JUST IN: The Federal Trade Commission is set to announce that it’s launching a new inquiry into the privacy and data collection practices of major tech firms including Amazon, TikTok owner ByteDance, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook (Axios).

The Federal Trade Commission will announce Monday that it’s launching a new inquiry into the privacy and data collection practices of major tech firms including Amazon, TikTok owner ByteDance, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as well as its subsidiary WhatsApp, Axios has learned.

The big picture: The move comes amid broader scrutiny for the industry and appears to be a wide-reaching inquiry into everything major tech companies know about their users and what they do with that data, as well as their broader business plans.

Details: The FTC is asking for a large trove of information and documents from the above platforms, plus Discord, Reddit and Snap.

• The agency wants much of the usage and engagement data the platforms collect on their users, the metrics they use for measuring such things and short- and long-term business strategies, among many other areas of inquiry.

Background: In launching the study, the FTC is using its authority to do wide-ranging studies for no specific law enforcement purpose.

• With this study, the commission particularly wants to look into how tech’s privacy and data practices affect children and teens, according to a release seen by Axios.
• Republican Commissioner Christine Wilson had pushed for such a study last fall.

The intrigue: The agency’s five commissioners voted 4-1 to issue the orders, with Republican commissioner Noah Phillips dissenting, saying the probe was too expansive.

Between the lines: The FTC uses these types of studies to gather data that can later lead to enforcement actions, should they encounter any wrongdoing.

• The agency early this year launched such a review of the last decade of big tech acquisitions.

Lawyer Sidney Powell asserted that due to alleged foreign interference in the Nov. 3 election, “it’s more than sufficient to trigger” President Donald Trump’s executive order on foreign interference issued in 2018.

In September 2018, Trump signed an executive order that says “not later than 45 days after the conclusion of a United States election, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of any other appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies), shall conduct an assessment of any information indicating that a foreign government, or any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign government, has acted with the intent or purpose of interfering in that election,” according to the text of the order.

Powell told The Epoch Times she believes that due to that executive order, it can give Trump “all kinds of power … to do everything from seize assets to freeze things, demand the impoundment of the machines,” referring to voting machines.https://a65bbff8b226a3007b805ae725cc9ca6.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html?n=0

“Under the emergency powers, he could even appoint a special prosecutor to look into this, which is exactly what needs to happen,” Powell said. “Every machine, every voting machine in the country should be impounded right now. There’s frankly more than enough criminal probable cause to justify that, for anybody who’s willing to address the law and the facts purely on the basis of truth and not politics, or corporate greed, or global wealth.”

For the past month, some, including Arizona’s Maricopa County GOP Chairwoman Linda Brickman, as well as Powell, have alleged that Dominion Voting Systems’ machines allowed for votes to be switched from Trump to Democrat candidate Joe Biden. Dominion has pushed back, saying that it’s not possible to change votes, while asserting it has no ties to foreign governments and doesn’t allow its employees to engage in vote-tabulation efforts.

Powell noted that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has only a few days left until he is to prepare his report to the president, according to the September 2018 executive order. It’s not clear when—or if—Ratcliffe will issue the report, as no public confirmation has been given so far. Little mention has been made of the executive order since it was issued more than two years ago.

Should Ratcliffe issue his order, “it’s going to blow the mind of every citizen in the country who’s willing to look at the truth and the facts,” Powell said. “Because there’s never—we’ve never witnessed anything like this in the history of this country. And it’s got to be stopped right now or there will never be a free and fair election.”

The order also stipulates that “within 45 days of receiving the assessment and information,” the heads of the Department of Justice and Homeland Security and “any other appropriate agencies” shall deliver a report evaluating the U.S. general election.

That includes “the extent to which any foreign interference that targeted election infrastructure materially affected the security or integrity of that infrastructure, the tabulation of votes, or the timely transmission of election results; and if any foreign interference involved activities targeting the infrastructure of, or pertaining to, a political organization, campaign, or candidate, the extent to which such activities materially affected the security or integrity of that infrastructure, including by unauthorized access to, disclosure or threatened disclosure of, or alteration or falsification of, information or data,” it says.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer supports former Vice President Joe Biden’s plans to force schools receiving federal funding to accommodate students’ who want to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and play sports with students of the opposite biological sex.

“Joe Biden said that on his first day of office, he will give transgender students access to sports, bathrooms and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity in federally funded schools,” a reporter stated. “Do you think he has the ability to do this and do you agree with his decision?”

In addition to granting transgender students’ privileges in the bathroom and on the field, Biden has promised to use “executive authority” to “immediately reverse” the Trump administration’s policies that he believes are discriminatory and implement an agenda to “advance global LGBTQ+ rights and development.”

Some of his proposed changes include enacting the House Democrats’ Equality Act to legally cement pro-LGBTQ actions including allowing incorporating “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” into federal anti-discrimination law, cracking down on the “broad exemptions to discriminate” through religious freedom, and expand and funnel federal funding to programs meant to support LGBTQ communities.

In October, Biden told a mother during his televised town hall that he supports young children choosing to “transition” and reaffirmed his promises to “flat-out just change the law” to accommodate his agenda.

“The idea that an 8-year-old child or a 10-year-old child decides, you know, ‘I decided I want to be transgender. That’s what I think I’d like to be. It would make my life a lot easier.’ There should be zero discrimination,” he said.

Biden’s comments at the town hall followed his pledge to sign the Equality Act to combat the “epidemic” of violence “against transgender and gender non-conforming people.”

“My administration will enact the Equality Act to end legal discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, expand economic opportunities for LGBTQ+ people, reform our treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in our criminal justice system, ensure access to accurate identification documents, and improve government data collection to better track violence against the transgender community,” Biden said.

Major leak containing a register of nearly 2 MILLION CCP operatives has occurred – exposing members who are now working all over the world (Australia, UK, USA) in key positions in business & government. Believed to be the 1st leak of its kind in the world.

https://twitter.com/TheSharpEdge1/status/1338079246762168321?s=20

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating more money to local governments ahead of this election. The Washington Post reports their latest $100 million donation is on top of a previous $300 million gift that will help with challenges related to the pandemic based on needs specified from election officials. The […]

FACEBOOK’S MARK ZUCKERBERG, WIFE DONATE $400M TOTAL TO HELP ELECTION POLLS

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating more money to local governments ahead of this election.

The Washington Post reports their latest $100 million donation is on top of a previous $300 million gift that will help with challenges related to the pandemic based on needs specified from election officials. The money was sent through the Center for Tech and Civic Life.

It’s to help pay for polling place rentals, poll workers, personal protective equipment, and other costs in the coming weeks.

YouTube said on Wednesday it would start removing content that falsely alleges that widespread voter fraud changed the result of the US election.

The update applies to all new content, including videos from President Donald Trump.

The company had previously labelled potentially misleading election videos, adding links to accurate information.

YouTube said “enough states have certified their election results to determine a president-elect”.

Democrats have criticised YouTube for not doing enough to take down fake news and conspiracy theories on the platform.

Mr Trump and senior Republicans have repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that the election was “rigged”.

Trump’s lawyers have failed to provide evidence of this.

The announcement comes after a “safe harbour” deadline – which sets a date by which states need to certify the results of the presidential election.

“Yesterday was the safe harbour deadline for the US Presidential election and enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect,” said YouTube.

It also said that the move was in line with its historical approach to US presidential elections.

Examples it cited of videos it would now remove were uploads claiming that a presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors.

Last month Reuters identified several YouTube channels making money from ads and memberships that were amplifying debunked accusations about voting fraud.

YouTube said that it has taken down 8,000 channels since September, for uploading “harmful and misleading elections-related videos for violating our existing policies”.

The latest move will anger President Trump and many Republicans, many of whom already believe Big Tech is biased against conservatives.

The focus now moves to Twitter and Facebook as to whether they will follow YouTube’s lead.

Continue reading “US election: YouTube to ban videos alleging widespread voter fraud”

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Major League Baseball umpire Brian O’Nora was one of 14 men arrested in Ohio over the weekend in a human trafficking sting.

According to a press release, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said several agencies assisted in the arrests of the men Sunday during an operation that targeted individuals seeking to purchase sex via the internet.

“John stings deter those seeking to purchase sex – reducing the demand for human trafficking – and serve as a reminder that these crimes are more prevalent and closer to home than you may think,” Yost said in the news release. “Hats off to Chief Meloro and the Liberty Township Police Department on their successful operation.

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O’Nora, 57, of Youngstown, and the 13 other men were arrested in Liberty Township and have been charged with soliciting, a third-degree misdemeanor, and possessing criminal tools, a first-degree misdemeanor, Yost announced in the press release.

According to the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, who worked alongside the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force and the Liberty Township Police Department, the men were arrested when they arrived at a local hotel to pay for sex.

TMZ Sports was the first to link the MLB umpire to the arrest.

According to MLB’s umpires bio page, O’Nora joined the league in 1999. Over his 23-year career, he has worked multiple division playoff series, several All-Star games — including the 2019 All-Star Game in Cleveland, the 2008 American League Championship Series, and the 2012 World Series.

According to TMZ Sports and USA Today, MLB has declined to comment on O’Nora’s arrest.

Billionaire left-wing political donor and philanthropist George Soros has appointed Mark Malloch-Brown, the chairman of SGO, which owns the Smartmatic voting software company, to be the new president of the Open Society Foundations, his global organization.

Smartmatic is one of two companies named by attorney Sidney Powell in lawsuits, thus far unsuccessful, alleging massive voter fraud in the 2020 election, along with the Dominion voting machine company.

As the Associated Press has noted, Smartmatic does not own Dominion, and apparently only provided software to Los Angeles County in the 2020 election. Still, the fact that the firm is in the news, and that Soros is closely associated with the Democratic Party, is certain to fuel new conspiracy theories.

In a press release December 4, the Open Society Foundations announced:

Patrick Gaspard has announced his decision to step down as president at the end of the year. During his three-year tenure, he confronted significant threats to open societies around the globe, including the rise of authoritarian regimes and the spread of the COVID-19 virus worldwide. Under his capable leadership, the Open Society Foundations have emerged stronger than ever.

Succeeding him as president will be Mark Malloch-Brown, the former UN deputy secretary‐general and UK minister, who currently serves on the Foundations’ Global Board. Malloch-Brown will take over effective January 1.

The New York Times recently reported that Malloch-Brown is the chairman of Smartmatic, also reporting that any connection between Soros and the company has been debunked:

Speculation that Mr. Soros has any influence over Smartmatic or its operations has been thoroughly debunked, and he does not own the company. Mr. Soros’s distant connection to the company is through his association with Smartmatic’s chairman, Mark Malloch-Brown, who is on the board of Mr. Soros’s Open Society Foundation.

Malloch-Brown is chairman of SGO, the parent company of Smartmatic. He appears to have been identified by Smartmatic as its chairman in the past.

SGO announced that Malloch-Brown will be stepping down as chairman to take on his new role with Soros, and acknowledged his work with “Smartmatic, the world’s leading elections technology company, whose systems have securely processed more than five billion votes on five continents with zero security breaches.”

Soros is one of the most influential funders of the American left, and is responsible for supporting many left-wing institutions that are supplying key administrative staff to Joe Biden. Recently, Biden named Neera Tanden, head of the Soros-funded Center for American Progress, as his nominee to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget.

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