Federal Officials Trade Stock in Companies Their Agencies Oversee
By: The Wall Street Journal October 11, 2022 Thousands of officials across the government’s executive branch reported owning or trading stocks that stood to rise or fall with decisions their agencies made, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. More than 2,600 officials at agencies from the Commerce Department to the Treasury Department, during […]
Facebook Is the Only Game in Town for Digital Political Ads
By: Bloomberg October 5, 2020 Beth Becker had just finished teaching Democrats how to use Facebook’s digital tools at the Netroots conference in Pittsburgh in mid-August when she heard about a protest taking place down the hall. Angry demonstrators were targeting the befuddled and apologetic employees of Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., who […]
Supreme Court to Weigh if YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Are Liable for Users’ Content
By: The Wall Street Journal October 3, 2022 The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether social-media platforms can be held liable for terrorist propaganda uploaded by users, opening a new challenge to the broad legal immunity provided to internet companies by the law known as Section 230. The court on Monday took up […]
Ofcom to Investigate Tech Giants’ Dominance of Cloud Computing
By: The Guardian September 22, 2022 Ofcom will investigate the world’s biggest tech companies to ensure their dominance in areas such as cloud computing, messaging and smart devices works for the people and businesses of Britain, the communications regulator has said. The cloud services investigation, which will take priority out of the three […]
YouTube’s Dislike Button Rarely Shifts Video Recommendations, Researchers Say.
By: NY Times Date: September,20 2022 For YouTube viewers dissatisfied with the videos the platform has recommended to them, pressing the “dislike” button may not make a big difference, according to a new research report. YouTube has said users have numerous ways to indicate that they disapprove of content and do not want to watch similar […]
Pentagon Orders Audit of Clandestine Information Warfare: Report
By: The Hill September 19, 2022 The Pentagon will review how it conducts secret information warfare after Meta and Twitter found and dismantled fake accounts likely tied to the U.S. military, The Washington Post reported Monday. Undersecretary of Defense for policy Colin Kahl last week asked the military commands that participate in online psychological operations to give […]
How State Attorneys General are Leading the Fight Against Big Tech
By: The Hill September 17, 2022 State attorneys general are leading efforts to crack down on the power of big technology firms, as highlighted by California’s suit filed this week against Amazon and a Texas-led coalition’s measured win in its fight against Google. The cases are just two in a long line of state-led efforts to […]
Appeals Court Upholds Texas Law Regulating Social-Media Platforms
By: The Wallstreet Journal September 16, 2022 A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a Texas law that seeks to prohibit social-media platforms from blocking or removing posts based on the speaker’s viewpoint, a decision that could set the stage for the Supreme Court to resolve a case with broad ramifications for online discourse. Texas […]
Facebook Parent Meta Platforms Cuts Responsible Innovation Team
By: The Wallstreet Journal September 8, 2022 Meta Platforms Inc. has disbanded its Responsible Innovation team, which was once a prominent piece of its effort to address concerns about the potential downsides of its products. The team had included roughly two dozen engineers, ethicists and others who collaborated with internal product teams and outside privacy […]