These tech coverage tales outlined 2022

In the present day we’re doing one thing just a little totally different: We’re reviewing the highest tales that formed tech coverage and politics debates in 2022 and highlighting a few of our favourite e-newsletter editions and articles from our stellar crew. We hope you get pleasure from! 

Beneath: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is ready to return to america, and the FCC proposes a document tremendous. First:

These tech coverage tales outlined 2022

Tech is a key think about Russia’s battle in Ukraine

From questions on curbing Russian propaganda on social media to how U.S. companies could help keep Ukrainians online, the battle shined a highlight on how fashionable applied sciences have been enjoying a essential position within the battle on and off the battlefield. 

My colleagues Cat Zakrzewski and Gerrit De Vynck delivered the definitive profile of Ukraine’s Mykhailo Fedorov, the deputy prime minister who has been “pushing Silicon Valley to face as much as Russia,” and Drew Harwell and Rachel Lerman broke down Ukraine’s digital strategy to “humiliate the Russians” and the ethical questions it raised.

The Expertise 202 broke information of how a U.S. company was quietly paying millions to send Starlink terminals from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Ukraine, regardless of the corporate casting the transfer as a charitable act. (Months later, Musk claimed the story was a “WaPo hit piece.”) And Jeanne Whalen scooped that federal businesses have been questioning tech firms on how their chips ended up in Russian navy tools.

Musk dominates consideration within the Bay and the Beltway

The tech mogul’s topsy-turvy Twitter takeover rocked Silicon Valley and Washington alike, as business leaders and policymakers intently adopted how the saga would possibly influence the corporate’s method to content material moderation. 

Whereas the deal was nonetheless being contested, Twitter was hit by one other bombshell: a criticism by its former head of safety Peiter “Mudge” Zatko — obtained by my colleagues Joseph Menn, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Cat Zakrzewski — alleging “egregious” safety gaps on the social community.

After Musk lastly took the reins in November, Cat, Faiz Siddiqui and Joseph reported on how he quickly moved to dismantle inner security groups, and Drew and Taylor Lorenz uncovered new details about what actually preceded Musk’s suspension of an account that tracked his private jet. 

The e-newsletter has tracked how Democrats are dialing up scrutiny of Musk’s Twitter, together with round Spanish-language misinformation and researcher access and transparency, whereas Republicans are rallying around his combative style and approach to moderation. Geoffrey A. Fowler, in the meantime, explored why impostor accounts were on the rise since Musk’s takeover — and the congressional backlash over it.

Roe v. Wade ruling raises stakes in privateness, employee rights debates

The Supreme Courtroom ruling hanging down federal abortion rights reignited debates about consumers’ privacy protections online and tech workers’ employment protections. 

Tatum Hunter detailed how scheduling an abortion may ship your knowledge from Deliberate Parenthood to Fb, and Cat, Pranshu Verma and Claire Parker dug into how abortion knowledge has been used in prosecutions.

In response to the ruling, Democrats additionally mounted a recent privateness push concentrating on reproductive well being knowledge as The Technology 202 first reported, including a new wrinkle to privacy negotiations. It additionally rekindled efforts to expand encrypted messaging and prompted pressure on the Justice Department to reduce its personal knowledge seizure. 

Platform regulation debates crash into court docket

2022 was the yr that simmering authorized battles over previous and current web laws crescendoed, with the Supreme Courtroom agreeing to take up two landmark cases over the way forward for Part 230 and states’ new digital guidelines facing swift industry challenges.  

In a timely deep dive, Will Oremus chronicled how the battle over social media firms’ content material moderation calls “turned a entrance line within the tradition battle,” and earlier this month, we broke down how Part 230 critics have been lining up for battle over key cases.

Congress whiffs on passing privateness, competitors, on-line security guidelines

Whereas hopes were high among many advocates that this is able to be the yr that Congress lastly handed main new tech antitrust laws and on-line security guidelines, these campaigns slowly fizzled amid disagreements within both parties and a massive industry lobbying blitz. And an unexpected bipartisan breakthrough in discussions over federal knowledge privateness requirements in the end ran right into a brick wall as Home and Senate leaders took competing approaches. 

In June, Senate Commerce Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) sharply criticized a knowledge privateness deal struck by House leaders, telling me in an explosive interview that the proposal had “main enforcement holes.” With Senate lawmakers as an alternative advancing a pair of children’s privacy and online safety measures, a standoff quickly emerged that persists to this day. 

Regulators globally flip up the warmth on tech sector

Regulators from Brussels to Washington to California continued to pepper Silicon Valley giants with investigations and lawsuits, culminating in main battles over Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard and Facebook’s bid to acquire a virtual reality company, amongst others, as Cat, Naomi Nix and Shannon Liao have reported. 

That has put a much bigger highlight on key regulators, including in Europe and on the Federal Commerce Fee. In his first sit-down interview on the job, FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya told me about his plans to deal with how new applied sciences could also be adversely impacting youngsters’s psychological well being, an space of bipartisan concern. 

With Europe this yr approving tougher rules around digital competition and platform regulation, stress from international regulators is simply more likely to mount. 

Bankman-Fried is ready to return to america

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried dropped his opposition to extradition and can face felony costs in america, Tory Newmyer reports. Prosecutors have introduced eight felony costs in opposition to Bankman-Fried, and his extradition may pace up the decision of U.S. authorities’ circumstances in opposition to him.

“In a blitz of public appearances since FTX’s collapse final month, he has mentioned he by no means meant to commit fraud and was largely unaware of what was going incorrect on the firms he owned and managed,” Tory writes. “The Securities and Trade Fee and the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee are additionally bringing civil costs in opposition to Bankman-Fried. These fits are more likely to take a again seat whereas the felony case proceeds, authorized specialists mentioned.”

FCC proposes document tremendous over robocalls

The Federal Communications Fee discovered that two males led a marketing campaign to ship billions of robocalls to thousands and thousands of U.S. telephone numbers, CyberScoop’s Tonya Riley reports. The $300 million tremendous is far higher than the FCC’s second-largest tremendous of $225 million final yr.

“The FCC has made cracking down on robocalls a prime enforcement precedence, together with creating partnerships with 43 state attorneys common, the District of Columbia and Guam to go after robocall operators,” Tonya writes. “And specialists say that up to now the company’s large swings in opposition to scammers have labored.”

Treasury official downplays urgency of digital greenback

Nellie Liang, the Treasury Division’s undersecretary for home finance, mentioned that regulators want to take a look at whether or not a central financial institution digital forex (CBDC) would enhance the associated fee or pace of funds between financial institution accounts, Bloomberg Information’s Christopher Condon and Craig Torres report. 

In January, the Federal Reserve issued a report exploring the advantages and downsides of a digital forex, but it surely didn’t commit by hook or by crook. In September, Treasury “set out a really deliberate, ahead path for contemplating CBDC in order that the Fed can be ready to challenge one if it determined it needed to,” Liang mentioned. Members of the Federal Reserve seem to have totally different opinions on the difficulty, with Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell not displaying urgency in making a choice, Bloomberg Information reported.

Porn, piracy, fraud: What lurks inside Google’s black box ad empire (ProPublica)

Tech giants ditch office space in London and Europe (Financial Times)

German cartel office ends proceedings against Google News Showcase (Reuters)

Semiconductor maker Micron announces 10% staff reduction, suspends bonuses (CNBC)

How Tory Lanez trial bloggers are shaping the conversation around Megan Thee Stallion (NBC News)

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