Senators Accuse Tech Platforms of Facilitating Child Sex Abuse Online

Senators accused five major tech platforms of facilitating child sexual abuse online, comparing the risks faced by consumers to the dangers that recently confronted passengers on aircraft made by embattled manufacturer Boeing. The high-profile hearing — featuring testimony from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, Snap’s Evan Spiegel, Discord’s Jason Citron and X’s Linda Yaccarino — is the culmination of years of unsuccessful attempts by lawmakers to pass new federal safeguards to stamp out child sexual abuse material online, or CSAM.

FBI Director Says Chinese Hackers Plan to 'Wreak Havoc' on U.S. Infrastructure

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned about the growing threat of Chinese cyberattacks against U.S. electrical grids and other infrastructure during an appearance before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if or when China decides the time has come to strike,” the excerpts of Wray's prepared testimony released by the FBI said.

Proposed Class-Action Suit Accuses CNN of Using 'Trackers' on Website

A California woman filed a proposed class action suit against CNN on Jan. 25 and accused the media company of using three “trackers” to access its users’ IP addresses, in violation of state law. The complaint is part of a wave of cases accusing companies of using software on their websites to track visitors’ IP addresses in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA).

Italian Authority Says ChatGPT Breaches Data Protection Rules

Italy's data protection authority has told OpenAI that its artificial intelligence chatbot application ChatGPT breaches data protection rules, the watchdog said, as it presses ahead with an investigation started last year. The authority, known as Garante, is one of the European Union's most proactive in assessing AI platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy regime. Last year, it banned ChatGPT over alleged breaches of European Union (EU) privacy rules.

'Cybersecurity Incident' Targeted Fulton County Government

A “cybersecurity incident” targeted Fulton County government computer systems over the weekend, County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said. “At this time we are not aware of any transfer of sensitive information about Fulton County citizens or employees,” he said during a five-minute announcement from county commission chambers.

Ring to Stop Allowing Access to Video Camera Footage by Police Departments

Ring, a home security camera company owned by Amazon, said that it would stop letting police departments request users’ footage in its app amid longstanding concerns from privacy advocates about the company’s relationship with law enforcement. Eric Kuhn, the general manager of subscriptions and software for the Ring app Neighbors, announced that the company was shutting down a feature that allowed the police to request and receive videos from users of the app, a social platform similar to Nextdoor and Citizen where people can share alerts about crime near their home.

Apple Outlines Plan to Allow Software Distribution Outside App Store in EU

Apple outlined its plans to allow software developers to distribute their apps to users in the European Union outside of Apple's own App Store. The move is in response to a new EU law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a 75 billion-euro ($82 billion) market capitalization to, among other things, make their apps compatible with those of rivals and let users decide which apps to pre-install on their devices.

Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses 23andMe of Privacy Violations

The genetic testing company 23andMe is being accused in a class-action lawsuit of failing to protect the privacy of customers whose personal information was exposed last year in a data breach that affected nearly seven million profiles. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco, also accused the company of failing to notify customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage that they appeared to have been specifically targeted, or that their personal genetic information had been compiled into “specially curated lists” that were shared and sold on the dark web.

George Carlin's Estate Files Suit Over 'Comedy Special' Generated by AI

The estate of comedy legend George Carlin has filed a lawsuit against the makers of an hour-long video featuring a version of him made using artificial intelligence, accusing them of stealing "a great American artist’s work." A voice sounding remarkably like the comedian, who died of heart failure in 2008, appears on a "comedy special" titled "George Carlin: I'm glad I'm dead," which was uploaded to YouTube earlier this month by the Dudesy channel.

Senate Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on Child Sex Content Online

Despite decades of efforts to crack down on sexual pictures and videos of children online, they’re more widely available now than ever, according to new data from the nonprofit tasked by the U.S. government with tracking such material. A high-profile hearing will spotlight the issue as the CEOs of tech companies Meta, X, TikTok, Snap and Discord testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on their respective efforts to combat child sexual abuse material, known as CSAM.

FTC Opens Inquiry Into Big Tech Companies' Investments in AI

The Federal Trade Commission opened an inquiry into the multibillion-dollar investments by Microsoft, Amazon and Google in the artificial intelligence start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic, broadening the regulator’s efforts to corral the power the tech giants can have over A.I. These deals have allowed the big companies to form deep ties with their smaller rivals while dodging most government scrutiny.

X Blocks Searches for Taylor Swift After Proliferation of Fake Graphic Images

Social-media platform X blocked searches about Taylor Swift days after explicit, digitally fabricated fakes of the singer began proliferating on the site. Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, said Saturday in response to questions about Swift searches: “This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.”

X Plans to Build 'Trust and Safety Center' to Fight Child Sexual Exploitation

Elon Musk’s X, the company formerly known as Twitter, is planning to build a new “Trust and Safety center of excellence” in Austin, Texas, to help enforce its content and safety rules. The company aims to hire 100 full-time content moderators at the new location, according to Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X. The group will focus on fighting material related to child sexual exploitation, but will help enforce the social media platform’s other rules, which include restrictions on hate speech and violent posts, he added.

Senators Want Independent Agency to Regulate Tech Companies

A bipartisan group of senators called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to help create an independent agency to regulate major technology companies, reviving a push from last year. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) argued in a letter to Schumer that the current moment “requires a new federal agency to protect consumers, promote competition, and defend the public interest.”

SEC Blames SIM Swapping Attack for Breach of Its Account on X

The Securities and Exchange Commission has linked a SIM swapping attack to its account breach on X earlier this month, which led to the creation of a fake post announcing approval of Bitcoin ETFs that caused the cryptocurrency’s price to spike. In an update, the SEC says an “unauthorized party obtained control of the SEC cell phone number associated with the account in an apparent ‘SIM swap’ attack.”

European Users of Instagram, Facebook Users Get More Choices

Instagram and Facebook users in Europe will be offered more choices on how they consume Meta Platforms' services to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the social media company said. The world's largest social network is the latest to make changes to conform to the DMA after Google outlined efforts to comply with the new EU technology rules, which could hurt revenues for some companies.

Comcast Says 36 Million Xfinity Accounts Compromised by Hackers

Comcast said nearly 36 million U.S. Xfinity accounts were compromised after hackers gained access to its systems through a vulnerability in third-party cloud-computing software. The cable giant said the compromised data includes usernames and “hashed” passwords — which had been scrambled and stored in a way that makes them unreadable by humans — as well as names, contact information, birth dates, the last four digits of users’ social security numbers and secret questions and answers.

Apple Pays $13.65 Million Russian Fine Over Case Involving In-App Payments

U.S. tech giant Apple has paid a Russian fine of 1.2 billion roubles ($13.65 million), imposed over the company's alleged abuse of its dominant market position concerning in-app payments, Russia's FAS antitrust agency said on Monday. Apple, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has previously "respectfully disagreed" with a FAS ruling that Apple's distribution of apps through its iOS operating system gave its own products a competitive advantage.

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.