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Summary List PlacementMicrosoft employees publicly criticized the company on Tuesday for claiming it supports the peaceful transition of power from President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden — while it also quietly donates money to politicians who oppose that transition. Microsoft president Brad Smith on Monday signed an open letter from 170 business leaders urging Congress to certify Joe Biden's electoral college win, which...

Summary List PlacementGovernment-imposed internet blackouts increased in length by 49% in 2020 compared to 2019, per research by digital security and rights nonprofit Top10VPN. According to Top10VPN's report, 93 major internet shutdowns took place in 21 countries around the world in 2020, including internet throttling — i.e. the only internet available was 2G — as well as social media shutdowns and full internet blackouts....

Summary List PlacementWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not be extradited to the US due to potential risks to his wellbeing. UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser on Monday morning ruled the Wikileaks founder would be at risk of self-harm and suicide if extradited to the US.  "I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him...

Summary List PlacementTikTok is facing the prospect of legal action from a 12-year-old English girl over whether the way it handles children's data violates European Union and UK privacy laws. The girl, who on Wednesday won the right to remain anonymous should she bring a case against the shortform-video company, is being supported by England's children's commissioner, Anne Longfield. Per the BBC, Longfield told...

Summary List Placement State-backed Russian hackers were planning to attack the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo before it was postponed, the UK announced on Monday. "Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, conducted cyber reconnaissance against officials and organisations at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to take place in Tokyo this summer before they were postponed," the UK government said in a press...

Summary List Placement   The EU is looking to give itself sweeping new powers to crack down on US tech giants, EU commissioner Thierry Breton revealed to The Financial Times in an interview Sunday. Breton told the FT the new powers the EU is seeking include punitive measures such as forcing tech companies to break off and sell their European operations should their market dominance grow...

Summary List Placement Donald Trump is trying to replace an FCC member who displeased him by questioning his executive order on social media. The president on Wednesday nominated White House official Nathan Simington to join the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Simington is currently an adviser to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The Verge reported last week that Simington was in the running...

On July 14, the UK announced that from next year it will be illegal for telecoms operators to buy 5G equipment from Huawei. Operators must remove all existing Huawei 5G kit by 2027. The Observer reports that, in the days before the announcement, government officials briefed Huawei that the motivations behind the decision were partly geopolitical. The Trump administration was exerting pressure on the...

Disney has slashed its advertising budget on Facebook, the Wall Street Journal reports. The news comes after more than 500 advertisers suspended ads on Facebook as part of an industry boycott of the platform over its stance on hate speech. Disney was the single biggest advertiser on Facebook in the first half of this year, according to analysis by research firm Pathmatics Inc. Visit Business...

University of Washington scientists have designed a wireless camera that can fit on the back of a beetle. Researcher Vikram Iyer told Business Insider it's an important step forward for developing wireless camera technology, because although cameras on smartphones are also small, they are connected to bigger processors and batteries. Next the team is looking at attaching the cameras to moths and spiders. Visit...

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Friday. Sign up here to get this email in your inbox every morning. The FBI is leading an inquiry into the colossal Twitter hack that impacted high-profile accounts on Wednesday. The hackers posted tweets through the hijacked accounts asking people to donate Bitcoin to cryptocurrency addresses.  Cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs thinks the...

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday. Dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts, including Obama, Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Kanye, were hacked in a colossal bitcoin scam. The scammers may have made off with as much as $120,000. Twitter says the bitcoin hackers gained access to its "internal systems and tools." The company appeared to discount allegations...

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday. The UK government announced it will remove Huawei from its 5G network by 2027, and telecoms companies will be banned from purchasing Huawei 5G equipment from next year. UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the decision was due to major sanctions imposed on the Chinese firm by the US government. Amazon...

On June 21 2019, Myanmar imposed a total internet blackout on mobile internet in nine cities and townships in the states of Rakhine and Chin. The blackout remains in place for eight of those areas and is so severe that some villages in the vicinity are completely unaware of the coronavirus pandemic, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Rakhine and Chin are conflict...

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt told the BBC that Chinese tech giant Huawei has compromised US national security. Schmidt is an advisor on the US government's Defense Innovation Board. The US government has repeatedly accused Huawei of spying for the Chinese government, which Huawei denies. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt thinks China has used tech giant Huawei...

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday. The Justice Department proposed a measure that would roll back protections for internet companies such as Facebook and Twitter. The proposal would weaken Section 230, the law that protects internet companies from being held liable for other people's posts on their platforms as long as they make a good faith effort...

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday. The European Commission opened two simultaneous antitrust investigations into Apple on Tuesday. The probes will center on Apple Pay and the App Store's terms and conditions. Amazon announced it is putting AI cameras in some of its warehouses to see if workers are adhering to social distancing. When employees walk past...

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is reportedly willing to testify before Congress after the company initially resisted making him available to address antitrust concerns. Lawmakers have threatened to subpoena Bezos, forcing him to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. GitHub, the world's largest site for hosting open-source software, is working to replace...