TikTok's Chief Security Officer Leaving; Company Says Departure Pre-Planned

TikTok’s chief security officer will step back from that role in September, the company said, in a move the company said wasn’t related to widening concerns in Washington over the security risks posed by the popular short-video app. Roland Cloutier, global chief security officer for the video-sharing app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., will stay on as a strategic adviser focused on the business impact of security programs, the company said.

House Republicans Ask TikTok for Details About Chinese Employees' Access

Two high ranking House Republicans are asking TikTok for more information about the access that China-based employees of its parent company ByteDance have to American data. “We write to request documents and information regarding recent reports that TikTok allows China-based employees of its parent company, ByteDance, to access non-public U.S. user data, contrary to the company’s previous denials,” the top Republicans on the Oversight committee, James Comer (R-Ky.) and Energy and Commerce committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), wrote in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

Litigation Expected After Musk Terminates $44 Billion Deal to Acquire Twitter

Now that Elon Musk has signaled his intent to walk away from his $44 billion offer to buy Twitter, the fate of the influential social media network will be determined by what may be an epic court battle, involving months of expensive litigation and high-stakes negotiations by elite lawyers on both sides. The question is whether Mr. Musk will be legally compelled to stick with his agreed-upon acquisition or be allowed to back out, possibly by paying a 10-figure penalty.

Google Offers to Split Off Part of Ad Business to Avoid Antitrust Lawsuit

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has offered concessions in an attempt to head off a possible U.S. antitrust lawsuit aimed at its massive ad-tech business, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign that legal and regulatory pressures on the tech giant are coming to a head. As part of one offer, Google has proposed splitting parts of its business that auctions and places ads on websites and apps into a separate company under the Alphabet umbrella, some of the people said.

Heads of FBI and MI5 Say 'Chinese Government is Set on Stealing Your Technology'

The heads of the FBI and Britain’s domestic security service issued sharply worded warnings to business leaders about the threats posed by Chinese espionage, especially spying aimed at stealing Western technology companies’ intellectual property. In a rare joint appearance at the headquarters of MI5, Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Ken McCallum, director-general of MI5, urged executives not to underestimate the scale and sophistication of Beijing’s campaign.

European Parliament Approves Laws on Antitrust, Digital Content Regulation

European lawmakers approved two sweeping new pieces of digital regulation, paving the way for clashes between regulators and some of the world’s biggest tech companies over how the rules should be applied. The European Parliament voted its stamp of approval for the two laws — one focused on anticompetitive behavior, the other on content deemed illegal in Europe— after reaching an agreement on them with European Union member states in the spring.

Twitter Sues Indian Government After Order to Remove Content, Block Accounts

Twitter said that it had sued the Indian government, escalating the social media company’s fight in the country as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks more control over critical online posts. Twitter’s suit, filed in the Karnataka High Court in Bangalore, challenges a recent order from the Indian government for the company to remove content and block dozens of accounts.

Social Media Sites Remove Pages Linked to Accused Chicago Gunman

YouTube, Instagram, Discord, and Twitter moved quickly to pull social media pages that appeared to belong to Robert Crimo III, a person of interest in the Chicago suburb shooting that left six dead and dozens injured this afternoon. Under a pair of aliases, Crimo seems to have posted more than a dozen videos to YouTube and hosted a Discord channel named “SS,” which was open to the public through an invite link.

Hacker Offers to Sell Police Database with Info on 1 Billion Chinese Citizens

In what may be one of the largest known breaches of Chinese personal data, a hacker has offered to sell a Shanghai police database that could contain information on perhaps one billion Chinese citizens. The unidentified hacker, who goes by the name ChinaDan, posted in an online forum that the database for sale included terabytes of information on a billion Chinese.

CFTC Files Civil Charges Against Company for Fraudulent Bitcoin Operation

The U.S. commodities regulator announced it had filed civil charges against a South African man and his company for operating a fraudulent commodity pool worth over $1.7 billion in bitcoin. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said the fraud scheme, which saw the firm solicit bitcoin online from thousands of people to purportedly operate a commodity pool, was the largest it had ever pursued involving the cryptocurrency.

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