Australia Proposes Consumer Privacy Rules After Breach at Mobile Operator

Australia proposed an overhaul of consumer privacy rules that will help facilitate targeted data sharing between telecommunication firms and banks following a massive data breach at Optus, the country's second largest mobile operator. Last month's cyber attack on Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., was one of Australia's biggest data breaches, and compromised data of up to 10 million customers including home addresses, drivers' licenses and passport numbers.

Ex-Uber Security Chief Found Guilty for Not Disclosing Breach of Customer Records

Joe Sullivan, the former Uber security chief, was found guilty by a jury in federal court on charges that he did not disclose a breach of customer and driver records to government regulators. In 2016, while the Federal Trade Commission was investigating Uber over an earlier breach of its online systems, Mr. Sullivan learned of a new breach that affected the Uber accounts of more than 57 million riders and drivers.

Dutch Court Rules for Twitter in Dispute Over Story About Satan Worshippers

A Dutch court rejected calls from the town of Bodegraven-Reeuwijk for Twitter to do more to tackle posts about unfounded allegations that a ring of Satan-worshipping pedophiles were active in the town in the 1980s. The District Court in The Hague concluded the social media giant had "done enough to remove unlawful content about the 'Bodegraven story' from its platform," referring, among other things, to the permanent suspension of a Twitter account that contained defamatory and inflammatory tweets about the story.

Biden Administration Drafting Rules to Limit China's Chip Production

The Biden administration is preparing new rules aimed at curbing China’s advanced computing and chip production capabilities — the U.S. government’s most significant effort to date to restrain China’s development of technologies critical for its military advancement. The rules will sweep more broadly than a draconian export control previously applied to Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Italian Administrative Court Cancels Antitrust Fine Against Apple, Amazon

An Italian administrative court scrapped a fine imposed by the country's antitrust authority on U.S. tech giants Apple and Amazon for alleged collusion, a document showed. The antitrust authority had fined both companies a total of more than 200 million euros ($195.3 million) in 2021, citing alleged anti-competitive cooperation in the sale of Apple and Beats products.

Digital Rights Groups Helping Iranians Evade Internet Crackdown

Internet freedom activists are scrambling to help Iranians evade Tehran’s online crackdown and are urging the U.S. government and tech companies to do more to help keep a digital lifeline open for protesters. Digital rights groups say they are sending circumvention tools and other technical advice to Iranians to help them sidestep the regime’s internet restrictions, and some activists are calling for a bolder approach to send in satellite internet gear to avoid the country’s computer networks altogether.

Google Stops Offering Its Translation Services in Mainland China

Google has discontinued its Google Translate services in mainland China, removing one of the company’s few remaining services that it had provided in a country where most Western social media platforms are blocked. The Google Translate app and website now display a generic search bar and a link redirecting Chinese users to its page in Hong Kong, which is blocked on the mainland.

Supreme Court to Hear Cases on Section 230 of Communications Decency Act

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether social media companies can be sued for hosting and recommending terrorist content, taking up two cases that challenge their liability protections. The cases mark the court’s first test of the broad immunity social media companies have enjoyed under a provision known as Section 230, part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Section 230 has become a target of conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, who say it lets left-leaning tech companies censor right-wing voices.

Kim Kardashian Settles SEC Charges for $1.26 Million Over Instagram Post

Kim Kardashian has settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges that she failed to disclose a payment she received for touting a crypto asset on her Instagram feed, the agency announced. “This case is a reminder that, when celebrities or influencers endorse investment opportunities, including crypto asset securities, it doesn’t mean that those investment products are right for all investors,” Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, said in a news release.

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Instagram Permanently Removes Pornhub's Account for Violating Guidelines

After a weeks-long suspension, Pornhub’s account has been permanently removed from Instagram. Instagram told TechCrunch that Pornhub has repeatedly violated community guidelines, prompting the account’s removal. Meanwhile, Pornhub declared in an open letter to Meta and Instagram that Instagram’s enforcement of these platform rules are “opaque, discriminatory and hypocritical.”

Meta Withheld Details of Indian Hate Speech Report Over Security Concerns

Executives at Meta Platforms Inc. privately told rights groups that security concerns prevented them from releasing details of its investigation into hate speech on its services in India, according to audio recordings heard by The Wall Street Journal. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, in July released a four-page summary of a human-rights impact assessment on India, its biggest market by users, where it has faced accusations of failing to adequately police hate speech against religious minorities.

U.S., Russia Pushing for Control of UN's International Telecommunication Union

The United States and Russia are tussling over control of a United Nations organization that sets standards for new technologies, part of a global battle between democracies and authoritarian nations over the direction of the internet. American officials are pushing more than 190 other member countries of the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency that develops technical standards for technology like cellphone networks and video streaming, to vote for Doreen Bogdan-Martin, a longtime American employee, to lead the organization.

House Approves First Major Antitrust Bills Aimed at Technology Companies

The House passed a package of antitrust bills aimed at boosting antitrust enforcers’ ability to take on powerful tech firms in a 242-184 vote that split both parties. It is the first major antitrust reform package to pass on the House floor as part of a three-year process that started with a House Judiciary Committee investigation into the market power of Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook, now under the parent company name Meta.

Two Former eBay Security Executives Get Prison Terms for Harassment

Two former eBay Inc. security executives were sentenced to prison for carrying out a campaign to harass and intimidate a Massachusetts couple through threats and disturbing home deliveries after their online newsletter drew the ire of the company's then-CEO. Jim Baugh and David Harville were sentenced to 57 and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in an extensive harassment campaign that involved sending the couple cockroaches, a funeral wreath and a bloody Halloween pig mask.

Vietnam Preparing Rules to Limit Posting of News Content on Social Media

Vietnam is preparing new rules to limit which social media accounts can post news-related content, three people familiar with the matter said, as authorities tighten their control over news and information sources in the country. The rules, expected to be announced by the year-end and with details yet to be hammered out, would establish a legal basis for controlling news dissemination on platforms like Facebook and YouTube while placing a significant moderation burden on platform providers, two of the sources added.

Musk Asks Court to End Consent Decree Limiting His Twitter Postings

Elon Musk's lawyers urged a federal appeals court to throw out a provision in his 2018 consent decree with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requiring a Tesla Inc. lawyer to vet some of his posts on Twitter. In a brief filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, lawyers for Musk called the pre-approval mandate a "government-imposed muzzle" that inhibited and chilled his lawful speech on a broad range of topics.

Pro-Russian Hackers Working with Military Intelligence Agency, Google Says

A growing body of evidence suggests that pro-Russian hackers and online activists are working with the country’s military intelligence agency, according to researchers at Google. Western officials and security experts are interested in the possible Kremlin links because it would help explain Moscow’s intentions both inside and outside Ukraine despite recent military setbacks that prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to announce a mobilization push.

Hackers Deface Fast Company Magazine's Site, Send Racist Notifications

Hackers breached internal systems at Fast Company magazine, defacing the company’s main news site and sending racist push notifications through Apple News to iPhone users. The two-sentence push notifications were attributed to Fast Company and contained the n-word and graphic language, prompting shocked users to post screenshots on Twitter.

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