U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby for Utah scheduled a video hearing for Monday at 3:30 p.m. MDT in NetChoice’s challenge of Utah’s newly enacted Minor Protection in Social Media Act, said a text-only notice Wednesday (docket 2:23-cv-00911). NetChoice is seeking a two-week deadline extension, to July 12, to reply in support of its motion for a preliminary injunction to block Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes (R) from enforcing the statute when it takes effect Oct. 1 (see 2406110004).
Digital media company Meet Kevin sued CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery for refusing to offer social media companies broadcast licenses for the CNN presidential debate that was set for Thursday between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, said an antitrust complaint Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-05441) in U.S. District Court for Central California.
Real estate marketplace company Zillow Group disclosed the personally identifiable information (PII) and viewing history of visitors to its website, without their valid consent, alleged a Video Privacy Protection Act class action Tuesday (docket 3:24-cv-01095) in U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego.
The FCC, intervenors and amici who benefit from E-rate funding contend that authorizing Wi-Fi on school buses will advance students’ education, but there’s “powerful and growing evidence to doubt that claim,” petitioners Maurine and Matthew Molak said in their 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court reply brief Monday (docket 23-60641).
The 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court was "wrong" when it affirmed a district court’s “sweeping” preliminary injunction that barred dozens of White House officials and four federal agencies from coercing social media platforms to moderate their content, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a 6-3 decision Wednesday in Murthy v. Missouri (docket 23-411).
Though TikTok claims publicly to be committed to maintaining a safe and secure online environment, the platform “prioritizes profits and market growth over app safety,” alleged New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella (R) in a complaint Tuesday in New Hampshire Superior Court in Merrimack. TikTok misleads New Hampshire’s children and their parents “by lying about its ability to effectively moderate and maintain a safe digital environment for children,” said the complaint. TikTok’s features “exploit children’s underdeveloped psychological and neurological controls to lock young users into cycles of excessive and unhealthy usage of social media apps,” it said. “The consequences for New Hampshire’s children are devastating,” it said. TikTok’s business practices “are driving record levels of mental health problems, not to mention fueling body dysmorphia, pedophilia, and dangerous, sometimes illegal behaviors” in New Hampshire, it said. While excessive use is “highly lucrative” for TikTok, it’s “incredibly harmful to young users,” it said. Kids ages 13-17 “report using social media at a near-universal rate, with as many as 30% characterizing their own usage of social media as excessive,” it said. The eight-count complaint alleges that TikTok’s conduct constitutes multiple violations of New Hampshire’s consumer protection statute and common laws. The suit asks the court to permanently enjoin TikTok from engaging in the unlawful acts alleged, including its “deceptive and unfair acts and practices.”
NetChoice is seeking summary judgment for a second time as it aims to permanently block SB-396, Arkansas’ age verification Social Media Safety Act. The law violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague, the association’s brief said Friday (docket 5:23-cv-05105) in U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Azuki, Web3 anime platform, hires CJ ENM's Steve Chung, also former Fox, as its first chief operating officer ... Roar Social, Gen Z social media platform, promotes Mike Dodge to president-chief operating officer ... Workday elects Sutter Hill Ventures Managing Director Michael Speiser, also Snowflake founding CEO, to its board as an independent director ... Enzoic, dark web intelligence platform, announces co-founder Kristen Ranta Haikal Wilson as its new CEO, replacing Michael Greene, remaining with Enzoic as an adviser and board member ... Quantum computing company IonQ promotes Dean Kassmann to senior vice president-engineering and technology ... Reco, SaaS security provider, names Merritt Baer, ex-Lacework, chief information security officer ... New additions at video platform HeyGen: Dave King, ex-Asana, as chief business officer; Ron Yang, ex-Hubspot, as chief technology officer; and Lavanya Poreddy, ex-Wipro, as head-trust and safety ... Zeta Global elects Imran Khan, Proem Asset Manager founder-chief investment officer, to its board.
The federal TikTok ban that takes effect Jan. 19 is “unprecedented” because Congress has never “expressly singled out and shut down a specific speech forum,” said TikTok/ByteDance's opening brief Thursday (docket 24-1113) in the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit challenging the ban’s constitutionality (see 2405070045).
International Intellectual Property Alliance appoints Pete Mehravari, previously leading the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Global Intellectual Property Academy, as director-policy and legal affairs ... Bosch advances Paul Thomas to president-Bosch in North America, effective Sept. 1, replacing Mike Mansuetti, retiring and becoming adviser ... 8x8 adds Andrew Burton, Rapid7 president-chief operating officer, to its board ... PayPal taps Walmart’s Srini Venkatesan as chief technology officer, effective Monday; current CTO Archie Deskus has decided to leave PayPal ... Bitly hires Lauren Schuman, ex-Mural, as vice president-product growth, and Manu Jain, ex-Wayfair and former Meta, as vice president-data, and promotes Kelsey Stevenson to chief product and technology officer, and Raphael Syed to vice president-engineering ... New board members at Roar Social, Gen Z social media platform: Mary Lou Song, AiiM Partners operating partner; Sanford Climan, Entertainment Media Ventures CEO; and James Fielding, president, Archer Gray's Co-Lab division, also former Disney Stores Worldwide and Fox Networks Group ... Converge Technology Solutions adds former Microsoft Corporate Vice President Gayle Morris and Mary Hassett, current Lam Research senior vice president-chief of human resources, to its board ... Seclore, data-centric cybersecurity provider, appoints Egnyte’s Ramin Farassat, also former Cisco, as chief product officer.