Doug Isenberg

TikTok asked the Supreme Court to block a law that could ban the video-based social media app, which has millions of American users. At issue is a bipartisan measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden that would go into effect on Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, unless the justices intervene.

Meta Platforms has agreed to a A$50 million settlement ($31.85 million), Australia's privacy watchdog said, closing long-drawn, expensive legal proceedings for the Facebook parent over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner had alleged that personal information of some users was being disclosed to Facebook's personality quiz app, This is Your Digital Life, as part of the broader scandal.

The U.K. officially brought its sweeping online safety law into force, paving the way for stricter supervision of harmful content online and potentially massive fines for technology giants like Meta, Google and TikTok. Ofcom, the British media and telecommunications watchdog, published its first-edition codes of practice and guidance for tech firms laying out what they should be doing to tackle illegal harms such as terror, hate, fraud and child sexual abuse on their platforms.

The European Commission opened a formal investigation into TikTok over concerns foreign actors used the video platform to interfere in Romanian presidential elections. The European Union’s digital regulator said that it opened formal proceedings against TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, for potentially violating the Digital Services Act, a relatively new European law that forces tech companies to do more to protect users from coordinated campaigns that can sway elections.

With one week left before the congressional session ends, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is pushing a bipartisan bill that would crack down on AI-generated revenge pornography. The proposal, S.4569, would criminalize publication of nonconsensual sexual images created by superimposing a victim’s face on another body.

U.S. authorities are investigating whether a Chinese company whose popular home-internet routers have been linked to cyberattacks poses a national-security risk and are considering banning the devices. The router-manufacturer TP-Link, established in China, has roughly 65% of the U.S. market for routers for homes and small businesses.

The Supreme Court said it will hear arguments next month over the constitutionality of the federal law that could ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company doesn’t sell it. The justices will hear arguments Jan. 10 about whether the law impermissibly restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment.

Pornhub says it will block access to its website in Florida as an adult entertainment advocacy group sues over the state’s new law requiring age verification. HB-3, an act relating to online protections for minors, will go into effect in the Sunshine State on New Year’s Day, requiring adult websites to prevent children from accessing them.

Funds stolen by hacking cryptocurrency platforms surged 21% from a year ago to $2.2 billion in 2024, a report from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis showed. The hacking amount exceeded $1 billion for the fourth straight year and the number of incidents rose to 303 from 282 in 2023, it said. Hackers had stolen $1.8 billion in 2023.

Apple called out Meta Platforms for trying to gain access to key software tools on iPhones, a criticism that comes as the European Union is ramping up its efforts to force the iPhone maker to give developers greater access to its technology. Apple said that it is concerned that companies might “attempt to abuse” the EU’s Digital Markets Act — a new rule book designed to curb the dominance of tech companies like Apple in the digital economy — to access sensitive user data.