Reuters

United Nations Expert: Trump's attacks on media may lead to real violence

In a joint statement, United Nations Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression David Kaye and Edison Lanza, who holds the same post at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, said President Donald Trump's verbal attacks on the media run the risk of triggering real violence against journalists -- and violate the basic norms of press freedom. “These attacks run counter to the country’s obligations to respect press freedom and international human rights law,” they said.  The freedom of expression experts said Trump’s attacks on the press were designed to raise doubts about verifiable facts,

FCC Chairman Pai says President Trump has not contacted him on Sinclair deal

President Donald Trump has not contacted the Federal Communications Commission about its lack of approval for Sinclair's deal to buy Tribune, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. “No one in the White House has contacted us to express a view about the merger,” Chairman Pai said. A Trump tweet on the issue raised the question of whether he had involved himself in the decisionmaking progress of an independent regulator. “I will simply say what I said to Congress, which is, I stand by our decision. We looked at the facts and applied the law as we do in any transaction,” Chairman Pai said.

Congress passes bill forcing tech companies to disclose foreign software probes

Congress is sending President Donald Trump legislation that would force technology companies to disclose if they allowed countries like China and Russia to examine the inner workings of software sold to the US military. The legislation, part of the Pentagon’s spending bill, was drafted after an investigation found software makers allowed a Russian defense agency to hunt for vulnerabilities in software used by some agencies of the US government, including the Pentagon and intelligence services. Security experts said allowing Russian authorities to probe the internal workings of software, kno

Facebook pledges tough US election security efforts as critical memo surfaces

Facebook officials said the company is using a range of techniques including artificial intelligence to counter Russian operatives or others who use deceptive tactics and false information to manipulate public opinion. The officials told reporters in a telephone briefing they expected to find such efforts on the social network ahead of the US mid-term elections in November, but declined to disclose whether they have already uncovered any such operations.