Bloomberg: Senate Passes State Venue Antitrust Bill That Google Opposed. “The Senate passed legislation Tuesday evening to allow state attorneys general to pick the location where their federal antitrust suits are heard, a blow to Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which had opposed the bill.”
KHQA: Missouri A.G. sues Biden Administration officials for alleged social media censorship. “The Missouri Attorney General, alongside the Louisiana Attorney General, filed a lawsuit against several key players in the Biden Administration for ‘allegedly colluding with Social Media Giants’ in censoring conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media.”
CNN: Group of attorneys general announce investigation into TikTok’s impact on young Americans. “A nationwide group of state attorneys general announced an investigation into TikTok’s impact on young Americans Tuesday, adding to the steady drumbeat of political pressure being applied to social media platforms. The probe zeroes in on TikTok’s user engagement techniques and alleged risks that the platform may pose to the mental health of children, according to announcements by the states.”
Washington Post: Google deceived consumers about how it profits from their location data, attorneys general allege in lawsuits. “Attorneys general from D.C. and three states plan to sue Google on Monday, arguing that the search giant deceived consumers to gain access to their location data. The lawsuits, expected to be filed in the District of Columbia, Texas, Washington and Indiana, allege the company made misleading promises about its users’ ability to protect their privacy through Google account settings, dating to at least 2014. The suits seek to stop Google from engaging in these practices and to fine the company.”
Mashable: Meta is being investigated for alleged Oculus anti-trust violations. “Mark Zuckerberg can change his company’s name all he wants, but that won’t stop the government from looking into its business practices. The latest round of government probes into the company now known as Meta actually centers on Oculus, its VR hardware and software subsidiary, per Bloomberg. The FTC along with the state governments of New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee have spoken to VR developers about alleged antitrust violations.”
New York Attorney General: Attorney General James Issues Warnings to EZ Test NY and Keep Health Safe to Stop Misrepresenting Turnaround Times for COVID-19 Test Results. “New York Attorney General Letitia James yesterday issued two warning letters to two companies facilitating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing — EZ Test NY (a Brooklyn-based collection center) and Keep Health Safe (a Fort Lee, New Jersey-based collection center) — for not meeting promised turnaround times for test results.”
CNET: Instagram faces investigation over its impact on teens. “A group of state attorneys general said Thursday they’re investigating whether Meta, formerly known as Facebook, violated state consumer protection law by promoting its social media app Instagram to children and teens even though it knew of the service’s harms.”
CNN: Ohio Attorney General sues Meta over revelations from the ‘Facebook Papers’. “Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Monday announced that he is suing Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook, based on revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen and the trove of internal company documents she leaked.”
Reuters: Fourteen U.S. attorneys general press Facebook on vaccine disinformation. “The attorneys general of 14 U.S. states sent a letter to Facebook Inc FB.O Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg asking if the top disseminators of vaccine disinformation on the platform received special treatment from the company. The line of inquiry was generated after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen used internal documents to disclose that the social media platform has built a system that exempts high-profile users from some or all of its rules.”
Associated Press: Washington AG: Facebook gave false info in campaign suit. “Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson says a Facebook representative provided false testimony in a lawsuit that accuses the company of violating state campaign finance laws. The Seattle Times reports that in court filings the Democratic attorney general says both the social media giant and its attorneys knew the testimony was false.”
Washington Post: Facebook whistleblower eyes state AGs, expanding regulatory threat beyond Washington . “State attorneys general played a critical role in curtailing the power of the tobacco industry. Now lawyers representing Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen are targeting attorneys general in states like California and Massachusetts in the hopes they could play a similar role in imposing limits on the social network.”
The Advocate: How Jeff Landry’s efforts to undermine COVID prevention set him apart from fellow Republicans. “Amid often strong disagreements among Republicans at the local and national level over how best to respond to a deadly and crippling pandemic, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has rarely wavered in his skepticism. Nearly since the beginning, he has publicly challenged the advice of medical experts, whether the subject was the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, the necessity of masks or the risks of the vaccine.”
New York Times: States say they will appeal the dismissal of their Facebook antitrust suit.. “More than 40 state attorneys general on Wednesday said they planned to appeal the dismissal of their antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, setting up a protracted legal fight to rein in the power of the Silicon Valley giant.”
New York Times: Four States Start Inquiries Into Recurring Donation Tactics of Both Parties. “Four state attorneys general have begun looking into the online fund-raising practices of both political parties, specifically seeking information about the use of prechecked boxes to enroll contributors in recurring donation programs that spurred a wave of fraud complaints and demands for refunds last year.”
Engadget: 36 states launch antitrust suit against Google over the Play Store. “Politico reports 36 states and Washington DC have banded together to sue the company over its handling of the Play Store. They say Google’s control over the marketplace violates US antitrust law. The bipartisan group of attorneys general behind the suit filed the case in the same California federal court where Judge James Donato is scheduled to hire Epic’s suit against Google over Fortnite’s removal from the Play Store last year.”
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