| Internet Governance Three Dozen States Sue Google Over Alleged App Store Monopoly: Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia argue in the suit that the company uses anti-competitive tactics to limit competition in Android app distribution to preserve its 30 percent commission from developers who make their apps available on the Google Play app store; the company counters that the suit ignores Google’s openness to alternative means of app distribution and is designed to benefit a handful of major app developers. Twitter Purportedly Stripped Of Immunity For User-Generated Content In India: A filing by the Modi administration in a defamation case against the company announced that Twitter has lost its protection from liability as a result of its repeated failure to comply with the country’s IT rules. |
| Privacy EU Allows Tech Companies To Screen Messages For Child Sex Abuse: The temporary emergency measures, which were passed after last year’s European Electronics Communications Code inadvertently prohibited companies from screening for content related to child sex abuse, allow companies to resume such screening; although the screening must be conducted under human oversight, including by data protection authorities, lawmakers express concern that the measures threaten privacy. |
| Information Security and Cyberthreats Russian Hackers Target GOP Systems: State-backed hackers affiliated with the Cozy Bear hacking group attacked Synnex, a contractor that provides tech services to the Republican National Committee; the hack bears similarities to the SolarWinds attack, and comes in the wake of numerous other recent attacks on U.S. infrastructure. |
| Intellectual Property Biden To Issue Executive Order Supporting Right-To-Repair: The order will ask the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules that prohibit companies from preventing consumers from performing their own repairs or having repairs performed by third-parties; while the order will be focused on the agriculture industry, it may ultimately have an impact on everyday tech. |
| Free Expression and Censorship Trump Sues Facebook, Twitter, And Google Over Alleged Censorship: In suits against the tech companies and their CEOs, the former president alleges that the companies’ bans of his social media accounts following the January 6th insurrection violate his First Amendment rights; consensus among legal experts is that the suits are meritless, and the pro-Trump nonprofit America First Policy Institute has used the suits as a fundraising opportunity. Big Tech Companies Threaten To Cease Operations In Hong Kong Over Doxxing Law: Through the tech alliance Asia Internet Coalition, companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter have communicated to Hong Kong authorities that they may stop operations in the territory if amendments to its data protection law that would make them liable for doxxing campaigns come into effect. |
| On the Lighter Side Get A Job With #TikTokResumes: Nearly three dozen companies are participating in a pilot program that lets people apply to jobs by submitting a video resume via TikTok. |
| Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP |