies can collect and use consumers’ data, drew strong backing from both Republicans and Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s consumer protection subcommittee, as well as from several business and consumer representatives who testified.

Data Breach at Kaiser Permanente Discloses Information on 70,000 Patients

Kaiser Permanente, the largest nonprofit health plan provider in the United States, has disclosed a data breach that exposed the sensitive health information of almost 70,000 patients. In a notice to patients on June 3, Kaiser revealed that someone gained access to an employee’s emails at the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington on April 5 that contained protected health information — including patient names, dates of service, medical record numbers and lab test result information.

Democrat 'Very Confident' Lawmakers Will Pass Big Tech Antitrust Bill

A top Democratic lawmaker on antitrust issues said a bill aimed at reining in the market power of Big Tech platforms like Amazon.com and Alphabet's Google had the votes to pass the both chambers of Congress in the next few weeks. On the sidelines of an event to rally support for measures before the Senate and House of Representatives that would prevent tech platforms, including Apple and Facebook , from favoring their own businesses in search and other ways, Representative David Cicilline, chair of the House antitrust subcommittee, said: "I'm very confident when these bills come to the floor, they will pass. Convincingly."

Lawsuits Allege Meta Created Defective Product, Failed to Warn Parents

A wave of plaintiffs sued Meta, citing the Facebook Papers to argue that the company not only addicted them or their children, but did so knowing the harms it could pose. The lawsuits make charges against Meta more frequently seen in consumer product lawsuits or cigarette litigation, but relatively novel to Silicon Valley: that the company produced a defective product and did not warn users about its dangers to children.

Britain's Competition Watchdog to Probe Apple, Google Over Browsers

The U.K.’s competition regulator wants to investigate market power it says Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google exert over some mobile-device software, ramping up global antitrust scrutiny of the largest U.S. technology companies. The Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it intends to initiate so-called market investigations into how the companies control web browsers for mobile devices, as well as complaints that Apple restricts cloud gaming on its devices.

EU Close to Agreement on Regulating Cryptocurrency Across All States

The European Union is nearing an agreement on key legislation to regulate the cryptocurrency sector that would set common rules across the 27 member states, people familiar with the matter said. France, which currently chairs the EU, and the European Parliament are optimistic about resolving remaining issues holding up the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) package and reaching a deal this month, according to the people. Negotiators are expected to meet on June 14 and June 30.

Apple to Allow Different Payment Methods in Dutch Dating Apps, Watchdog Says

The Netherlands' antitrust watchdog said Apple Inc. will allow different payment methods in Dutch dating applications, ending a dispute that resulted in the company being fined 50 million euros ($52.58 million). The Authority for Consumers and Markets (AMC) said in a statement that with this concession, Apple will meet the requirement that the regulator had set under the European Union and Dutch competition rules.

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