The Federal Trade Commission on Monday accused Meta of creating a monopoly that robbed the competition by buying startups that were on the road, and by launching a groundbreaking antitrust trial that could dismantle a social media empire that changed the way the world connects online.
In a packed courtroom in the District of Columbia, the FTC launched its first anti-trust trial under the Trump administration by claiming that Meta illegally solidified its social networking monopoly when Instagram and WhatsApp were small startups. These actions were part of a “buyer or boring strategy,” the FTC said.
Ultimately, the purchase combined the power of meta, robbing consumers of other social networking options and pulling away the competition, the government said.
“For over 100 years, American public policy has argued that businesses must compete if they want to succeed,” Daniel Matheson, the lead FTC litigant in the case, said in his opening remarks. “The reason we’re here is because Meta broke the deal.”
“They decided that it was too difficult to compete and it would be easier to buy a rival than to compete with them,” he added.
The Trials – Federal Trade Commission vs. Metaplatform – poses the most consequential threat to the business empire of the company’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. If the government is successful, the FTC could ask Meta to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, shift the way Silicon Valley does business and change the long pattern of big tech companies that snapped their younger rivals.
Still, legal experts warned that the FTC might be difficult to win. That’s because we have to prove something that the government doesn’t know. This is because Meta, previously known as Facebook, would not achieve the same success without the acquisition. Also, legal experts said it is very rare to unlock a merger that was approved several years ago.
“One of the hardest things antitrust laws are when industry leaders buy small potential competitors,” said Gene Kimmelman, a former senior official at the Obama Administration Department. Meta said, “I bought a lot of things that weren’t pan-out or integration-integrated. How is Instagram and WhatsApp different?
This effort continues a long-standing bipartisan pursuit to reduce the vast power that a small number of high-tech companies have beyond commercial, exchange of ideas, entertainment and political discourse. Despite attempts by tech executives to President Trump, his antitrust appointees have shown they will continue on the course.
The FTC’s case against Meta is the third major technological antitrust lawsuit to be tried in the last two years. Last year, DOJ won antitrust laws against Google because it monopolized internet search. The federal judge will hear debate over the relief package, including a potential dissolution next week. DOJ also completed another exam against Google to monopolize AD technology, which is still decided by a federal judge.
Donald Trump announced that he was purchasing a “brand new Tesla” and placed blame on the “radical left-handed man” who he claimed was orchestrating an “illegal” boycott. This announcement followed a significant drop in Tesla’s stock price, the worst in nearly five years.
During a press conference, President Trump also declared his intention to classify the violence against Tesla showrooms as domestic terrorism, responding to a reporter’s suggestion that such actions should be labeled as such.
He mentioned that he had spoken with Elon Musk and his son on his White House driveway, with a selection of Tesla cars parked for his choosing. Trump ultimately opted for a red Model S, praising Musk’s contributions to the country.
Trump went on to accuse the “radical left madman” of attempting to illegally boycott Tesla and harm the American automaker, posting his remarks on True Social and affirming his commitment to stopping the damaging boycott efforts.
Despite claims of the boycott being illegal, the Supreme Court ruling from 1972 protects the right of Americans to peacefully protest against private companies, challenging Trump’s stance on the matter.
Tesla’s stock has seen significant declines amid protests and threats linked to Trump’s tariff plans. The TeslaTakeown Group, organizing anti-Tesla protests, insists on their right to peaceful demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms.
Reports indicate a sharp drop in Musk’s net worth over the past year, impacting Tesla’s profits. Tesla board members, including Musk’s brother, have sold off millions in stocks, while Tesla car sales have also declined.
The boycott against Tesla emerged in response to Musk’s controversial “Doge” initiative and concerns over lack of transparency in federal spending. Polls suggest mixed public sentiment towards Musk’s influence and actions.
Elon Musk stated on Monday that X was hit by a “massive cyberattack,” causing intermittent service disruptions that affected social media networks throughout the day. The platform, formerly known as Twitter, was unresponsive for many users as posts failed to load.
“We face attacks every day, but this one was well-resourced,” said the platform’s CEO. He posted, “Large, coordinated groups and/or countries are involved.”
Down detector, a website monitoring for outages, showed a spike in thousands of outage reports around 5:45 am on various platforms. Another surge in reported outages occurred around noon, with most issues happening on the company’s mobile app. Tweets that failed to display showed a “something went wrong” message prompting users to try reloading.
The world’s richest man did not provide evidence for his claim. His statements were in response to cryptocurrency influencers suggesting a pause following other resistance to Musk’s ventures. Protests against the “Ministry of Government Efficiency” initiative resulted in vandalism against Musk’s leadership and Tesla dealers in the previous week.
The CEO of SpaceX, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, alleged that the previous platform outage was due to a cyberattack. Musk previously claimed a “massive DDOS attack” caused the crash of his live-streamed interview with Donald Trump last year, although company sources later told The Verge there was no attack.
The X outage adds to the challenges facing Musk’s businesses and initiatives. A SpaceX rocket exploded in flight near the Bahamas on Friday, scattering debris. “Tesla Takedown” protests across the nation targeted Tesla dealers, with owners selling vehicles, and the company’s stock prices hitting a low on Monday. Trump also had a heated meeting with Musk and his Cabinet Secretary, hinting at curbing Musk’s influence against government officials who fired many from various agencies.
Donald Trump has implied that Microsoft is in discussions with Tactoku and he is hoping for a bidding war on apps.
In response to whether Microsoft was considering acquiring an app, the US President stated, “I will say Jesus,” and added, “I have a lot of interest in Tiktok. Tactoku is of great interest.”
Microsoft, Tiktok, and Bytedance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments outside of regular business hours following the US President’s remarks on Air Force 1 on Monday.
The reported remarks mark the second attempt to acquire Tiktok. During his first term, Trump had ordered Tactoku to divest its US operations citing national security concerns.
Microsoft emerged as a top bidder in 2020, but the negotiations quickly fell apart, and Trump’s push for the sale ended a few months later.
Tactoku, with approximately 170 million American users, faced an injunction from the Chinese owners to either comply with national security measures or face a ban on January 19. Shortly before this, the app was temporarily taken offline earlier this month.
Upon taking office on January 20, Trump signed a presidential order to delay the enforcement of the injunction by 75 days.
Last week, Trump revealed that he had discussed the purchase of Tactoku with multiple parties and would likely make a decision on the fate of the popular app within 30 days.
The US President had previously stated that he would be open to a sale of the Social Media App to the CEO of Tesla if interested, although Elon Musk has not publicly responded to Trump’s offer.
Recently, on Sunday, AI startup Perplexity AI proposed a merger with Tiktok. The US government informed Reuters on Sunday that it had invested in the future of the new company.
In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella described Tiktok as “the oddest thing I’ve worked on.”
He mentioned to the US government, “There are specific requirements and then just disappear.”
TikTok has been aware for a long time that its video livestream feature was being misused to harm children, as revealed in a lawsuit filed by the state of Utah against the social media company. The harms include child sexual exploitation and what Utah describes as an “open door policy that allows predators and criminals to exploit users.”
The state’s attorney general stated that TikTok conducted an internal investigation in which adults allegedly used the TikTok Live feature to engage in provocative behavior with teenagers. It was found that some of them were paid for this. Another internal investigation found that criminals used TikTok Live to launder money, sell drugs, and fund terrorist groups.
Utah was the first to file a lawsuit against TikTok last June, alleging that the company was profiting from child exploitation. The lawsuit was based on internal documents obtained through subpoenas from TikTok. On Friday, an unredacted version of the lawsuit was released by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, despite TikTok’s efforts to keep the information confidential.
“Online exploitation of minors is on the rise, leading to tragic consequences such as depression, isolation, suicide, addiction, and human trafficking,” said Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes in a statement on Friday. He criticized TikTok for knowingly putting minors at risk for profit.
A spokesperson for TikTok responded to the Utah lawsuit by stating that the company has taken proactive steps to address safety concerns. The spokesperson mentioned that users must be 18 or older to use the Live feature and that TikTok provides safety tools for users.
The lawsuit against TikTok is part of a trend of U.S. attorney generals filing lawsuits over child exploitation on various apps. In December 2023, New Mexico sued Meta for similar reasons. Other states have also filed lawsuits against TikTok over similar allegations.
Following a report by Forbes in 2022, TikTok launched an internal investigation called Project Meramec to look into teens making money from TikTok Lives. The investigation found that underage users were engaging in inappropriate behavior for digital currency.
The complaint also mentions that TikTok captures a share of digital gifts from live streams, with lawmakers arguing that the algorithm encourages streams with sexual content as they are more profitable. Another internal investigation called Project Jupiter looked into organized crime using Live for money laundering purposes.
Canada’s spy agency claims that India is using cyber technology to monitor separatists abroad, following accusations from the Indian government that senior Indian officials authorized violent acts, including the killing of a Sikh activist in Vancouver.
The Canada Communications Security Establishment (CSE) reported that India is utilizing cyber capabilities to surveil activists and dissidents living overseas, including increasing cyberattacks on Canadian government networks.
Canada is home to a large Sikh community outside of India, which includes advocates for an independent Sikh nation.
Ottawa is currently investigating the case of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and prominent campaigner for Khalistan, a separatist movement seeking independence for Sikhs in India’s Punjab province. The murder of Nijjar in Vancouver in 2023 is believed to have been orchestrated by India.
CSE Commissioner Caroline Xavier stated, “India poses a growing cyber threat to Canada,” during a press conference.
The report attributes the strain in Canada-India relations to India’s surveillance activities and cyberattacks.
Following Canada’s accusations, a pro-Indian hacktivist group launched DDoS attacks on Canadian websites, disrupting their operations.
Officials revealed that Canada was monitoring a campaign targeting Khalistani activists, linking it to senior Indian government officials, including Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah.
Canadian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Shah’s involvement in intelligence gathering and violent attacks, including Nijjar’s murder in 2023.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the national police suspect India’s involvement in the killing and other forms of intimidation against Khalistani activists.
India denied the allegations, leading to the expulsion of ambassadors and diplomats between Delhi and Ottawa.
Four Indian nationals have been arrested in connection with Nijjar’s murder.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has alleged that he came under pressure from the US government to censor coronavirus posts on Facebook and Instagram during the pandemic, and said he regrets giving in to it.
Zuckerberg said White House officials under Joe Biden\’s administration “repeatedly pressured” Facebook and Instagram\’s parent company, Meta, throughout the pandemic to “censor certain coronavirus-related content.”
“Over the course of 2021, Biden Administration officials, including from the White House, repeatedly pressured us for months to censor certain COVID-19-related content, including humor and satire, and expressed significant frustration to our team when we did not comply,” the letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a statement. “We believe the administration\’s pressure was misguided.”
During the pandemic, Facebook began showing misinformation warnings to users when they commented on or liked posts it deemed contained false information about the coronavirus.
The company also removed posts criticizing COVID-19 vaccines and suggesting the virus was developed in a Chinese lab.
During the 2020 US presidential election campaign, Biden accused social media platforms such as Facebook of “killing people” by allowing the posting of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
“With hindsight and new information, I think we would have made choices that we wouldn\’t have made now,” Zuckerberg said. “I regret not being more vocal about it.”
“As I told my team then, I feel strongly that our content standards should not be compromised due to pressure from the Administration, and we are ready to fight back if something like this happens again.”
Zuckerberg also said Facebook had “temporarily downgraded” a story about the contents of a laptop owned by the president\’s son, Hunter Biden, after the FBI warned that Russia was preparing a disinformation campaign against Biden.
Zuckerberg wrote that it was later revealed that the article was not false, and that “in retrospect, we should not have downgraded this article.”
The White House defended its actions during the pandemic, saying it encouraged “responsible behavior to protect public health and safety.”
“Our position has been clear and consistent,” the company said. “We believe that tech companies and other private actors should consider the impact of their actions on the American people and make their own choices about the information they provide.”
A 61-year-old man is suing Macy’s and Sunglass Hut’s parent company, alleging that the store’s use of a facial recognition system misidentified him as the perpetrator of an armed robbery, leading to his false arrest. While in prison, he was beaten and raped, according to the complaint.
Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr. was arrested and charged with robbing a Houston-area Sunglass Hut of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in January 2022, but his lawyers say he was living in California at the time of the robbery. According to his lawyer, he was arrested on October 20, 2023.
According to Murphy’s complaint, employees at Essilor Luxottica, Sunglass Hut’s parent company, worked with retail partner Macy’s to use facial recognition software to identify Murphy as the robber. The images sent through the facial recognition system came from a low-quality camera, according to the complaint. Houston police were investigating an armed robbery when an EssilorLuxottica employee called police and determined that one of the two robbers was using the technology, so the investigation could be discontinued. I told him. The employee also said the system indicated that Murphy had committed two other robberies, according to the complaint.
When Murphy returned to Texas from California, he went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to renew his license. Murphy told the Guardian that within minutes of identifying himself as a DMV employee, he was contacted by a police officer and informed that there was a warrant out for his arrest on suspicion of aggravated robbery. He said Murphy was not given any details about the crime he allegedly committed other than the day the robbery occurred. He found himself more than a thousand miles away in Sacramento, California, at the time of the robbery.
“I almost thought it was a joke,” Murphy said.
Still heHe was arrested and taken to the local county jail, where he was held for 10 days before being transported to the Harris County Jail for processing.
After several days in Harris County, the alibi was confirmed by both a public defender and a prosecutor, and the charges were ultimately dropped, according to the complaint.
Murphy has never been convicted of a crime. Nevertheless, he says the detention left deep scars. He claimed that he was brutally beaten and gang-raped by three other men inside the prison hours before his release. Murphy said he was threatened with death when he tried to call prison staff. After the alleged attack, Murphy remained in the same cell as them until his release.
“It was kind of scary,” Murphy said. “My anxiety is so high, I’m shaking all the time. And I just stood up in my bunk and faced the wall, just praying that something would happen and get me out of the tank.”
“This attack left him with permanent scars that he will have to live with for the rest of his life,” the complaint states. “All of this happened to Murphy because the defendants relied on facial recognition technology that is known to be error-prone and flawed.”
Murphy didn’t realize that facial recognition technology could be used as evidence against her until two weeks ago, when she began working with her attorney, Daniel Dutko.
Datko said he discovered in police documents that Sunglass Hut employees shared camera footage with Macy’s that was used to identify Murphy. Datko said Macy’s and Sunglass Hut then contacted police together. Although Macy’s has retail partnerships with eyewear brands at multiple stores, Macy’s was not involved in the robbery because Sunglass Hut is an independent store, he said.
“We’re very comfortable saying that facial recognition software is the only possible explanation and that’s the only reason. [Sunglass Hut] I was going to Macy’s to identify him,” Datko said.
Mr. Murphy’s case marks the seventh known case of false arrest using facial recognition in the United States, further highlighting flaws in the technology, which is already widely used in police departments and retail stores. However, all of the publicly known cases of false arrests using facial recognition to date have involved black victims. Murphy’s case marks the first known case in which a failure of this technique resulted in the wrongful arrest of a white man. Just last month, Rite Aid settled with the Federal Trade Commission over its use of a facial recognition system that previously misidentified Black, Latino, and Asian customers as “likely to be involved” in shoplifting. As part of the settlement, the pharmacy chain was banned from using facial recognition in its stores for five years. Then, in the summer of 2023, a woman named Portia Woodruff was arrested on suspicion of carjacking using a facial recognition system to authenticate her identity.
Macy’s has previously sued Regarding the use of facial recognition technology. In a 2020 lawsuit, a Chicago woman accused the company of violating Illinois’ biometric privacy law by collaborating with facial recognition provider Clearview AI without her or other customers’ consent.
Nathan Fried Wessler, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said this is another example of the “extreme dangers of facial recognition technology.”
“We have seen case after case where police reflexively relied on unreliable facial recognition results, allowing the technology to make false matches and corrupting witness identification procedures,” Wessler said in a statement. “As the facts alleged in this case demonstrate, the consequences of wrongful arrest are dire. Lawmakers need to stop law enforcement and companies from dangerously relying on facial recognition results to put people behind bars. There must be.”
Murphy is seeking $10 million in damages.
Macy’s said it does not comment on pending litigation.EssilorLuxottica did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
National Amusements, the movie theater chain and parent company of media giants Paramount and CBS, acknowledged that it had experienced a data breach in which hackers stole the personal information of tens of thousands of people.
Details of the December 2022 breach were finally revealed a year after the company began notifying those affected last week.
The company discovered the breach several months later, in August 2023, according to Mayne’s notice, but did not specify what personal information was stolen. The hackers also stole financial information, such as bank account numbers and credit card numbers, in combination with associated security codes, passwords and confidential information, according to a data breach notification filed in the state of Maine.
The data breach notification was submitted by the company’s human resources director, so the stolen data may relate to the company’s employees.
But the media giant has said little else about the breach or whether the personal information of its customers and users is also affected. It is not clear what type of cyberattack the company suffered, or if it received a ransom demand or subsequently paid the hackers.
National Amusement spokeswoman Rachel Luray did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Spokespeople for CBS and Paramount also had no comment.
National Amusements owns more than 1,500 movie theaters across the United States, but the company is best known for its control of Paramount and CBS following the Viacom-CBS merger in 2019.
Paramount disclosed another security incident in August, according to Filings with Massachusetts Attorney General, an incident in which a hacker stole the personal information of an unspecified number of customers. The hackers also stole Paramount customers’ names and dates of birth, as well as Social Security numbers and other government-issued identification numbers, according to the notice.
Disclosure: Zack Whitaker worked at CBS before August 2018.
In May 2020, San Francisco Police Department Sergeant David Radford reached out to Elon Musk requesting data regarding remote access to a Tesla vehicle involved in an incident. The automaker was asked to provide information about a suspected stalker’s use of the vehicle. The woman involved in the incident had reported that her abusive husband had been tracking and harassing her using technology in his 2016 Tesla Model X, in violation of a restraining order. She found a metal baseball bat in the back seat of the car, which was the same one her husband had used to threaten her in the past.
Despite the woman’s request for information from Tesla, Radford had difficulty obtaining the data needed for the investigation. According to a lawsuit filed by the woman, a Tesla service manager stated that remote access logs were only available within a certain time frame. As automakers develop more advanced features allowing for remote access and location tracking, the potential for these technologies to be used for abusive purposes becomes a concern. Cases of stalking involving vehicle technology have been reported, prompting increased attention from law enforcement, advocates, and policymakers.
The woman later filed a lawsuit against her husband and Tesla, seeking damages for negligence and failure to restrict her husband’s access to the vehicle’s technology despite the restraining order. The woman’s requests to disable her husband’s account and access remote data logging were denied by Tesla, leading to legal action. The lawsuit was eventually settled, with details of the settlement kept undisclosed.
In other cases, individuals have reported incidents of stalking using vehicle technology, prompting concerns about the potential for abuse and inadequate policies to address such issues. As automakers and tech companies continue to introduce new features and products for tracking and remote access, there is a need for clear policies and safeguards to prevent misuse and protect individuals from potential harm.
A former program manager for Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging whistleblowing retaliation after speaking out about safety issues.
The complaint was filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It includes a detailed story about program manager Craig Stoker’s seven-month effort to raise concerns about Blue Origin’s safety and harsh working conditions.
Stoker reportedly told two vice presidents in May 2022 that then-CEO Bob Smith’s actions caused employees to “understand safety procedures to meet unreasonable deadlines.” “Frequently violates procedures and processes,” he said. The suit says Smith “exploded” when problems arose, creating a hostile work environment. Mr. Stoker sent a follow-up email containing a formal complaint against Mr. Smith to two vice presidents: Linda Koba, vice president of engine operations, and Mary Plunkett, senior vice president of human resources.
“Myself, my management team, and others within the company do not need to constantly apologize or make excuses to ourselves or our team for the CEO’s bad behavior,” the email said. There is. “We spend a significant amount of time trying to keep things running smoothly, boosting morale, repairing damage, and stopping people from overreacting. . . . Hostile work environment. . . . Our employees , creating a safety and quality risk to our products and customers.”
TechCrunch has reached out to Blue Origin for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
When Mr Stoker asked about a separate investigation into Mr Smith’s actions, Mr Plunkett said the investigation had concluded and Mr Smith was being “coached”.
Just months after filing a formal complaint, Stoker learned that a fellow employee had nearly suffocated while working under an engine nozzle. He expressed his concerns to Michael Stevens, vice president of safety and mission assurance. The complaint says Stoker was “ignored.” In August, Stoker sent another email to executives saying nine people on the engine team were working “over 24-hour” shifts to deliver engines on time to customer United Launch Alliance. expressed concern.
There is no doubt that the company was under pressure to deliver. Blue Origin’s BE-4 will power United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, which is expected to make its much-delayed debut around Christmas. According to the complaint, Blue Origin’s contract with ULA requires the company to provide one year’s notice of any issues that could affect the delivery of its rocket engines. Stoker wanted to tell ULA that the engine might be delayed.
However, Smith allegedly instructed Stoker not to share these production or delivery issues with ULA.
Ultimately, after an internal investigation, Blue Origin HR concluded that Mr. Smith did not create a hostile work environment or violate company policy. Stoker disagreed with this conclusion. Stoker later learned that officials from the engine program had not been interviewed as part of the investigation, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that the human resources department was reluctant to conduct an investigation because the accuser, Mr. Stalker, was a man. “Being a man, Human Resources expected him to deal with problems on his own and not do too much ‘whining,’ and Mr. Stoker was given no means or resources.” He expressed his concerns to the company’s most powerful executive. ”
Stoker was fired on October 7, seven months after he first raised safety concerns. The complaint makes clear who was behind this decision. “Smith spearheaded this termination due to complaints against Mr. Stoker, raising safety/ethics/legal issues, and the fact that many of these reports were intended to disrupt his production/delivery schedule. Ta. “
Blue Origin has announced that Bob Smith will step down as CEO in September after nearly six years. His tenure was a successful one, growing the team from less than 1,000 people to more than 12,000 people and signing numerous high-profile and high-paying contracts with NASA. But it has not been without serious controversy, including allegations of a culture of sexism among senior executives.
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