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Former President Donald J. Trump offered a rambling and confusing explanation on Monday of why he had reversed himself on whether the United States should ban TikTok over concerns that its Chinese ownership poses a threat to national security. In a CNBC interview, Mr. Trump said that he still considered the social media app a national security threat but that banning it would make young people “go crazy.” He added that any action harming TikTok would benefit Facebook, which he called an “enemy of the people.”“Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it,” Mr. Trump said. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.”“There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok,” he added, “but the thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, ”, ” Mr Organizations: CNBC, Facebook Locations: United States

☆ TikTok Prompts Users to Call Congress to Fight Possible Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Washington lawmakers introduced a bill this week calling for TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese parent company or face a ban in the United States. One staff member posted a screenshot to X showing that TikTok also sent a push alert to some users. Some users said on X that they were unable to use the app before placing the call. TikTok told The New York Times that users could swipe right to get rid of the message, which may have been confusing because users typically swipe up to see the next video on the app. The company also said that the “X” to close the page wasn’t visible for some users at first but that it later fixed that.

Persons: TikTok Organizations: New York Times Locations: United States

☆ Forced to Change: Tech Giants Bow to Global Onslaught of Rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Adam Satariano | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And Apple will give iPhone and iPad users access to rival app stores and payment systems for the first time. The tech giants have been preparing ahead of a Wednesday deadline to comply with a new European Union law intended to increase competition in the digital economy. Those changes are some of the most visible shifts that Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta and others are making in response to a wave of new regulations and laws around the world. In the United States, some of the tech behemoths have said they will abandon practices that are the subject of federal antitrust investigations. “This is a turning point,” said Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission executive vice president in Brussels, who spent much of the past decade battling with tech giants.

Persons: ”, Margrethe Vestager Organizations: Google, Microsoft, European Union, Markets, Apple, Justice Department, European Commission, “ Locations: United States, Brussels

☆ Biden Acts to Stop Sales of Sensitive Personal Data to China and Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden will issue an executive order Wednesday seeking to restrict the sale of sensitive American data to China, Russia and four more countries, a first-of-its-kind attempt to keep personally identifying information from being obtained for blackmail, scams or other harm. The president will ask the Justice Department to write rules restricting the sale of information about Americans’ locations, health and genetics to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela, as well as any entities linked to those countries. The restrictions would also cover financial information, biometric data and other types of information that could identify individuals and sensitive information related to the government. The White House said this kind of sensitive data could be used for blackmail, “especially for those in the military or national security community,” and against dissidents, journalists and academics. The new restrictions would be the United States’ first-ever broad prohibition on the sale of digital data to individual countries in an era when companies known as data brokers assemble huge amounts of information on people, from favorite hobbies to household income and health conditions, and then typically sell it to marketers that target them with ads.

Persons: Biden, United States ’ Organizations: Department Locations: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, United States

Supporters of the state laws say they foster free speech, giving the public access to all points of view. One contrarian brief, from liberal professors, urged the justices to uphold the key provision of the Texas law despite the harm they said it would cause. “Social media platforms exercise editorial judgment that is inherently expressive,” Judge Kevin C. Newsom wrote for the panel. To the surprise of many, some prominent liberal professors filed a brief urging the justices to uphold a key provision of the Texas law. In the second case, Miami Herald v. Tornillo, the Supreme Court in 1974 struck down a Florida law that would have allowed politicians a “right to reply” to newspaper articles critical of them.

Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, ”, Scott Wilkens, Ron DeSantis, John Tully, Donald J, Trump, Greg Abbott of, —, Ken Paxton, “, Andrew S, Oldham, Kevin C, Newsom, Lawrence Lessig, Tim Wu of, Teachout, Mandel Ngan, Richard L, “ Florida’s, Moody, Paxton, Robins, William H, Rehnquist, Pat L, Tornillo, Warren E, Burger Organizations: Facebook, YouTube, Columbia University, Big Tech, The New York Times, Gov, Republican, Computer & Communications Industry, New York Times, Fox News, U.S ., Appeals, Fifth Circuit, ISIS, Harvard, Tim Wu of Columbia, Zephyr, Fordham, Twitter, Manchester Union, Citizens United, Agence France, University of California, Miami Herald, Florida, Representatives, Constitution Locations: Florida, Texas, Greg Abbott of Texas, Ukraine, Los Angeles, Campbell , Calif

☆ What to Know About the Supreme Court Arguments on Social Media Laws
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Social media companies are bracing for Supreme Court arguments on Monday that could fundamentally alter the way they police their sites. Texas later passed its own law prohibiting platforms from taking down political content. Two tech industry groups, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, sued to block the laws from taking effect. They argued that the companies have the right to make decisions about their own platforms under the First Amendment, much as a newspaper gets to decide what runs in its pages. The Supreme Court’s decision in those cases — Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton — is a big test of the power of social media companies, potentially reshaping millions of social media feeds by giving the government influence over how and what stays online.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Moody, Paxton — Organizations: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Capitol, Computer & Communications Industry Association Locations: Florida, Texas

☆ Will Lawmakers Really Act to Protect Children Online? Some Say Yes.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( David Mccabe | Cecilia Kang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the final minutes of a congressional hearing on Wednesday in which tech chief executives were berated for not protecting children online, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, urged lawmakers to act to safeguard the internet’s youngest users. Lawmakers have long made similar statements about holding tech companies to account — and have little to show for it. Yet for years, that was where it ended: with no new federal regulations for the companies to follow. And already, there are indicators that the topic of online child safety may gain more traction legislatively. The efforts are backed by emotional accounts of children who were victimized online and died by suicide.

Persons: Richard J, Durbin, ” Organizations: Lawmakers, Republicans, Democrats Locations: Illinois

☆ ‘Your Product Is Killing People’: Tech Leaders Denounced Over Child Safety
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Cecilia Kang | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Some said the companies had “blood on their hands” and that users “would die waiting” for them to make changes to protect children. At one point, lawmakers compared the tech companies to cigarette makers. “Every parent in America is terrified about the garbage that is directed at our kids,” Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said. The tech chiefs, some of whom showed up after being forced by subpoena, said they had invested billions to strengthen safety measures on their platforms. Some said they supported a bill that bolsters privacy and parental controls for children, while others pointed to the faults of rivals.

Persons: —, Ted Cruz Organizations: Meta, Committee, Republican Locations: America, Texas

One proposal to Mr. Zuckerberg for 45 new staff members was declined. It was rejected and he returned to Mr. Zuckerberg in November with a scaled-down proposal for 32 new hires. It is unclear what Mr. Zuckerberg decided. At the hearing, Mr. Zuckerberg plans to suggest that Apple bear the responsibility for verifying ages via its App Store, according to his prepared remarks. Mr. Zuckerberg has long positioned Meta — and the internet writ large — as a place for both good and ill.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta, Richard Blumenthal, Marsha Blackburn, Mr, Blumenthal, “ We’ve, Andy Stone, Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg, Clegg, Zuckerberg’s, ”, “ Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Republican, Apple Locations: Connecticut, Tennessee

☆ Meta, TikTok and Other Tech Chiefs to Face Lawmakers on Child Safety Online
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five of the most prominent chief executives in tech will face questions on Wednesday from a powerful Senate committee about an issue that has drawn rare bipartisan scrutiny: the dangers that children encounter online. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will grill the leaders of Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord and X on topics including the spread online of child sexual abuse material and the companies’ efforts to police it. They’ll also examine social media’s broader impact on children’s safety and mental health. A growing chorus of lawmakers have recently called for measures to crack down on the spread of child sexual abuse material online and to hold the platforms responsible for protecting young people. Online safety laws have been approved in the European Union and in Britain.

Persons: They’ll Organizations: Meta, Tech, European Union Locations: Britain

But on the witness stand, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, said there was “value” in being the default search engine on a device and framed the agreements with other companies as sound business decisions. Google paid $26.3 billion for its search engine to be the default selection on mobile and desktop browsers in 2021, according to the company’s internal data presented during the trial. Kevin Murphy, a Google economic expert, testified on Monday that Google shared 36 percent of search revenue from the default deal with Apple. Mr. Pichai testified that he repeatedly renewed the search engine deal with Apple because it worked well, leading to an increase in search usage and revenue and benefiting Apple, Google and its shareholders. They cited an instance in 2014 when Mozilla, which makes the Firefox browser, exited a default-search partnership with Google and selected Yahoo.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Kevin Murphy, Pichai, ” Organizations: Google, Apple, New York Times, Mozilla, Yahoo

As Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, tells it, his company has always been on the side of consumers. It has paid billions to other industry giants, like Apple and Samsung, he said, to make sure Google’s internet search engine worked as well as it should on those companies’ devices. “Given that Apple designs the experience, it wasn’t clear how they would change the experience if the financial incentive wasn’t there,” Mr. Pichai said while testifying for more than three hours. The Google chief was the highest profile witness to testify so far in the 10-week trial. The monopoly trial — the first involving a tech giant of the modern internet era — reflects increasing efforts in Washington to rein in the power of Big Tech.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Department’s, ” Mr Organizations: Apple, Samsung, Google, Big Tech Locations: Google’s, Washington

Since Sept. 12., the Department of Justice and a group of state attorneys general have questioned more than 30 witnesses as they try to prove that Google broke antitrust laws, in a landmark monopoly trial that may affect the power of the technology industry. The government is now wrapping up its side in the case — U.S. et al. v. Google — setting the stage for the internet giant to mount its defense starting this week. Two prime threads have emerged from the government’s case: what it said Google did to illegally maintain its search and search ads monopolies and how those practices harmed consumers and advertisers. How Google kept its online search dominance goingGoogle paid Apple billions of dollars to crush competitionOn the first day of the trial, the Justice Department said Google had paid Apple and other tech platforms more than $10 billion a year to make itself the default search engine on the iPhone and other devices.

Organizations: Department of Justice, Google, Justice Department, Apple

☆ In Antitrust Trial, Former Google Employee Details History of Search Deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( David Mccabe | More About David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Google has argued that its success in online search was the result of having a better product, not the default agreements. In opening statements on Tuesday, Google’s lawyer said it was easy for people to switch their search engine and that smartphone and browser makers promoted other search engines as well. On Wednesday, the Justice Department began the day in court by questioning Mr. Barton, who worked at Google forging agreements with mobile companies. Mr. Barton’s job had been to meet with executives from the telecom and smartphone makers, convince them to sign agreements to distribute Google search and see those agreements through to a final contract, he said. The goal was to “maximize the opportunity” for users to discover Google and start to use it regularly, he said.

Persons: Google’s, Meta, Mr, Barton, Barton’s Organizations: Google, The, Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department

☆ Why Google Is On Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( David Mccabe | Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Why should you care? The trial could have broad implications. If Google loses, the ruling could chip away at its stature in the technology industry — and reshuffle power in Silicon Valley. It will also be a test of whether the nation’s antitrust laws, written more than a century ago, can be used to rein in the fast-moving tech industry.

Organizations: Google Locations: Silicon Valley

Mr. Dintzer said that the Justice Department case was “built on documents that capture exactly” what Google did. The opening statement offered clues to how the Justice Department will paint the relationship between Google and Apple. Mr. Dintzer said that Google was insistent that it would not share revenue with Apple without “default placement” on its devices. Later, Mr. Dintzer said, Google worked to make sure that Apple couldn’t redirect searches to its Siri assistant product. “They turned history off, your honor, so they could rewrite it here in this courtroom,” Mr. Dintzer said.

Persons: Kenneth Dintzer, ” Mr, Dintzer, ”, Bing, Amit P, Mehta, Achilles, Google, Siri, Sundar Pichai, “ Organizations: Justice, Google, Apple, Justice Department, Yahoo, MSN

The back-and-forth came in the federal government’s first monopoly trial since it tried to break up Microsoft more than two decades ago. If Google wins, it could act as a referendum on increasingly aggressive government regulators, raise questions about the efficacy of century-old antitrust laws and further embolden Silicon Valley. The Justice Department has filed a second lawsuit against Google over its advertising technology, which could go to trial as early as next year. The Federal Trade Commission is separately moving toward a trial in an antitrust lawsuit against Meta. Investigations remain open in efforts that could lead to antitrust lawsuits against Amazon and Apple.

Persons: Judge Amit P, Mehta, ”, Bill Baer, Biden Organizations: Microsoft, Google, U.S, District of Columbia, Justice Department, The, Federal Trade Commission, Meta, Amazon, Apple

Persons: Kenneth Dintzer, ” Mr, Dintzer, ”, Bing, Amit P, Mehta, Achilles, Google, Siri, Sundar Pichai, “ Organizations: Justice, Google, Apple, Justice Department, Yahoo, MSN

What does Google say? Even though they do not operate general-purpose search engines, Google argues that they are rival destinations where consumers go to find products or content that bypasses Google entirely. Consumers have a choice to use other search engines, it argues, but choose Google because they find it most helpful. The government has to show that Google has monopoly power over the areas of the economy at issue in the case. The wider the market, the easier it is for Google to argue that it does not have monopoly power.

Organizations: Google, Consumers

The Justice Department has spent three years over two presidential administrations building the case that Google illegally abused its power over online search to throttle competition. The case — U.S. et al v. Google — is the federal government’s first monopoly trial of the modern internet era, as a generation of tech companies has come to wield immense influence over commerce, information, public discourse, entertainment and labor. Such a consequential case over tech power has not unfolded since the Justice Department took Microsoft to court in 1998 for antitrust violations. But since then, companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have woven themselves into people’s lives to an even greater degree. Any ruling from the trial could have broad ripple effects, slowing down or potentially dismantling the largest internet companies after decades of unbridled growth.

Organizations: Google, District, Columbia, Justice Department, Microsoft, Apple Locations: U.S

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China is putting a spotlight on the future of TikTok in the United States, where criticism of the app and its ties to Beijing reached a fever pitch this year. Despite the intense pressure on the popular short-form video app, which is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, efforts to ban or regulate it in Washington have not yet borne fruit. And even with all that scrutiny, Ms. Raimondo is not planning to discuss TikTok while in China, a glaring omission that reflects the impasse at which it has left the Biden administration. The administration has been stymied by how to deal with TikTok even as intelligence officials have warned that it poses a national security threat. Ms. Raimondo memorably told Bloomberg News this year that if the administration banned TikTok, “the politician in me thinks you’re going to literally lose every voter under 35, forever.” (TikTok claims 150 million users in the United States.)

Persons: Gina Raimondo’s, Raimondo, ”, TikTok Organizations: Biden, White, Bloomberg News Locations: China, United States, Beijing, Washington

☆ Amazon to Meet Regulators as U.S. Considers Possible Antitrust Suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( David Mccabe | More About David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

commissioners, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential. The scheduled meetings signal that the F.T.C. is nearing a decision on whether to move forward with a lawsuit arguing that Amazon has violated antimonopoly laws. Such discussions are sometimes known as “last rites” meetings, after the prayers some Christians receive on their deathbed. As a $1.4 trillion behemoth, Amazon has turned into a major force in the economy.

Persons: Lina Khan, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, Alvaro Bedoya Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, Metro, Goldwyn, Mayer

A federal judge said this week that the Justice Department and a group of states could not move forward with some claims in an antitrust lawsuit against Google, narrowing the scope of the most significant federal monopoly trial against a tech giant in decades. In the decision, which was unsealed on Friday, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the U.S. government and the states could not argue that Google maintained a monopoly by boosting its own products in search results over those of specialized sites. They had not “demonstrated the requisite anticompetitive effect,” he said. But Judge Mehta declined Google’s request to dismiss portions of the case. The decision sets the stage for the first major tech monopoly trial since the federal government took Microsoft to court in the 1990s, accusing it of monopolistic practices.

Persons: Judge Amit P, Mehta, ”, Judge Mehta Organizations: Justice Department, Google, U.S, District of Columbia, Microsoft, Apple, Meta Locations: U.S

The forceful antitrust posture is a pillar of President Biden’s agenda to stamp out economic inequality and encourage greater competition. “Promoting competition to lower costs and support small businesses and entrepreneurs is a central part of Bidenomics,” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters. The agency has accused Meta of buying Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to prevent future competition. These so-called network effects have helped companies like Meta and Google maintain their dominance in social media and internet search. The agencies also laid out ways in which mergers involving “platform” businesses, the model used by Amazon’s online store and Apple’s App Store, could harm competition.

Persons: Biden’s, ”, Mr, Kanter, “ Organizations: “, Meta, Justice, Google Locations: Bidenomics, WhatsApp

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