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Brian Fung | @b_fung@masto.ai Profile picture
Brian Fung | @b_fung@masto.ai
@b_fung
Tech reporter for @CNN. Backpacking, bikes and video games. There are four lights. Formerly @WashingtonPost, @TheAtlantic & @NationalJournal. brian.fung@cnn.com
Nov 10, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
A short little story: Earlier this year, after @dotMudge's whistleblower allegations against Twitter became public, I filed a FOIA request to the FTC asking for all of Twitter's third-party compliance reports filed pursuant to its 2011 consent order. These reports, which companies under order are usually required to submit to show they're abiding by their consent decrees, are public record and usually gettable.

But in this case, the FTC denied my requests for all five reports.
Nov 9, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Our full story on Elon Musk's Twitter Q&A with advertisers today, wherein he sketched out his plans for the platform's future and pleaded with brands to use the service more: cnn.com/2022/11/09/tec… Here are a few highlights:
– Banking is coming to Twitter, with P2P payments, a "money market fund" and debit cards/checks

– Twitter Blue subscribers' tweets get shown by default but non-paying users' tweets will have to be manually sought out

cnn.com/2022/11/09/tec…
Nov 7, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Like many of you, I've been rethinking my relationship to Twitter. For me, it kind of began after I went on parental leave a year ago. I've always been pretty good at unplugging on off hours (or maybe just bad at my job?) but becoming a dad *really* tanked my drive to be on here. At this point my daily Twitter use most closely resembles @cwarzel's description newsletters.theatlantic.com/galaxy-brain/6… Image
Sep 13, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Good morning from Capitol Hill, where Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko is set to testify before US lawmakers on his damning allegations against his former employer. Things kick off at 10 ET, but our liveblog is already up and running: cnn.com/tech/live-news… And here we are:
Aug 23, 2022 • 15 tweets • 10 min read
NEW: Twitter execs have tried to conceal enormous security vulnerabilities that put users, investors and even US national security at risk, according to a damning new whistleblower report by the company’s former head of security: cnn.com/2022/08/23/tec… Among its allegations, the disclosure obtained by CNN claims half of Twitter employees, including all engineers, enjoy excessive access to the live Twitter product and user data, and coding/testing happens right in the product rather than in a sandbox: cnn.com/2022/08/23/tec…
May 13, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
If you’re not following this week’s court decision on Texas’s social media law, you need to tune in. Right frickin’ now. cnn.com/2022/05/13/tec… This week’s decision letting Texans sue social media companies is hugely significant. Three reasons why.

1. The law is in effect—right now. A wave of suits may be being prepared as we speak. Plaintiffs have never had a law like HB 20 to help them before. cnn.com/2022/05/13/tec…
May 10, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Wrong, but not bad Bad, but not wrong
May 10, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Just in: Elon Musk confirms he would reverse Trump's Twitter ban, in his first explicit acknowledgement of the plan cnn.com/2022/05/10/tec… More Musk:

"If there are tweets that are wrong and bad, those should be either deleted or made invisible, and a suspension, a temporary suspension is appropriate but not a permanent ban.”
May 9, 2022 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Listening to the oral arguments on Texas's social media law and ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

One of the judges just conflated "interactive computer service" with "internet provider" The same judge does not seem to recognize Twitter or Facebook as websites.
May 6, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Just in: A federal judge has thrown out Donald Trump's suit against Twitter seeking to have his account reinstated, holding that his First Amendment rights were not violated because Twitter was not acting as an agent of the government (among other things). pacermonitor.com/view/FS4VTRI/T… Image Yeah, in a lot of ways this case is moot already.
May 5, 2022 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
A series of remarkable exchanges this AM between Sen. Graham and Christian Smalls, the head of the Amazon Labor Union. After Graham defended Amazon in opening remarks, blasting Sen. Sanders for holding a hearing for the "demonization" of an individual company, Smalls told Graham: "You forgot that the people are the ones who make these companies operate."
Jan 31, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
It's not that complicated. Rogan's appeal, particularly in the age of "do your own research!!1!11!" is that his process and motives come across as transparent to the audience. He shows his work, even if he is extremely credulous about the results.

Rogan exudes authenticity because he starts from a position of curiosity. It works because he brings the audience with him on his journey of discovery.
Aug 17, 2021 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
As the Taliban regain control of Afghanistan, social media platforms are having to grapple anew with the organization's online presence — and their handling of it is basically all over the place. Our story, plus a bit of story about the story below. cnn.com/2021/08/17/tec… Facebook told us that for years, the Taliban has been banned from its platform because it's "sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law."

You might think this refers to the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations, but it does not.
Jul 1, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: US and UK national security officials say that since mid-2019, Russian military intelligence has sought to break the passwords of employees at hundreds of organizations worldwide, including US and European military agencies, government offices, law firms and more. The main feature of this campaign was an attempt to brute-force victim passwords — essentially, trying different passwords until the attackers gained access — and then use other known software vulnerabilities to steal emails, compromise other accounts and collect more data.
Jun 30, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
This hearing is beginning now. Watch live here: judiciary.house.gov/calendar/event… Microsoft's legislative proposals:

1. Secret gag orders should last no more than 90 days, with a 90-day extension

2. Require judges to issue written analyses for each requested secret gag order

3. Judges should have to apply strict scrutiny *before* issuing orders

And...
Jun 29, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
NEW: Microsoft will argue before House Judiciary tomorrow that the US government abuses gag orders to keep subpoenas and warrants secret in law enforcement probes, and will call for new restrictions on their use. Microsoft’s Tom Burt will say it’s far too easy for the government to target Americans’ emails, texts and other data hosted by cloud providers and to prevent companies from disclosing those subpoenas, according to selected remarks shared by Microsoft ahead of the hearing.
Jun 28, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Just in: A federal judge has dismissed the FTC's antitrust complaint against Facebook, saying it was worded too vaguely. The judge is giving the FTC another chance, though, if it files an amended complaint. pacermonitor.com/view/ITKR63Y/F… Image NB: More specifically, the judge said the agency didn't do enough to back up its claim that Facebook holds a monopoly in social networking.
Jun 23, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Big day for tech today, as House lawmakers attempt to advance a package of bills out of committee that aim to curb the dominance of large Silicon Valley platforms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.

Things kick off here at 10 ET: judiciary.house.gov/calendar/event… We've had two amendments thus far proposing to limit how the FTC and DOJ can spend the millions of extra dollars they're being given under the proposed bills.

One, which was rejected, would have prevented the agencies from using the money to promote critical race theory.
Apr 21, 2021 • 37 tweets • 5 min read
Big day for tech policy in Congress today.

First at 10 a.m. is FTC nominee Lina Khan's confirmation hearing before Senate Commerce; then, at 2:30 p.m., Apple, Google, Spotify, Tile and Match Group will testify on app store policies before the Senate antitrust subcommittee. The first hearing is about to begin. You can tune in here:

commerce.senate.gov/2021/4/nominat…

Space nerds will also find this one worthwhile, as former Sen. Bill Nelson (an erstwhile leading member of the committee) is also getting a confirmation hearing to be NASA administrator.
Apr 9, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: Amazon workers in Alabama have rejected an initiative to establish the company's first US-based union.

The vote count is still ongoing but enough "no" ballots have been counted (1,608+) to hand Amazon the win. The union issues a statement accusing Amazon of "corrupting this election" and indicating it plans to file formal objections to the NLRB:
Mar 25, 2021 • 60 tweets • 8 min read
The tech CEOs hearing is getting underway. Watch live here: Subcommittee Chair Mike Doyle is ripping into the tech platforms, saying the companies could reduce vaccine misinformation but “you choose not to.”

“Time after time you are picking engagement and profit over the health and safety of users."