Politics

This time from the Department of Justice, after the Federal Trade Commission said it was referring a complaint to the agency based on an investigation involving a children’s privacy law. The FTC said it doesn’t usually make this kind of referral public, but believed it in the public interest. TikTok said it “strongly disagree[s]” with the allegations and said many of them are outdated.

In a statement published yesterday, Stanford University denied it was shuttering the prominent research center studying abuse and disinformation online. In recent months, key staff have departed and others have been told to look for new jobs.

The Internet Observatory is, however, looking for money: Stanford says “founding grants will soon be exhausted” as the center moves under new leadership.

A deep dive by Rolling Stone tracked the deaths of children who died after taking fake drugs they bought on the app. Parents and law enforcement officials blame, in part, the disappearing messages feature that made Snapchat popular in the first place.

The media group, which owns wide swath of TV networks around the country, has leveraged that reach to syndicate stories about Biden’s fitness for office, Popular Information reports. The stories, which sometimes included misleadingly-edited clips, published at the same times on dozens of local news sites Sinclair owns. Sinclair called claims it’s deceived its audience “outrageous and offensive.”

Days after the Financial Times said that Apple would be found guilty of not complying with obligations under the DMA to allow app developers to “steer” users to offers outside its App Store, the bloc’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager had this to say:

We have a number of Apple issues, I find them very serious. I was very surprised that we would have such suspicions of Apple being non-compliant.

In a new interview with The Financial Times, Jonathan Kanter says regulators may need to act urgently to keep AI from being controlled by already-dominant tech companies. Kanter has been leading the antitrust charge against tech intermediaries that are “more powerful than the products and services or the entities they intermediate.”

The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into force in March, resulting in the launch of the following new third-party iOS app marketplaces:

• AltStore Pal (hands-on)

• SetApp Mobile (hands-on)

• Aptoide game store (hands-on)

• Mobivention (hands-on)

Each has its own pros and cons but none has been able to upset the balance of power in Europe.

It’s a police-operated drone. WIRED took a deep look into how one California city is using the aerial devices to collect information before responding in-person to some incidents. After analyzing 10,000 flight records over a two-year period, WIRED found poorer residents had more contact with the drones. But most Chula Vista residents interviewed said they supported the program.

The state legislature is expected to vote this week on a bill preventing social media companies from using the recommendation tools to serve kids content, unless parents give the OK, according to The Wall Street Journal. States across the country have implemented a range of safeguards from limiting data collection to imposing age verification requirements.

The former President, who once attempted to ban the platform, posted his first video to it yesterday under his usual handle of @realdonaldtrump.

As Politico notes, Trump reversed his stance earlier this year after momentum behind the ban abruptly rekindled and President Biden signed it into law.

In case you need the chance to scream, cry, breathe, or just go to the bathroom during the presidential debate, CNN will offer commercial breaks during the June 27 event, two sources told Variety. That’s a break from tradition for presidential debates, but then again, so is plenty about this presidential debate.

Twitter main characters past and present have met recently to discuss possible government roles for Musk should Trump win in November. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk and Trump have “discussed ways to give Musk formal input and influence over policies related to border security and the economy.” Oh, and also voter fraud. Meanwhile, Trump is out on the campaign trail talking about how he’s going to ban the sale of electric vehicles.

While you might think that the balloon war between North and South Korea has reached a new low, remember that activists once floated 80,000 copies of Seth Rogen’s The Interview over the northern border — and that film wasn’t worth a shit.

The keffiyeh has become a symbol of the movement for Palestine, and model Bella Hadid wearing a keffiyeh-inspired dress at Cannes was a political statement. The head scarf has been banned by some government bodies.

Clothing has always been a core part of culture — a way to communicate ideas and identities. Last summer I wrote about Palestinian embroidery (tatreez) and ongoing efforts to digitize and protect it.

Wait, you’re telling me that consumer tech can be foiled by a determined and well-funded military?

The new outages appeared to be the first time the Russians have caused widespread disruptions of Starlink. If they continue to succeed, it could mark a tactical shift in the conflict, highlighting Ukraine’s vulnerability and dependence on the service provided by Mr. Musk’s company.

Time for Musk to deploy the Starshield! Or, did he?