domestic-us news – The News Desk

24Oct

By adminNo Comments

Technology

States sue Instagram-parent Meta over ‘addictive’ features and youth mental health harms

CNN — Dozens of states sued Instagram-parent Meta on Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of harming young users’ mental health through allegedly addictive features such as infinite news feeds and frequent notifications that demand users’ constant attention. In a federal lawsuit filed in California by 33 attorneys general, the states allege that Meta’s products have harmed minors and contributed to a mental health crisis in the United States. “Meta has profited from children’s pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem,” said Letitia James, the attorney general for New York, one of the ...

Genesis and Gemini face civil suit alleging $1 billion fraud

20Oct

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Genesis and Gemini face civil suit alleging $1 billion fraud

CNN — The fallout from the colossal implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto business is still rippling through the digital asset industry nearly a year later. On Thursday, New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against three digital asset firms that were caught up in the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s empire last fall — Gemini Trust, Genesis Global Capital and Digital Currency Group, parent company of Genesis. The lawsuit accused the companies of lying to investors and covering up more than $1 billion in losses. The AG’s office said that an investigation found Gemini, the crypto firm founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, deceived investors about significant risks associated with a lending ser...

Federal judge rips into Montana’s statewide TikTok ban in preliminary injunction hearing

15Oct

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Federal judge rips into Montana’s statewide TikTok ban in preliminary injunction hearing

CNN — A Montana federal judge on Thursday tore into a contested state law that bans TikTok from all personal devices, saying in a hearing that the legislation appears driven by “paternalistic” views of social media users and suggesting lawmakers could have taken many steps short of an attempted ban to achieve their goals. The sharp criticism of Montana’s legislature and attorney general comes as TikTok and a group of content creators on the platform have sought a ruling temporarily blocking the law. The legal battle is closely watched because it is viewed as a bellwether for TikTok’s future in the United States, where dozens of states and the US government have already banned the app on official ...

Federal appeals court expands limits on Biden administration communications with social media companies

4Oct

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Federal appeals court expands limits on Biden administration communications with social media companies

Washington CNN — A federal appeals court has expanded the scope of a ruling that limits the Biden administration’s communications with social media companies, saying it now also applies to a top US cybersecurity agency. The ruling last month from the conservative 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals severely limits the ability of the White House, the surgeon general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FBI to communicate with social media companies about content related to Covid-19 and elections that the government views as misinformation. The preliminary injunction had been on pause and a recent procedural snafu over a request from the plaintiffs in the case to broaden its sc...

28Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Yelp sues Texas to defend its labeling of crisis pregnancy centers

Washington CNN — Yelp is suing Texas to ensure it can continue to tell users that crisis pregnancy centers listed on its site do not provide abortions or abortion referrals, opening a new front in the fight between states and the tech industry over abortion restrictions. In a complaint filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court, Yelp said it is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton preemptively, to head off a lawsuit it anticipates from his office as soon as Friday that may seek to bar Yelp from applying its labels to crisis pregnancy centers. Yelp said it currently applies the following label to crisis pregnancy center listings: “This is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers do ...

27Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Pava LaPere, 26-year-old tech CEO found dead in Baltimore with signs of blunt-force trauma

CNN — The Baltimore Police Department has announced an arrest warrant for a suspect wanted for the murder of Pava LaPere, the 26-year-old CEO of startup EcoMap Technologies, who was found dead in a downtown Baltimore apartment Monday with signs of blunt-force trauma to her head. Police are looking for 32-year-old Jason Dean Billingsley, Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said during a news conference Tuesday. Officers responded to a call for service at an apartment complex in the 300 block of West Franklin Street at around 11:34 a.m. Monday, according to Baltimore police. Upon arriving, the officers found LaPere with severe injuries to her head. Police have not released any further informati...

The US government and 17 states sues Amazon in landmark monopoly case

26Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

The US government and 17 states sues Amazon in landmark monopoly case

CNN — The US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition. The groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing. The 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform a...

Elon Musk should be forced to testify on X’s ‘chaotic environment,’ US regulator tells court

18Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Elon Musk should be forced to testify on X’s ‘chaotic environment,’ US regulator tells court

Washington CNN — Elon Musk should be forced to testify in an expansive US government probe of X, the company formerly known as Twitter, the US government said. The government said mass layoffs and other decisions Musk made raised questions about X’s ability to comply with the law and to protect users’ privacy. The US government’s attempt to compel Musk’s testimony is the latest turn in an investigation that predates Musk’s acquisition of X that has intensified due to Musk’s own actions, according to a court filing by the Justice Department on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission. The court filing dated Monday cites depositions with multiple former X executives, including its former ch...

Google reaches $93 million settlement in tracking location case

15Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Google reaches $93 million settlement in tracking location case

New York CNN — Google has reached a $93 million settlement with the state of California to resolve allegations that it was collecting consumers’ data without their consent, the state’s attorney general said in a statement Thursday. The California Department of Justice found that, after a multi-year investigation, the tech giant was “deceiving users by collecting, storing, and using their location data for consumer profiling and advertising purposes without informed consent.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta also said Google accepted taking future actions to prevent those practices. These actions would apply beyond California to other states, according to the proposed order. “Consis...

12Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Landmark Google trial opens with sweeping DOJ accusations of illegal monopolization

CNN — US prosecutors opened a landmark antitrust trial against Google on Tuesday with sweeping allegations that for years the company intentionally stifled competition challenging its massive search engine, accusing the tech giant of spending billions to operate an illegal monopoly that has harmed every computer and mobile device user in the United States. In opening remarks before a federal judge in Washington, lawyers for the Justice Department alleged that Google’s negotiation of exclusive contracts with wireless carriers and phone makers helped cement its dominant position in violation of US antitrust law. The Google case has been described as one of the largest US antitrust trials since the fe...