Rebecca Slaughter’s return-to-work orders have been put on hold for the second time this year, after the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in to block a lower court ruling that ordered her reinstatement at the Federal Trade Commission. Last week a lower court ruled that Slaughter had been illegally fired by President Donald Trump, citing a…
Category: FTC
Asia Pacific, FTC, Global Security News, privacy
FTC announces settlement with toy robot makers that tracked location of children
The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement Tuesday with a Chinese robot toy manufacturer, following an investigation that charged the company with illegally collecting the location data of U.S. children who buy its products. In a complaint filed in the U.S. Northern District Court of California, the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC…
FTC, Global Security News, Government, humphrey's executor, North America, Trump Administration, U.S. Supreme Court
Court rules ‘fired’ FTC commissioners be reinstated — again
For the second time, a court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s attempted firing of Federal Trade Commission members Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya was illegal and ordered the agency to reinstate the commissioners. By law, the FTC governs by a bipartisan 3-2 split, with the president’s party getting an extra seat and controlling the…
AI, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, deepfakes, FTC, Global Security News, Government, North America, Take It Down Act
FTC wants a new, segregated software system to police deepfake porn
The head of the Federal Trade Commission described to lawmakers Thursday new technology, personnel and infrastructure the agency needs as it prepares to implement and enforce the Take It Down Act, placing the FTC’s enforcement wing at the forefront of the fight against nonconsensual deepfake pornography. The FTC’s proposed budget holds funding at $425.7 million,…
Commerce, FTC, Global Security News, Government & Policy, negative option rule
FTC delays enforcement of click-to-cancel rule
The Federal Trade Commission voted Friday to delay enforcement of the Negative Option Rule — known widely as the “click-to-cancel” rule requiring that companies make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up. The rule, which was first announced in 2023, took aim at businesses selling physical and digital goods…
antitrust, Apps, Facebook, FTC, Global Security News, lawsuit, Meta, Social, TikTok
New court filing shows that Meta execs agreed that Facebook was losing to TikTok
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, and other Meta execs thought that TikTok was beating Meta at its own game. That’s according to a new filing in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant, published on Monday. The document, dated February 2022, includes conversations among a number of Meta…
AI, Congress, deepfakes, FTC, Global Security News, Government, Technology
House passes legislation to criminalize nonconsensual deepfakes
The House passed a bill Monday evening that would criminalize using a person’s likeness to create nonconsensual deepfake pornography. The Take It Down Act sailed through the chamber on a vote of 402-2, marking one of the first major pieces of legislation passed by Congress to address AI-generated deepfakes. The bill makes it a federal…
Apps, FTC, Global Security News, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta
Mark Zuckerberg really wants to make Facebook cool again
In an ongoing antitrust case, the Federal Trade Commission says that Meta has a monopoly on “personal social networking services” and should have to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. Throughout the proceedings, there have been several internal messages and plans that have come to light. In one, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg considered wiping all Facebook…
FTC, Global Security News, Meta, Social
Mark Zuckerberg once suggested spinning out Instgram as a solution to its ‘cannibalization’ of Facebook
In an internal email surfaced as part of the Meta antitrust trial, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg fretted about the potential that the company’s Instagram acquisition may cannibalize Facebook. Were that to happen, it could lead to the “network collapse of the more engaging and profitable product,” a worried Zuckerberg told other Meta executives in a…
FTC, Global Security News, Meta, Social
Mark Zuckerberg once suggested spinning out Instagram as a solution to its ‘cannibalization’ of Facebook
In an internal email surfaced as part of the Meta antitrust trial, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg fretted about the potential that the company’s Instagram acquisition may cannibalize Facebook. Were that to happen, it could lead to the “network collapse of the more engaging and profitable product,” a worried Zuckerberg told other Meta executives in a…
FTC, Global Security News, Government & Policy, ridehail, Transportation, Uber, uber one
Feds accuse Uber of charging customers for subscriptions without consent
The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Monday against Uber, alleging the ride-hail and delivery giant charged customers for its Uber One subscription service without their consent. The lawsuit also claims Uber failed to deliver the savings promised in its subscription service and made it unreasonably difficult for users to cancel despite its “cancel anytime”…
Apps, Facebook, FTC, Global Security News, Instagram, Social, TikTok
Mark Zuckerberg says TikTok slowed Meta’s growth
In Meta’s antitrust trial on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified that TikTok’s success was a risk to Meta’s business, saying the short-form video app was a “top priority” and a “highly urgent” competitive threat when it arrived in 2018, according to Bloomberg and other outlets. The reports come from a packed first week of…
FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Government & Policy, Trump
Trump fires FTC commissioners, setting up a legal battle
President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, setting up a challenge to a 1935 Supreme Court precedent prohibiting the firing of FTC commissioners for reasons other than “good cause.” The White House terminated commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya earlier Tuesday, The New York Times reported. In…
FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Government & Policy, Lina Khan
FTC removes posts critical of big tech from its website
The FTC has removed over 300 blog posts published during the agency’s leadership under former chair Lina Khan, Wired reports. These include posts that are critical of companies like Amazon and Microsoft for their handling of customer data. The FTC did not respond to a request for comment. As FTC chair during the Biden years,…
Asia Pacific, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, FCC, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), FTC, Global Security News, imessage, Palo Alto Networks, Scam, Social Engineering, Threat Intelligence, Threats, Unit 42
Who is sending those scammy text messages about unpaid tolls?
It’s not just you. Seemingly everyone is getting those text messages that serve as a notification of an unpaid toll road violation. The past due is usually less than $25, but is often paired with threats of excessive penalties, suspended vehicle registrations and threats to report the fare to state motor vehicle agencies. None of…
FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Scam, Security
FTC says Americans lost $12.5B to scams last year — social media, AI, and crypto didn’t help
You’re not the only one getting voicemails about your car’s extended warranty. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), about 2.6 million people submitted reports on falling victim to fraud in 2024, totaling $12.5 billion in losses. That’s a big jump from $2.5 billion lost in 2023, when the FTC received roughly the same…
FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Government & Policy, Social, social media
Trump’s FTC is looking into censorship on tech platforms
The Federal Trade Commission announced on Thursday that it will launch a public inquiry into “censorship by tech platforms,” soliciting comments from people who feel they have been demonetized, banned, or otherwise censored due to their speech or affiliations. “Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson in a statement.…
AI, Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Enterprise, FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Google, Government & Policy, Microsoft, openai
FTC says partnerships like Microsoft-OpenAI raise antitrust concerns
The Federal Trade Commission said in a staff report issued Friday that there are potential competitive issues in partnerships between big tech companies and generative AI developers — specifically, Microsoft’s backing of OpenAI and Amazon and Alphabet/Google’s partnerships with Anthropic. “The FTC’s report sheds light on how partnerships by big tech firms can create lock-in,…
AI, Apps, FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Government & Policy, order, startup, Startups, web accessibility
FTC orders AI accessibility startup accessiBe to pay $1M for misleading advertising
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has fined accessiBe, a startup that claims to make websites more compatible with the screen readers blind people rely on to access the internet, for false advertising and compensating reviewers without disclosing that it sponsored the reviews. In a proposed order, the FTC would require accessiBe to pay $1 million…
acquisition, antitrust, Cloud, Enterprise, FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, HashiCorp, IBM, In Brief, investigation, Merger, Software, takeover, uk
UK antitrust watchdog launches review of IBM’s HashiCorp takeover
The Competition and Markets Authority, the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog, has opened an investigation into whether IBM’s planned acquisition of cloud software vendor HashiCorp would affect competition. The CMA said Monday it was inviting comment on the merger from interested parties by January 16. The regulator set a provisional February 25 deadline to decide whether to…
Apps, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Government & Policy, grubhub, In Brief
Grubhub to pay $25M for ‘deceptive’ practices against customers, drivers
Grubhub will pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul over unlawful practices, including misleading customers about delivery costs, deceiving drivers about potential earnings, and listing restaurants on its platform without their permission. The agencies claim that Grubhub hid the true cost of its delivery…
Apps, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Global IT News, Global Security News, Government & Policy, junk fees, Lina Khan
FTC bans hidden junk fees in short-term lodging, live-event ticket prices
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission passed a rule on Tuesday banning hidden “junk fees” for live events, hotels, and vacation rentals. The agency says the new rule prohibits “bait-and-switch pricing,” and other practices that hide total prices and bury junk fees in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries, noting that these “unfair and deceptive”…