Hillicon Valley: 46 states and FTC file antitrust lawsuits against Facebook | YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud | European medical agency hit by cyberattack
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Welcome! Follow our cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and tech team, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@chrisismills) and Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), for more coverage.
ZUCKERBERG, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Forty-six state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of anti-competitive acquisitions.
The lawsuit from states — led by New York’s Letitia James (D), who is joined by 45 other attorneys general — alleges Facebook sought to maintain its monopoly power by acquiring potential rivals, including WhatsApp and Instagram, and that it has stifled innovation by cutting off platform services to competitors.
The lawsuit was joined by the attorneys general for Washington, D.C. and Guam. The states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and South Dakota were the only ones not involved with the lawsuits.
The legal action by such a broad coalition puts Facebook firmly in the antitrust hot seat following similar bipartisan criticisms from lawmakers in Congress.
“For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” James said in a statement. “Today, we are taking action to stand up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook’s illegal behavior.”
The lawsuit seeks relief that includes the potential unwinding of Facebook’s purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram, moves that could lead to the first court-ordered breakup of a major U.S. company in years.
Facebook has emphasized that both acquisitions were approved by regulators at the time.
YOUTUBE TAKES A STAND: YouTube said Wednesday it will start removing any content uploaded to its platform that contains allegations of widespread fraud or errors in the 2020 presidential election after Tuesday’s so-called safe harbor deadline that essentially locked in President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The deadline marked the date by which all states are required to have resolved any election-related disputes. President Trump, however, has not conceded the race, even as state officials have certified their election results showing Biden has the Electoral College votes to be the 46th president.
In a blog post, YouTube said content “that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome” of the presidential election will be removed. The update applies to content uploaded Wednesday or anytime after.
The move does not appear to involve the removal of any content fitting that description if it was uploaded before Wednesday, though YouTube said that since September it has terminated more than 8,000 channels and “thousands of harmful and misleading elections-related videos” for violating its existing policies.
EUROPEANS IN THE CYBER CROSSHAIRS: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced Wednesday that it had been hit by a cyberattack, becoming the latest health care group to be targeted by hackers.
“EMA has been the subject of a cyberattack,” the organization wrote in a post on its website. “The Agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with law enforcement and other relevant entities.”
EMA said that it “cannot provide additional details whilst the investigation is ongoing. Further information will be made available in due course.”
Hours after the EMA went public about the attack, BioNTech and Pfizer, which submitted their COVID-19 vaccine to the EMA for evaluation earlier this month, put out a separate statement saying that EMA had informed them that some of the evaluation documents had been accessed during the attack.
“No BioNTech or Pfizer systems have been breached in connection with this incident and we are unaware that any study participants have been identified through the data being accessed,” the two companies said in a joint statement. “At this time, we await further information about EMA’s investigation and will respond appropriately and in accordance with EU law. EMA has assured us that the cyber attack will have no impact on the timeline for its review.”
The Hill has reached out to the EMA for further comment on the attack. The agency’s website was functioning normally at the time of publication.
CROWN PRINCES IN COURT: Al Jazeera anchor Ghada Oueiss on Wednesday filed suit against Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed and a group of other officials for allegedly targeting her in a hack and leak operation.
Oueiss, who filed suit in the Southern District of Florida, alleged that the crown princes, along with a group of other Saudi and UAE officials and American citizens, carried out an operation intended to undermine her character and her journalistic career due to Oueiss’s critical reporting on the Saudi Arabian and UAE governments.
The almost two dozen defendants in the case are alleged to have coordinated in a hack and leak operation that used foreign and domestic influencers to undermine her character.
The defendants include Florida-based Sharon Collins and Hussam Al-Jundi, who allegedly engaged in what the court filing described as “tortious acts” against Oueiss, including publishing stolen information from her phone and participating in a “conspiracy” against the journalist.
“Ms. Oueiss brings this action against all Defendants — domestic and foreign — responsible for the unlawful hacking and dissemination of her personal information worldwide,” the court filing read. “Each actor must be held responsible for their unlawful actions and Conspiracy against Ms. Oueiss, and this lawsuit marks the beginning of a journey toward justice for Ms. Oueiss.”
The group Oueiss filed suit against is the same group of Saudi and UAE officials alleged to have carried out the fatal attack on Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
DC VS. DOORDASH: D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine sent a cease-and-desist letter to DoorDash on Tuesday night, warning the company that its premium service may break local law.
The letter cautions that if the company’s DashPass program charges some District restaurants a 30 percent commission, it would violate legislation passed earlier this year setting a 15 percent cap on third party-delivery commissions, according to a person with knowledge of the letter.
The service lets diners pay $9.99 a month for unlimited delivery with zero fees on orders totaling $15 or more. Vendors can also sign up to have their restaurants receive greater visibility for the premium customers.
DoorDash had begun reaching out to D.C. restaurants late last month saying commissions would be increased starting Wednesday for orders when both customers and vendors are participating in DashPass.
The company argues that the service shouldn’t be required to stay below the 15 percent cap because it is a “premium marketing service” and the extra fees are needed for things like background checks.
But a spokesperson for the DoorDash told The Hill on Wednesday that the company has chosen not to raise the commissions “at this time.”
AD FREEZE ENDING SOON: Google is lifting its post-election ban on political advertising Thursday, the company announced in an email to advertisers.
The five-week freeze had been instituted to minimize the spread of political misinformation in the aftermath of the election, and is being lifted less than a month ahead of two crucial Senate races in Georgia.
“While we no longer consider this post-election period to be a sensitive event, we will continue to rigorously enforce our ads policies, which strictly prohibit demonstrably false information that could significantly undermine trust in elections or the democratic process,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.
Google had initially told advertisers that its ban would likely last a week, but always cautioned it could extend further.
NEW SENATE BILL: A group of bipartisan senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that would allow victims depicted in online “revenge porn” or in forced pornography to sue the websites hosting this content.
The Survivors of Human Trafficking Fight Back Act would allow victims of forced or coerced sexual acts, along with victims depicted in sexual imagery made public without their consent, to sue websites that knowingly host or distribute video or pictures of these acts.
It would also criminalize both the knowing distribution of media depicting these types of forced or coerced sexual acts and the knowing distribution of media depicting sexual acts as part of a “revenge porn” effort.
The bill is sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
The legislation was rolled out in the wake of a New York Times column published last week, which detailed allegations that the popular porn website Pornhub hosted videos that contained rape scenes, revenge porn and underaged sex.
NO MORE CHINESE TRIPADVISING: China announced on Tuesday that it has banned Tripadvisor and more than a hundred other mobile phone apps in what it says is a crackdown on pornography and other improper content.
According to The Associated Press, the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of 105 apps, although it gave no details on any allegations of wrongdoing.
In a statement released Tuesday, the agency said the mass app removal this week is just the first in a planned, wide-ranging “clean-up” of online content that started last month, CNN reported.
CNN noted that most of the platforms included in the ban were Chinese firms.
Authorities said the campaign is in line with several Chinese laws and is meant to remove illegal content, including obscenity, pornography, prostitution, violence, fraud or gambling.
THAT’S ONE WAY TO MAKE MONEY: A 21-year-old supporter of President Trump brought in more than $7,000 in donations through Twitter under the auspices of a fictional organization called Gay Voices for Trump, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Josh Hall of Mechanicsburg, Pa., told the Times that since February he has maintained several Twitter accounts purporting to be relatives of the president, including his late brother Robert, his youngest son Barron and his sister Elizabeth Trump Grau.
Trump himself tweeted a link from a conservative site related to the Grau account after it sent tweets supporting his attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness. He actually thinks it’s his sister,’ ” Hall told the Times. “There was no nefarious intention behind it. I was just trying to rally up MAGA supporters and have fun.”
Lighter click: She gets the last laugh
An op-ed to chew on: COVID-19 vaccines are our ‘moonshot project’ and will enable the future of artificial intelligence
NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:
Activists are fighting to stop Tesla from clearing a forest for a gigafactory (Motherboard / Gabriel Geiger)
Hackers leverage Facebook, Dropbox to spy on Egypt, Palestinians (CyberScoop / Sean Lyngaas)
Cruise putting driverless cars on San Francisco streets for the first time (The Washington Post / Faiz Siddiqui)
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