Tag: law
A new California law will require social media platforms to add more ‘protections’ for children
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a new bill that could upend how social media platforms deal with underage users. The bill, known as AB 2273, “requires online platforms to consider the best interest of child users and to default to privacy and safety settings that protect children’s mental and physical health and wellbeing,” according to a press release from Newsom’s office.
The law, which won’t go into effect until July of 2024, is meant to place further restrictions on the type of data that platforms can collect from children. From Newsom’s press release: “AB 2273 prohibits companies that provide online services, products or features likely to be accessed by children from using a child’s personal information; collecting, selling, or retaining a child’s geolocation; profiling a child by default; and leading or encouraging children to provide personal information.”
However, it’s still not yet clear exactly what this will mean on a practical level for social media, games and other online platforms. And the bill has already faced sharp criticism from privacy advocates as well as the tech industry.
One criticism, backed by digital rights groups, is that requiring companies to identify child users could harm the privacy of everyone, not just kids. “The bill is so vaguely and broadly written that it will almost certainly lead to widespread use of invasive age verification techniques that subject children (and everyone else) to more surveillance while claiming to protect their privacy,” Fight For the Future wrote in a statement denouncing the bill. “Requiring age verification also makes it nearly impossible to use online services anonymously, which threatens freedom of expression, particularly for marginalized communities, human rights activists, whistleblowers, and journalists.”
Newsom’s office said in a statement that a “Children’s Data Protection Working Group” would write a report on “best practices” for implementing the law by January 2024.
The California law comes as pressure has mounted on social media companies to do more to protect the privacy and wellbeing of children who use their platforms. Lawmakers in the Senate have also proposed federal legislation that would increase data protections for younger users and President Joe Biden has said he supports banning online advertising that targets children.
New On Disney Plus In October 2022: Andor Season 1, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Finale
Hulu is getting even bigger in October, with more new movies and TV shows to watch–including original content. October means Halloween, Hulu is of course getting lots of horror picks, although there is also some nice variety with some comedy and also anime picks deserving of your attention.
Although the next Star Wars Disney+ series, Andor, hasn’t yet premiered–it will debut on September 21 with its first three episodes available to stream–by the time we hit October, it’ll be airing new episodes weekly on Wednesdays . In October, then, you can plan on that day of the week to follow along with the show as it continues from Episode 5 on October 5. In the show’s final and recently released trailer, it’s set up that the Empire is firmly in control of the galaxy, and we’re in the era of the spark of the rebellion. Taking place prior to the events of Rogue One, Andor follows Diego Luna as the titular character, and this final trailer gives us a good idea of where the show is going. The show is already gearing up to start filming Season 2.
Also continuing on Disney+ in October is She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, a show that smashes the typical workplace comedy. Episode 8 lands on October 6, and the finale of the season followers a week later on October 13. In his review for GameSpot, Chris E. Hayner says the comedy is well “worth your time once you get past the first episode” and what follows is a “very engaging and entertaining legal comedy with an MCU twist.” The show centers on Jennifer Walters, who has some of her cousin Bruce Banner’s blood mixed in with hers, but instead of finding her life ruled by rage she is much more interested in continuing her law career. She wants nothing more than to be a successful lawyer.
The Shaky Future of a Post-Roe Federal Privacy Law
California Governor Signs Law Requiring Social Networks To Post Moderation Rules
Newsom’s office billed the law as a “first-of-its-kind social media transparency measure” aimed at fighting extremism. In a statement, he said that “California will not stand by as social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation that threaten our communities and foundational values as a country.” But the transparency measures are similar to those of several other proposals, including parts of two currently blocked laws in Texas and Florida. (Ironically, the other parts of these bills are aimed at preventing companies from removing conservative content that frequently runs afoul of hate speech and disinformation rules.) Courts haven’t necessarily concluded that the First Amendment blocks social media transparency rules. But the rules still raise red flags. Depending on how they’re defined, they could require companies to disclose unpublished rules that help bad actors game the system. And the bill singles out specific categories of “awful but lawful” content — like racism and misinformation — that’s harmful but often constitutionally protected, potentially putting a thumb on the speech scale.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple kept its ‘Dynamic Island’ secret thanks to Jamaican trademark law
![iPhone 14 Pro featuring the](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/05xaDvHyHyyM1BpOG7v9HR8/hero-image.jpg)
Apple went to great lengths to keep the “Dynamic Island” a secret from trademark sleuths.
According to a tweet from Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, the tech giant, which announced the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro this week, filed the trademark in Jamaica because of its unusual laws. Why did Apple make this curiously extreme move? Well, in order to search for trademarks filed in the Caribbean island, you must physically visit the country’s trademark and patent office, said Gurman.
The secret trademark was filed on July 12 and was only revealed because Apple recently filed in New Zealand where the application is “searchable online,” he continued in a threaded tweet.
It’s pretty standard for tech companies to get creative about where and how they file trademarks. According to earlier reporting from Gurman, Google and Amazon have also registered names in foreign countries “without searchable trademark databases.” For the launch of the iPad, Apple encased that trademark application within shell companies. This is done to keep developments secret from competitors, but also from eagle-eyed Apple reporters and savvy enthusiasts. Recently, leaked trademarks for “Reality Pro,” Apple’s purported mixed-reality headset have popped up because they were filed globally.
But given the publicity the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island would generate, Apple took things a step further. The iPhone notch has long been a hated aspect of the iPhone’s design for the way it cuts into the screen. Android smartphone makers found various solutions around this by nestling cameras and sensors into the screen years ago, which made Apple users hopeful the notch would someday disappear. But, instead, Apple came up with a solution that no one saw coming: It turned the notch into an “island,” and made it functional. This solution even impressed critics who have complained about Apple’s slowing innovation.
Now that its magic trick has been revealed, will Apple still be able to surprise the public? It’s time for trademark sleuths to step up their game.
Bill of Rights: Liz Truss shelves plans to reform human rights law
Barrister strike: Criminal law is not dying, it’s dead, says barrister
Facebook ‘Repeatedly and Intentionally’ Violated Washington’s Political Ad Law, Judge Rules
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, repeatedly and intentionally violated Washington campaign-ad transparency law and must pay penalties yet to be determined, a judge ruled Friday.
The court also denied Meta’s attempt to invalidate Washington’s decades-old transparency law, according to Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office has repeatedly sued Meta over its failure to abide by the law…. In a statement, Ferguson said his office defeated Facebook’s “cynical attempt” to gut Washington’s campaign-finance transparency law. “On behalf of the people of Washington, I challenge Facebook to accept this decision and do something very simple — follow the law,” he said.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington’s transparency law, originally passed by voters through an initiative in 1972, requires ad sellers such as Meta to disclose the names and addresses of political ad buyers, the targets of such ads and the total number of views of each ad.
Meta says that rather than comply with the law, Facebook has stopped serving campaign ads altogether in Washington, GeekWire reports, “after determining that the company wouldn’t be able to reasonably comply with the law.”
But “The current suit against Meta, filed in April 2020, asserts that the company continued to accept political ads in the state after promising to stop.”
The judge will now consider fines and a potential injunction against the social media giant, reported Eli Sanders, a Seattle journalist who covered the dispute for years for The Stranger newspaper and more recently in his Wild West newsletter….
In court filings, Meta called Washington state “an outlier,” arguing that the disclosure law violates the First Amendment by unfairly targeting political speech, and imposing onerous timelines for disclosing what Meta considers unreasonable degrees of detail to people who request information about political ads.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
California Passes Law Requiring Companies to Post Salary Ranges on Job Listings
If the California and New York governors, who are both Democrats, sign the pending laws, almost a quarter of the US population will live in states with such salary disclosure requirements. The California Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill, even after lawmakers stripped a requirement that would make all pay data public. New York City’s rule also faced business pushback, which delayed enforcement by six months. “I think this becomes a tipping point, frankly,” said Christine Hendrickson, the vice president of strategic initiatives at Syndio, which provides software that helps employers identify pay disparities. “It’s at this point that employers are going to stop going jurisdiction by jurisdiction and start looking for a nationwide strategy.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.