Judge Rules Against Authors' Claims of Copyright Infringement in AI Case

A federal judge has dismissed most of Sarah Silverman‘s lawsuit against Meta over the unauthorized use of authors’ copyrighted books to train its generative artificial intelligence model, marking the second ruling from a court siding with AI firms on novel intellectual property questions presented in the legal battle. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria offered a full-throated denial of one of the authors’ core theories that Meta’s AI system is itself an infringing derivative work made possible only by information extracted from copyrighted material.

X Sues Media Matters Over Research Showing Ads Next to Antisemitic Content

X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter, sued Media Matters in federal court after the advocacy organization published research showing that ads on X appeared next to antisemitic content. A post last week from Elon Musk that endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory, which he wrote a day before the Media Matters research was published, kicked off an advertiser exodus, with major brands like IBM, Apple, Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony pausing their spending on the platform.

Online Scam Tricks Boys Into Sharing Nude Photos, Demands Payment

An online nude-photo scam is ensnaring thousands of teen boys and causing emotional trauma. Scammers posing as teen girls befriend boys online, share nude photos of a girl and then ask for nude photos in return. Once the boy reciprocates, the schemer demands money be sent by a peer-to-peer payment app and threatens to share the boy’s photos with his social-media followers if he doesn’t pay.

Senate Panel Issues Subpoenas to CEOs of X, Discord, Snap for Child Safety Hearing

A Senate panel announced it subpoenaed the CEOs of Elon Musk’s X, Discord and Snap to testify at a hearing on children’s online safety next month after “repeated refusals” by the tech companies to cooperate with its investigation into the matter. In a rare show of force, the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are seeking to force X’s Linda Yaccarino, Discord’s Jason Citron and Snap’s Evan Spiegel to appear at the Dec. 6 session, which the panel said in a news release would “allow Committee members to press CEOs from some of the world’s largest social media companies on their failures to protect children online.”

European Commission Stops Advertising on X, Citing 'Spread of Disinformation'

The European Commission has decided to stop advertising on social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, over “widespread concerns relating to the spread of disinformation,” according to an internal note obtained by Politico's Brussels Playbook. In a note sent to all heads of service and directors general, the Commission’s Deputy Chief Spokesperson Dana Spinant said disinformation on X, especially in relation to the Israel-Hamas war, had led the institution to “recommend to temporarily suspend advertising on this platform until further notice to avoid risks of reputational damage to the Commission.”

TikTok to Ban Content Promoting Bin Laden's 'Letter to America'

TikTok will prohibit content that promotes Osama bin Laden's 2002 letter detailing the former al Qaeda leader's justifications for attacks against Americans, the short-form video app said. Discussions of the 20-year-old letter have spread on the platform this week in the context of debate over the Israel-Hamas war, with some users in the West praising its contents.

Applied Materials Under Criminal Investigation for Evading Export Restrictions

Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials is under U.S. criminal investigation for potentially evading export restrictions on China's top chipmaker SMIC, according to three people familiar with the matter. The largest U.S. semiconductor equipment maker is being probed by the Justice Department for sending equipment to SMIC via South Korea without export licenses, the sources said. Hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment is involved, one of the people said. Reuters is reporting details of the probe for the first time.

IBM Stops Advertising on X After Report Linking Ad Displays Near Nazi Content

IBM has said it has pulled its global advertising from Elon Musk’s X following a report that the social media platform ran the tech company’s adverts alongside pro-Nazi material, in a fresh blow to the company’s efforts to bring back sales revenues. Left-leaning non-profit Media Matters put out a report saying it had found adverts from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity and Bravo running next to content “that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party”.

Australia Says State-Sponsored Groups Target Critical Infrastructure

State-sponsored cyber groups and hackers have increased assaults on Australia's critical infrastructure, businesses and homes, a government report said, adding that its new defence agreement with Britain and the U.S. had likely made it more of a target. Reports of cybercrime surged 23% to more than 94,000 in the financial year to June, the Australian Cyber Security Centre said in its annual threat report.

Google Accuses Hackers of Using AI Interest to Create Risky Downloads

Scammers are taking advantage of unsuspecting online users interested in artificial intelligence (AI) through advertising that steals small businesses’ social media passwords, Google alleges in a lawsuit . The lawsuit alleges hackers in India and Vietnam have been tricking small business owners into clicking on ads that tell users to download its new artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, which was launched in March.

Meta to Allow Political Ads Questioning Legitimacy of 2020 Presidential Election

Meta Platforms will let political ads on Facebook and Instagram question the legitimacy of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, one of several changes the social-media company and other platforms have made to loosen constraints on campaign advertising for 2024. Executives at Meta made the decision based on free-speech considerations after weighing past U.S. elections in which the results might have been contested by a portion of the electorate, according to people familiar with the issue.

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Mental Health Suit Against Social Media Companies

A federal judge rejected efforts by major social media companies to dismiss nationwide litigation accusing them of illegally enticing and then addicting millions of children to their platforms, damaging their mental health. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, ruled against Alphabet, which operates Google and YouTube; Meta Platforms, which operates Facebook and Instagram; ByteDance, which operates TikTok; and Snap, which operates Snapchat.

FBI Dismantles Botnet Proxy Network Linked to IPStorm Malware

The FBI dismantled the IPStorm botnet proxy network and its infrastructure following a September plea deal with the hacker behind the operation. The Justice Department said it took down the infrastructure associated with the IPStorm malware — which experts said infected thousands of Linux, Mac, and Android devices across Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

X Failing to Moderate Antisemitic, Other Content, Research Group Says

In the midst of escalating conflict in the Middle East, X is failing to moderate hate speech on its platform that promotes antisemitic conspiracies, praises Hitler and dehumanizes Muslims and Palestinians. In new research, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that researches online hate and extremism, collected a sample of 200 X posts across 101 accounts that featured hate speech.

YouTube to Require Disclosures of Some Content Created by Artificial Intelligence

YouTube announced a series of policy changes that aim to inform viewers when content has been generated by AI. YouTube's new policies, many of which officially go into effect next year, will require content creators to disclose when generative AI is used to create realistic-looking scenes that never took place or depict real people saying fictional things.

Google Sues Unnamed Hackers in India, Vietnam in Facebook-Bard AI Scam

Scammers are capitalizing on the rush of consumer interest in artificial-intelligence tools to steal U.S. small businesses’ social-media-account passwords, Google alleges in a new lawsuit. The lawsuit targets unnamed individuals in India and Vietnam and says the hackers have been tricking small-business owners into clicking on Facebook ads that offer to download Google’s Bard artificial-intelligence chatbot. When they do, the ads hit them with malware that steals their social-media credentials.

Chinese Bank Hit by Ransomware Attack, Disrupting U.S. Treasury Market

A ransomware attack on China’s largest bank has disrupted the U.S. Treasury market by forcing clients of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to reroute trades, market participants said. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told members that ICBC had been hit by ransomware software, which paralyses computer systems unless a payment is made, according to several people familiar with the discussions.

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.