TikTok settles hours before landmark social media addiction trial

techxplore - Video sharing app TikTok has made an eleventh-hour deal to avoid a landmark US trial accusing it, along with Meta and YouTube, of addicting young people to social media, lawyers said on Tuesday.

5 wks / mashable

Jury selection begins Tuesday as this case moves closer to trial.

5 wks / bsky / @techcrunch.com / techcrunch.com

5 wks / techxplore

TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

5 wks / ycombinator

TikTok joins Snap to settle social media addiction lawsuit

5 wks / techcrunch / Amanda Silberling

TikTok settles to avoid major social media addiction lawsuit

5 wks / engadget / Karissa Bell

France to ban officials from US video tools including Zoom, Teams

Émile Marzolf / politico - The government wants staff to shun Silicon Valley and shift to its home-grown Visio platform instead.

#cybersecurity #cloud #techpolicy #enterprise #microsoft #government #apps #europe #encryption #digitalprivacy

France goes all-in on its strategy to ditch US vendors for domestic alternatives as part of its strategy to regain digital sovereignty and security.

5 wks / bsky / @siliconrepublic.bsky.social / siliconrepublic.bsky.social

France Replaces Microsoft Teams & Zoom with Sovereign Platform

5 wks / winbuzzer / Markus Kasanmascheff

France moves government departments off Zoom, MS Teams onto homegrown Visio

5 wks / siliconrepublic / Ann O’Dea

France to ban officials from using American video conference tools including Zoom and Teams.

5 wks / bsky / @anderspucknielsen.dk / anderspucknielsen.dk

A good start. The data of European individuals, businesses and governments are not safe in the hands of US platforms and data storage. The EU must also act, urgently. www.politico.eu/article/fran...

5 wks / bsky / @margaretmorgan.bsky.social / margaretmorgan.bsky.social

#France to ban officials from #US video tools including Zoom, Teams ✍️ Émile Marzolf The government wants staff to shun Silicon Valley and shift to its home-grown Visio platform instead. www.politico.eu/article/fran...

5 wks / bsky / @eugenemcparland.bsky.social / eugenemcparland.bsky.social

Jesses. In der bayrischen Staatskanzlei geht jetzt die blanke Angst um.

5 wks / bsky / @darkfloppy1.bsky.social / darkfloppy1.bsky.social

Zoom Is the First Casualty in France's War on American Big Tech

5 wks / reddit / /u/Well_Socialized

Zoom Is the First Casualty in France’s War on American Big Tech

5 wks / gizmodo / Ece Yildirim

The French government is ditching Zoom and Microsoft Teams for a home-grown alternative

5 wks / engadget / Kris Holt

France To Ditch US Platforms Microsoft Teams, Zoom For 'Sovereign Platform' Amid Security Concerns

5 wks / slashdot / msmash

France to ban officials from US video tools including Zoom, Teams

5 wks / politico / Émile Marzolf

TikTok’s US Handover Spirals Into Chaos

Chris Hauk / idropnews - TikTok’s transition to US ownership hits a crisis as server outages, censorship claims over a Minneapolis shooting, and a Gavin Newsom probe drive users to UpScrolled.Read More...

#techpolicy #business #internet #us #apps #tiktok #bytedance #censorship #contentmoderation

Censorship claims and content suppression (7)
Technical outages and infrastructure hiccups (2)
U.S. ownership and political influence (3)
User exodus to alternative platforms (2)
All Other Stories

WhatsApp introduces an advanced security mode to protect against hackers

Lawrence Bonk / engadget - Meta's WhatsApp just introduced something called Strict Account Settings, a tool "that further protects your account from highly sophisticated cyber attacks." This is a one-click button in the settings that automatically initiates a series of defenses.So …

#cybersecurity #techpolicy #meta #apps #law #instantmessaging #encryption #digitalprivacy #regulation

Paranoid WhatsApp users rejoice: Encrypted app gets one-click privacy toggle

5 wks / theregister / Brandon Vigliarolo

Lawsuit Alleges That WhatsApp Has No End-to-End Encryption - Slashdot

5 wks / reddit / /u/AnonomousWolf

WhatsApp Adds ‘Lockdown’ Feature to Protect Against Hackers

5 wks / iphoneincanada / Nehal Malik

WhatsApp’s new ‘lockdown’ settings add another layer of protection against cyberattacks

5 wks / theverge / Emma Roth

WhatsApp introduces an advanced security mode to protect against hackers

5 wks / engadget / Lawrence Bonk

WhatsApp is rolling out a new stricter security setting to protect users from cyber attacts

5 wks / techcrunch / Ivan Mehta

WhatsApp Launches Strict Account Settings for Public Figures

5 wks / thurrott / Laurent Giret

Pornhub will block new users in the UK next month

Emma Roth / theverge - Pornhub will soon begin restricting UK users from accessing its website in response to the country's "failed" online safety regulations, according to an announcement on Tuesday. The site's owner, Aylo, says it will block users who haven't already verified…

#techpolicy #uk #internet #law #media #censorship #contentmoderation #digitalid #safety #digitalprivacy

Pornhub will become unavailable for many UK users as of February 2

5 wks / engadget / Andre Revilla

Pornhub will block new UK users starting next week, describing the Online Safety Act as a "flawed system."

5 wks / bsky / @katie-drummond.bsky.social / katie-drummond.bsky.social

What do you make of pornhub pulling out of the UK? Age Verification not worth the expense? www.404media.co/uk-pornhub-b...

5 wks / bsky / @axis1500.bsky.social / axis1500.bsky.social

Welp get ready for another BBC article about VPNs again: www.404media.co/uk-pornhub-b...

5 wks / bsky / @legionaod.bsky.social / legionaod.bsky.social

If you live in the UK, you probably won’t be able to visit Pornhub anymore

5 wks / techcrunch / Amanda Silberling

Pornhub will block new users in the UK next month

5 wks / theverge / Emma Roth

Pornhub Will Block New UK Users Starting Next Week to Protest ‘Flawed’ ID Law

5 wks / wired / Manisha Krishnan

Pornhub to restrict access for UK users from February

5 wks / bbc

Pornhub will soon be blocked for UK users — unless they take one step

5 wks / mashable

Many UK Users Soon Won't Be Able to Access Pornhub

5 wks / 404media / Samantha Cole

EU Gives Google Six Months to Open Up Android and Search to Rivals

Paul Thurrott / thurrott - The European Commission (EC) announced today that Google has six months to open up Android to rival AI services.The post EU Gives Google Six Months to Open Up Android and Search to Rivals appeared first on Thurrott.com.

#ai #techpolicy #google #android #antitrust #genai #alphabet #digitalmarketsact #eu #api

EU steps in to make sure Google gives rivals access to AI services and data

5 wks / techxplore

Google access for rival AI providers targeted in new DMA specification actions

5 wks / globalcompetitionreview / Bethan John

EU Orders Google to Open Android and Search Data to AI Rivals

5 wks / winbuzzer / Markus Kasanmascheff

EU Gives Google Six Months to Open Up Android and Search to Rivals

5 wks / thurrott / Paul Thurrott

The EU tells Google to give external AI assistants the same access to Android as Gemini has

5 wks / engadget / Kris Holt

EU steps in to make sure Google gives rivals access to AI services and data

5 wks / go

EU gives Google guidelines for AI and search data under DMA

5 wks / techzine / Berry Zwets

French lawmakers approve bill banning social media for children under 15

go - French lawmakers have approved a bill banning social media for children under 15

#techpolicy #social #health #government #europe #law #censorship #contentmoderation #digitalprivacy #regulation

Indian states weigh Australia-style ban on social media for children

5 wks / techcrunch / Jagmeet Singh

French lawmakers approve bill banning social media for children under 15

5 wks / go

French lawmakers vote to ban social media for under-15s

5 wks / siliconrepublic / Suhasini Srinivasaragavan

French lawmakers pass bill banning social media for under-15s

5 wks / techxplore

EU investigates X for sexual AI images made by Grok

Mels Dees / techzine - The European Union has launched a formal investigation into social media platform X for possible violations of European legislation on illegal and harmful content. The investigation was prompted by public outrage after manipulated, sexually suggestive ima…

#techpolicy #social #internet #censorship #contentmoderation #xai #elonmusk #grokai #eu #regulation

Child Safety and Legal Crackdowns (2)
EU Probe: Oversight of Grok AI Failures (3)
Nonconsensual Nudification Trends (2)
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Child Safety and Legal Crackdowns

The State-Led Crackdown on Grok and xAI Has Begun

5 wks / wired / Maddy Varner, Manisha Krishnan

‘Among the worst we’ve seen’: report slams xAI’s Grok over child safety failures

5 wks / techcrunch / Rebecca Bellan

EU Probe: Oversight of Grok AI Failures

EU investigates X for sexual AI images made by Grok

5 wks / techzine / Mels Dees

EU launches DSA probe into X over Grok AI undressing fiasco

5 wks / siliconrepublic / Suhasini Srinivasaragavan

EU Investigates X Over Alleged Failures to Curb Illegal Grok AI Content

5 wks / decrypt / Vismaya V

Nonconsensual Nudification Trends

Dozens of nudify apps found on Google and Apple’s app stores

5 wks / theverge / Stevie Bonifield

What It’s Like to Get Undressed by Grok

5 wks / rollingstone / John Gruber

All Other Stories

On Friday, a bipartisan group of 35 attorneys general published an open letter to xAI demanding it “immediately take all available additional steps to protect the public … especially the women and girls who are the overwhelming target.”

5 wks / bsky / @wired.com / wired.com

The letter comes amid an international wave of regulator attention on Grok users creating intimate deepfake images of people without their consent, as well as sexualized images of children.

5 wks / bsky / @wired.com / wired.com

A recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimates that during an 11-day period starting on December 29, Grok’s account on X generated around 3 million photorealistic sexualized images, including around 23,000 sexualized images of child

5 wks / bsky / @wired.com / wired.com

The open letter from attorneys general, which cited WIRED’s reporting, said that Grok’s ability to create nonconsensual sexual imagery has been used as a “selling point” by xAI. Read more: www.wired.com/story/the-st...

5 wks / bsky / @wired.com / wired.com

The State-Led Crackdown on Grok and xAI Has Begun. At least 37 attorneys general for US states and territories are taking action against xAI after Grok generated a flood of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors. | WIRED www.wired.com/story/the-s

5 wks / bsky / @whodat35.bsky.social / whodat35.bsky.social

New from @regret.bsky.social and me: 35 state and territory AGs signed a letter demanding xAI remove all nonconsensual sexual images created by Grok and arguing that the company is treating them as a "selling point." www.wired.com/story/the-st..

5 wks / bsky / @manishakrishnan.bsky.social / manishakrishnan.bsky.social

www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

5 wks / bsky / @baileysam.bsky.social / baileysam.bsky.social

“Women are being asked to give up their bodies whenever they post a photo of themselves now.”

5 wks / bsky / @ultraviolet.bsky.social / ultraviolet.bsky.social

The EU has launched a new investigation into X to probe whether the Elon Musk-owned social media site properly assessed and mitigated risks stemming with its in-platform AI chatbot Grok.

5 wks / bsky / @siliconrepublic.bsky.social / siliconrepublic.bsky.social

Meta, TikTok and YouTube are on trial over whether their apps hurt children

Shannon Bond / npr - A trial kicking off in a Los Angeles courtroom marks the first time a jury will hear claims that social media companies knowingly hook young users and cause harm.