Facebook Gave 13 Newsworthiness Exemptions to Content-Moderation Rules

Facebook gave politicians 13 exemptions to its content-moderation rules over a one-year period because their offending posts were determined to be newsworthy, the company revealed Thursday in a series of quarterly reports on its moderation practices. The company also said it had applied the newsworthiness exception to 55 other cases between June 2021 and June 2022.

Meta Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Prompted by Cambridge Analytica Disclosures

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the social-media platform of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access private user data, according to a court filing. The suit followed revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct British consulting firm that worked on former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, had improperly obtained and exploited Facebook user data.

TikTok's Web Browser Can Track Keystrokes, Privacy Researcher Says

The web browser used within the TikTok app can track every keystroke made by its users, according to new research that is surfacing as the Chinese-owned video app grapples with U.S. lawmakers’ concerns over its data practices. The research from Felix Krause, a privacy researcher and former Google engineer, did not show how TikTok used the capability, which is embedded within the in-app browser that pops up when someone clicks an outside link.

UK's Home Secretary Urges Meta to Consider Child Safety in Encryption Plan

Facebook’s parent company Meta is heading into another political battle over the planned introduction of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in its Messenger chat platform. The UK’s home secretary, Priti Patel, makes this clear in an op-ed for Tory mouthpiece The Telegraph, saying it would be a “grotesque betrayal” if the company didn’t consider issues of child safety while introducing E2EE. Similar arguments are likely to be raised in the U.S., too.

Facebook, Instagram Remove Accounts for RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vaccine Group

Facebook and Instagram removed the accounts of Children’s Health Defense, an organization led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that is one of the largest U.S. anti-vaccine groups, for spreading medical misinformation. In an emailed newsletter, Children’s Health Defense said Facebook and Instagram had taken down its accounts after a 30-day ban by the social networks.

YouTube Takes Down Videos of Children Testing Tesla's Self-Driving Feature

YouTube removed two videos from its platform showing Tesla drivers using their own children to conduct vehicle safety tests. The tests were meant to prove that Tesla’s Autopilot and “full self-driving” (FSD) beta software — the automaker’s advanced driver assistance systems which have automated driving features but do not enable the cars to drive themselves — would automatically detect pedestrians, and children, that are walking or standing in the road and avoid hitting them.

Two Users Sue Twitter for Allegedly Disclosing Info to Advertisers

Twitter is facing more legal woes for allegedly providing advertisers user phone numbers and email addresses without their consent. In 2019, the company disclosed that personal information users handed over for a security feature may have been used for targeted advertising. Two Twitter users sued the social media company in a proposed class action lawsuit filed in a federal court in Northern California.

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Indonesia Probes Alleged Data Breaches at State-Owned Telecoms Firm

Indonesia is investigating alleged personal data breaches at state-owned telecoms firm PT Telkom Indonesia's internet service IndiHome and state utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), its communications ministry said. Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, a senior communications ministry official, said in a statement the ministry had summoned representatives from Telkom and PLN and had sent recommendations on data protection to both firms.

Lawmakers Ask Social Media Companies to Address Law Enforcement Threats

House Oversight Committee leaders are demanding social media companies take “immediate action” to address a flood of violent online threats against law enforcement, following the FBI’s search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The lawmakers sent letters to the executives of eight social media companies, including Facebook parent company Meta and the fringe right-wing platform Gab, demanding details about the number of threats against law enforcement.

'Black Cat' Ransomware Group Begins Posting Stolen Data Publicly

A ransomware group known as Black Cat is waging an aggressive campaign against scores of companies in the US and Europe, adopting a novel technique to pressure victims into paying expensive extortion fees. The group began making stolen data searchable on its website. The result is that victim data is easier to view online, which maximizes the reputational damage that a company could face and gives the hackers more leverage as they seek to extort a large payout.

Russian Court Fines Twitch for Hosting Video About 'Fake' War Crimes

A court in Russia has fined streaming service Twitch 2 million roubles ($33,000) for hosting a short video containing what it calls "fake" information about alleged war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, Russian news agencies reported. Russia has repeatedly threatened to fine sites — including Google, Twitter and Wikipedia — it accuses of hosting "fake" content related to its military campaign in Ukraine.

Australian Court Says Google Not Liable for Links to Defamatory Content

Australia’s highest court ruled that Alphabet Inc.’s Google isn’t liable for defamatory content that can be accessed via a hyperlink in its search results, a win for Google in a jurisdiction that has at times taken a hard line against tech platforms. The case involved a lawyer, George Defteros, who alleged that a Google search of his name returned a hyperlink to and a snippet of a newspaper article that was defamatory.

Meta to Disable New Political Ads in Week Before November Elections

Meta loosely outlined how it plans to brace its platforms for the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, starting with political ads. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, detailed steps similar to the measures the company took previously in lieu of proposing many new ideas or areas of investment. That includes disabling new “political, electoral and social issue ads” during the week prior to voting on November 8.

TikTok to Label Content, Limit Political Ads Ahead of Midterm Elections

TikTok will label all content related to the midterm elections and crack down on paid influencer political ads as part of its plans to prepare for the upcoming midterm elections, the company announced. The popular video sharing app will label content identified as being related to the elections, and all content from accounts that belong to governments, politicians and political parties in the U.S.

Amazon Accuses FTC of 'Burdensome' Demands on Bezos in Prime Probe

Amazon.com Inc. is accusing the Federal Trade Commission of making excessive and unreasonable demands on founder Jeff Bezos and company executives as the agency probes Amazon’s Prime membership program. In a petition to the FTC filed earlier this month and recently made public, Amazon says the agency’s demands on the company have been “overly broad and burdensome,” and its legal tactics have been unfair.

FTC Expected to Draft Rules for Expansion of Online Privacy Protection

The Federal Trade Commission is expected to begin writing federal rules to expand online privacy protections, according to people familiar with the matter. If adopted, the rules could impose significant new responsibilities on businesses that handle consumer data, including potentially barring certain kinds of data collection practices, the people said.

Former Twitter Employee Convicted of Spying for Saudi Arabia

A former Twitter Inc. employee was convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia by turning over personal information of platform users who’d used anonymous handles to criticize the Kingdom and its royal family. Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. resident born in Egypt, was found guilty by a jury of charges including acting as an agent for Saudi Arabia, money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and falsifying records, following a two-week trial in San Francisco federal court.

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