GOP pushes bills to allow social media ‘censorship’ lawsuits
GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for what they call the “censorship” of posts.
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Twitter to let users charge followers to see premium posts
The subscriptions will allow Twitter to tap into a broader range of revenue sources in a world where online advertising is dominated by a Facebook-Google duopoly.
Biden backs off on TikTok ban in review of Trump China moves
Separately, the Biden administration has “indefinitely” shelved a proposed U.S. takeover of TikTok, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Local entrepreneur, partner to appear on Shark Tank
Kweku Larbi of Indianapolis and his business partner, social-media influencer Ross Smith, went on the show to pitch their company Brumachen, a portable coffee-maker that uses biodegradable coffee pods. The episode airs tonight.
Judge says Amazon won’t have to restore Parler web service
Amazon denied its move to pull the plug on Parler had anything to do with political animus. It claimed that Parler had breached its business agreement “by hosting content advocating violence and failing to timely take that content down.”
Trump backers seek online refuges after big tech backlash
Online supporters of President Donald Trump are scattering to smaller social media platforms, fleeing what they say is unfair treatment by Facebook, Twitter and other big tech firms looking to squelch what they label misinformation and threats of violence.
Twitter CEO defends Trump ban, warns of dangerous precedent
Extreme measures such as banning Trump highlight the extraordinary power that Twitter and other Big Tech companies can wield without accountability or recourse, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wrote.
Twitter bans Trump, citing ‘risk of further incitement of violence’
Twitter had been President Trump’s primary megaphone, the tool he tapped to push his policies, disperse falsehoods, savage his critics and speak to more than 88 million users almost every day.
Twitter, Facebook muzzle Trump amid Capitol violence
In an unprecedented step, Facebook and Twitter suspended President Donald Trump from posting to their platforms Wednesday following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Regulators homing in on social media companies’ data collection
The Federal Trade Commission is ordering Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok’s parent and five other social media companies to provide detailed information on how they collect and use consumers’ personal data and how their practices affect children and teens.
Gmail, YouTube go down briefly as Google suffers short, massive outage
The problem affected users across the world, but appeared especially widespread in the northeastern United States, Britain and other parts of Europe.
Landmark suits call Facebook illegal monopoly, setting stage for potential breakup
The lawsuits together represent the most significant political and legal threats to Facebook in its more than 16-year history, setting up a high-profile clash between U.S. regulators and one of Silicon Valley’s most profitable firms that could take years to resolve.
U.S. government, states sue Facebook for ‘predatory’ conduct
Federal regulators on Wednesday sued to force a breakup of Facebook as 48 states and districts accused the company in a separate lawsuit of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors.
TikTok asks court to intervene as Trump order looms
TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has until Thursday to sell off its U.S. operations under an executive order that Trump signed in August.
Facebook, Twitter CEOs ordered to testify by GOP senators
The push against Facebook and Twitter accelerated Thursday after Republican senators threatened the CEOs of the companies with subpoenas to force them to address accusations of censorship in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign.
Twitter pulls back on key policy after New York Post article controversy
Twitter was wrong to block web links to a political story, CEO Jack Dorsey said on Friday, as the company responded to criticism over its handling of an article that led to cries of censorship.
Hogsett’s top aid tweets, then deletes controversial image
Chief of Staff Thomas Cook told IBJ in an email that the “weekend post was intended to be a joke about my relationship with my coworkers, not anyone else. I took it down when I saw people were misinterpreting things.”
TikTok picks Oracle over Microsoft in Trump-forced sales bid
It’s not clear if the proposed acquisition will only cover TikTok’s U.S. business, and, if so, how it will be split from the rest of TikTok’s social media platform, which is popular worldwide.
Instagram’s new copycat video tool likely to have TikTok reeling
Facebook-owned Instagram released its new service, Reels, in the United States and dozens of other countries Wednesday, adding a tab to the existing app that will let users make and watch short-form videos.
Florida teen charged in massive Twitter hack, Bitcoin theft
A 17-year-old hacked the Twitter accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls to scam people around globe out of more than $100,000 in Bitcoin, authorities said Friday.