The Hill - Policy Technology

Hillicon Valley: QAnon followers struggle to explain Biden inauguration | Trump pardons ...

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 23:22:01 GMT

Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill's newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you don’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter with this LINK.Welcome! Follow our cyber...

Twitch suspends Trump account indefinitely

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 23:09:48 GMT

Twitch, the popular livestreaming app, has indefinitely banned former President Trump's account, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday."We have indefinitely suspended President Trump’s Twitch channel due to the ongoing risk of...

QAnon followers struggle to explain Biden inauguration

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 20:33:49 GMT

President Biden's swearing-in as the nation's 46th president has punctured the hopes of some QAnon followers who pushed the conspiracy theory that claimed former President Trump would remain in office and arrest top Democrats on Wednesday....

Recruitment message hidden on new White House site

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 20:17:57 GMT

President Biden’s administration is reportedly looking to draft tech experts for a federal agency through a hidden message on the new official White House site. The www.whitehouse.gov website included a message hidden in its HTML code...

Amazon offers to help Biden with vaccine distribution

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 20:11:39 GMT

Amazon sent a letter to President Biden in his first hours of office Wednesday offering to assist the new administration with its coronavirus vaccine distribution. Dave Clark, Amazon's CEO of consumer business, said the company is willing...

Twitter turns over official White House handles to Biden administration

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 17:22:41 GMT

Twitter officially turned over the institutional White House accounts to the Biden administration on Wednesday.President Biden will now have access to the @POTUS account and Vice President Harris will have @VP. Accounts for the White House, press...

Trump pardons ex-Google, Uber engineer who plead guilty to stealing trade secrets

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 16:53:08 GMT

President Trump early Wednesday pardoned former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski, who was indicted in 2019 for stealing trade secrets from Google’s self-driving cars program. Levandowski was pardoned by Trump as part of over 100...

Right-wing extremists, including man arrested after Capitol riot, using Christian fundraising ...

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 16:11:52 GMT

Right-wing extremists, including at least one man arrested after the Capitol riot, are making use of Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo.com, including to raise money for the Jan. 6 protest that preceded the assault, CNN reported on Wednesday.&...

YouTube extends Trump ban for another week

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:05:21 GMT

YouTube has extended the ban on new uploads to President Trump’s account for another week, one day before he officially leaves office and President-elect Joe Biden assumes power.A Google spokesperson told The Hill that "in light of...

Hillicon Valley: Biden picks stress need for cybersecurity in confirmation hearings | FTC ...

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 22:31:27 GMT

Facebook has no current plan to end the Trump suspension

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 21:15:12 GMT

Facebook reportedly has no plans to lift President Trump’s suspension from the social media network even after he leaves the White House.NBC News reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the company's plans, that Trump’s account&...

Progressive groups warn against appointing tech insiders to key antitrust roles

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:33:17 GMT

A coalition of 40 anti-monopoly groups are urging the incoming Biden administration against appointing former Big Tech employees to key antitrust roles in the government.“We believe that appointing antitrust enforcers with no ties to dominant...

Poll: Most Americans want legislation governing social media policies

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:23:46 GMT

A majority of Americans believe that lawmakers should pass legislation governing how social media companies police content posted on their platforms, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey released exclusively to The Hill. ...

FTC chairman Simons to step down this month

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 17:19:19 GMT

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Joseph Simons said Tuesday he would be resigning from the government agency later this month.Simons said his resignation, announced a day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, will be effective...

Biden Intel chief nominee Avril Haines pledges public report on QAnon threat

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 17:15:41 GMT

Avril Haines, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, vowed Tuesday to produce a public assessment of threats posed by proponents of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon if confirmed by the...

Parler receiving Russian firm's services as it gears up to relaunch

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 16:30:05 GMT

Parler is receiving services from a Russian-based technology firm as the social media platform gears up to relaunch after being pulled from Amazon Web Services, the Russian company confirmed Tuesday. Parler reappeared online Sunday with a...

Facebook to appoint local rep in Turkey to comply with social media law

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 17:32:42 GMT

Facebook announced Monday that it has begun the process of appointing a legal representative in Turkey in order to comply with a new social media law in the country.The law gives authorities the ability to remove content from platforms, Reuters...

Parler's website reappears online

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 23:03:25 GMT

The website for the social media platform Parler reappeared on Sunday after Amazon last week suspended the site from its web hosting service. The website shared a new message from Parler CEO John Matze asking “Hello world, is this thing on?”&...

Twitter temporarily suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene over 'multiple' policy violations

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 22:02:39 GMT

Twitter said Sunday that it had temporarily suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) following "multiple" violations of the platform's content policy.In a statement to The Hill, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed that "the...

Facebook temporarily bans ads for weapons accessories following Capitol riots

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 03:55:45 GMT

Facebook is temporarily banning advertisements for weapons accessories and protective gear amid the fallout from the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol and days before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. The platform said in a blog post...