Silicon Valley Tech News Roundup – December 18th
NetChoice, a tech industry group, to sue California and try to block Age-Appropriate Design Code Act – 12/14
On Wednesday, NetChoice announced it would sue the State of California in a bid to block Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. NetChoice is a tech industry group that includes some of the biggest tech companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and TikTok. They claim Age-Appropriate Design Code Act violates First Amendment.
The proposed California law wants to ensure the Internet is safer for children by making companies turn on the highest privacy settings for minors by default. Likewise, the law stipulates that online services that target children under 18 need to assess the risk of harm to users that could come from harmful messages or exploitation.
NetChoice claims the new law harms minors, infringes on the First Amendment rights to free speech, and forces companies to guess the meaning of “inherently subjective terms.” Furthermore, the group states in its lawsuit: “The State is empowered to impose crushing financial penalties” if the companies guess incorrectly. Likewise, the suit says: “The State can also impose such penalties if companies fail to enforce their content moderation standards to the Attorney General’s satisfaction.” The group feels the law will produce an “overwhelming pressure to over-moderate content to avoid the law’s penalties for content the State deems harmful.” It will “stifle important resources, particularly for vulnerable youth who rely on the Internet for life-saving information.”
Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office emailed a statement defending the law. They claim the new regulation “provides critical new protections over the collection and use of their data and works to address some of the real and demonstrated harms associated with social media and other online products and services… We are reviewing the complaint and look forward to defending this important children’s safety law in court.”
Musk facing EU sanctions after banning journalists from Twitter – 12/16
On Friday, the European Union expressed its displeasure over Twitter suspending several journalists who cover Elon Musk and Twitter.
Vera Jourova (Vice President of values and transparency at the European Commission) wrote in a tweet: “Arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” and further said: “EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights…This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct. @elonmusk should be aware of that… There are red lines. And sanctions, soon.”
On Thursday, Twitter suspended several journalists from the New York Times and CNN. Musk defended the decision by claiming the journalists violated the company’s policy of “doxxing” (exposing identifiable information). Twitter also suspended @ElonJet, an account that tracks Musk’s jet using flight data available to the public.
Jourova did not elaborate further on the possible sanctions. But the EU’s Digital Services Act stipulates companies can be fined up to 6% of their global annual revenues if they fail to comply.
In other Twitter-related news, the company is banning users from sharing some Mastodon links in their bios and on the platform by calling the links “malware.” Mastodon emerged as the biggest social media rival to Twitter and gained hundreds of thousands of new users in November. Twitter also suspended Mastodon’s main account that advertised the platform and its features.
Sam Bankman-Fried to surrender himself for extradition – 12/17
Based on the report from CNBC, Sam Bankman-Fried will waive his extradition rights, after all, at the Bahamian court on Monday. His legal team stated he planned to fight extradition, and his court scheduled his next hearing for February 2023.
New York federal court indicted Bankman-Fried on Monday on several charges (wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud U. S.) Bankman-Fried could spend the rest of his life in prison if sentenced.
He is also facing charges from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission for working to defraud FTX customers since 2019.
The federal prosecutors allege Alameda Research (a crypto hedge fund) used FTX customers’ money for trading. It resulted in the loss of billions of dollars.
John Carmack leaves Meta – 12/16
Based on the report from Business Insider, John Carmack left Meta. Carmack confirmed the news via his Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Before his departure, Carmack sent out a memo to staff that was critical of Meta and its efforts in virtual reality. He praised the Q2 headset but criticized how the company operates.
Carmack stated: “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort… There is no way to sugar coat this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.” Further he added even though he was at the top level of the company, he was unable to move things along because he was “evidently not persuasive enough.” He concluded: “VR can bring value to most of the people in the world, and no company is better positioned to do it than Meta.”
Carmack joined Meta after Facebook purchased Oculus for $2 billion in 2014.
