Facebook, Instagram ‘breeding ground’ for crypto scams, Democrats warn

In recent months, the Federal Trade Commission has reported that social media is increasingly becoming a prime target for scammers, especially those looking to cash in on the crypto mania sweeping the country.

In June, the agency released data showing that nearly half of the people who reported losing money via a crypto scam since 2021 said they came from a social media platform. “Reports point to social media and crypto as a combustible combination for fraud,” the agency wrote.

The agency said crypto was the most common form of payment for social media fraud, and an increase in cases has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars lost to consumers.

The FTC noted that three of the top four platforms singled out in these cases were owned by Meta. Instagram was mentioned in 32 percent of reported crypto scams on social media, while Facebook and WhatsApp were cited 26 percent and 9 percent of the time, respectively.

“Based on recent reports of scams on other social media platforms and apps, we are concerned that Meta is providing a breeding ground for cryptocurrency scams that cause significant harm to consumers.” the senators, led by Sen. Robert Menendez (DN.J.), wrote in a letter shared exclusively with The Technology 202.

The missive urges Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for details by October 24 the company’s crypto fraud policy, what steps it is taking to help victims of fraud and law enforcement pursuing cases, and whether the company is taking any steps to proactively detect fraud.

The letter was co-signed by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Cory Booker (DN. J.).

“Fraudulent ads violate our advertising guidelines and harm our business by negatively impacting people’s experiences,” says Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.

Stone added: “The people behind fraudulent ads use different methods and channels to reach victims across the internet, and we invest significant resources to detect and prevent fraud on our platforms.”

Lawmakers also pressed the tech giant on whether it offers “warnings or educational materials regarding crypto scams in languages ​​other than English.”

The subject is a major focus of the FTC’s newest commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya.

Bedoya said in his debut speech that “platforms have repeatedly refused to answer questions from Congress about how many staff they use to monitor fraud in languages ​​other than English.” He added: “It’s not good. It has to change.”

In his first media interview after arriving at FTC, Bedoya told me he plans to “do everything I can to try to get answers to questions related to fraud” from technology companies.

A key obstacle to oversight, he said, is having enough staff fluent in other languages ​​who are able to track fraud cases and follow up with enforcement action when necessary.

“I’m trying to make sure that people can report fraud in the language in which they experienced it, their primary language, that we can read it in that language, that we track the number of cases … where the underlying fraud or behavior was in a language other than English, he said.

Diversifying the agency’s workforce is critical, Bedoya added.

“We need to do a lot better on this, and it can’t be where we have divisions where we don’t have detectives who are fluent in Spanish,” he said.

Menendez and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have separately pressed Facebook and other tech companies about their efforts to curb misinformation in Spanish, including by demanding information on how many employees they use for the cause

The journalism competition bill tabled after the Senate’s markings

A bill to allow news outlets to join forces to negotiate terms with online platforms was delayed indefinitely Thursday after Senate Republicans successfully amended it to target accusations of “censorship” on social media. Josh Sisco and Brendan Bordelon report.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, S.673, has received bipartisan support but has faced conflicting criticism from consumer advocates who say it would have a chilling effect on content moderation and from conservatives who say it would enable collusion by news outlets and technology companies. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), who co-sponsored the legislation, voted for the amendment, which passed 11-10.

“The deal we had is blown,” the senator said. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who co-sponsored the bill. She temporarily withdrew the bill from consideration.

White House Announces Principles of Technical Accountability

The Biden administration released the six principles after meeting with the DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) and technology experts, the White House said in a statement. The principles cover competition, federal privacy rules, stronger protections for children online, removing protections for technology platforms such as Section 230, increasing transparency about algorithms and content moderation, and ending algorithmic discrimination.

“These principles are the culmination of months of work by the administration and engagement with a variety of stakeholders,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre so. “We look forward to hearing feedback from the technology companies.”

Truth Social in limbo as critical shareholder meeting delayed

Special acquisitions company Digital World Acquisition postponed an important meeting by a month, throwing out the most important supporter of the former president Donald Trumphis social media venture in doubt, Drew Harwell reports. The company needs 65 percent of shareholders to vote to extend the merger deadline by one year, but not enough people voted.

“Digital World’s charter allows the executives an additional three-month extension after this one, at a similar price, to complete the deal,” writes Drew. “If the merger still isn’t completed by then, Digital World has said it could be forced into liquidation, returning all of its money to investors and leaving Trump’s operation with nothing.”

CEOs of major technology companies shared their admiration for Queen Elizabeth II. Apple boss Tim Cook:

Amazon boss Andy Jassy:

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai:

Facebook parent Meta Platforms cuts responsible innovation team (The Wall Street Journal)

Twitter agreed to pay the whistleblower about $7 million in the June settlement (The Wall Street Journal)

Google Pays ‘Huge’ Sums to Maintain Search Engine Dominance, DOJ Says (Bloomberg)

Musk says SpaceX discussed iPhone satellite service with Apple (Bloomberg)

Crypto exchange targets Treasury sanctions in national security clash (Tory Newmyer)

Treasury Will Warn White House That Crypto Needs Big Regulations (Jeff Stein and Tory Newmyer)

Twitter experiences intermittent power outages after death of Queen Elizabeth II (main board)

• Christel Schaldemosea member of the European Parliament who is rapporteur for the Digital Services Act discusses DSA at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs on Monday at
• Twitter notifications Peiter “Mudge” Zatko testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday at 10 a.m
• FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks speaking at a Consumer Technology Association event Tuesday at 4 p.m
• Current and former executives at social media companies testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
• A Senate Judiciary Committee panel will hold a hearing on protecting Americans’ personal information from foreign adversaries on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
• FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce Global Aerospace Summit on Wednesday.
• The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the XR Association are hosting the Augmented and Virtual Reality Policy Conference on Wednesday.

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