Top executives from Meta, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok just wrapped up a three-hour hearing in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The hearing, which featured Meta CPO Chris Cox, YouTube CPO Neal Mohan, TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas and Twitter’s GM of consumer product (known as “Bluebird”), was meant to be focused on how their services impact national security issues.

Notably, the hearing is only the second time representatives for TikTok and YouTube had ever appeared at such a hearing — Meta and Twitter execs have been hauled in front of Congress far more often — and the first dedicated to security. The hearing also came one day after Twitter’s former security chief turned whistleblower told a different Senate committee that the company had been previously warned by the FBI it had a Chinese spy on its payroll. Yet not one senator on the Homeland Security Committee asked Sullivan about the allegation.

To be clear, Sullivan was unlikely to have given a substantive answer. When asked about whistleblower Peiter Zatko’s claim that Twitter lied to the FTC, he would only say that “Twitter disputes the allegations." But it was still somewhat shocking that the issue was not raised in a hearing dedicated to social media platforms' impact on national security. 

Lawmakers did, however, spend considerable time questioning Pappas on TikTok’s connections to China, which has long been a source of suspicion among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle."TikTok does not operate in China,” Pappas said more than once.

At one point, Sen. Josh Hawley got into a heated exchange with Pappas over whether the company has China-based employees who are members of the Chinese Communist Party. “We've said many times, Senator, that we do have Chinese engineers based in China,” Pappas said. “I don't think there's any platform up here that would be able to speak to what you're talking about as it relates to the political affiliation of an individual.” She later added that the company’s leadership team is based in the United States and Singapore.

Pappas was also asked about a BuzzFeed News story that TikTok user data had been repeatedly accessed by employees based in China. She said that “those allegations were not found,” and emphasized the company’s “strict access controls” and its work with Oracle.

The TikTok COO was also questioned about the app’s use of biometric data. “We do not use any sort of a facial, voice, audio or body recognition that would identify an individual,” Pappas told Sen. Kristen Sinema. She added that facial recognition is used for augmented reality effects in creators’ videos.

There was a lot less discussion of other security-related issues, including social media companies’ handling of domestic extremism. Committee Chairman Sen. Gary Peters pressed Cox and Mohan and why Meta and YouTube didn’t crack down on QAnon more quickly. Both side-stepped the question by focusing on their current policies. Other lawmakers chose to spend their time questioning the companies about their handling of vaccine misinformation during the pandemic and other content moderation issues. 

And, as with previous hearings, the executives were often reluctant to provide specific answers even to seemingly straightforward questions. Peters repeatedly asked each executive how many engineers each company had on staff — a question he said they were notified would be coming in advance — but none would give a direct answer. “I'll be honest, I’m frustrated that chief product officers — all of you have a prominent seat at the table where these business decisions are made — were not more prepared,” Peters said. “Your companies continue to really avoid you sharing some very important information with us.”

A majority of Twitter’s shareholders have voted to approve Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover. During a special meeting of shareholders that lasted about seven minutes, stockholders approved of two proposals: one to adopt the merger agreement with Musk, and one related to how the company’s executives will be compensated as a result of the deal.

Both measures were approved, though Twitter will disclose the final breakdown of votes “at a later date” when it files paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Though shareholders formally approved the deal, which valued each share at $54.20, an October trial in Delaware’s Court of Chancery will determine whether Musk is able to terminate the agreement. Musk initially cited concerns about bots and spam as reasons for ending the merger agreement, though Twitter’s lawyers argued he was actually concerned about “World War 3.” The judge in the case ruled that Musk will be able to add claims raised by the company’s former security chief turned whistleblower, Peiter Zatko, to his legal bid.

Separately, Zatko testified at a Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, during which he shed new light on his allegations that Twitter’s security practices are a risk to the United States' national security.

During a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Twitter’s former security chief turned whistleblower, Peiter Zatko, shed new light on his claims that the company’s lax security practices harmed U.S. national security. Among the new allegations was that the company had a Chinese agent working for the country's Ministry of State Security (MSS) on its payroll.

During his opening statement, Sen. Chuck Grassley stated that “the FBI notified Twitter of at least one Chinese agent in the company." In the public version of his whistleblower complaint, Zatko stated he had been warned that the company was employing “one or more” people who were “working on behalf of another particular foreign intelligence agency.” But the version of the complaint made public, parts of which were redacted, didn’t specify what country the FBI was referring to.

In his testimony, Zatko confirmed the company had been warned about the presence of Chinese agents. “This was made aware to me maybe a week before I was summarily dismissed,” Zatko said. “I had been told because the corporate security/physical security team had been contacted and told that there was at least one agent of the MSS, which is one of China’s intelligence services on the payroll inside Twitter.”

Zatko also raised concerns about the presence of foreign agents from other countries, including India, which he said "forced" Twitter to hire government agents. 

Notably, Zatko's disclosures are not the first time Twitter has had to contend with the presence of unregistered foreign agents on its payroll. A former Twitter worker was recently convicted of acting as an agent for Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors alleged the man was paid to turn over sensitive information about dissidents.

Zatko alleged that the danger posed by foreign agents was even greater due to a litany of factors: the vast amount of data the platform collects and its lack of insight into that data, as well as the broad and largely unfettered access Twitter's engineers have to it. "It's not far-fetched to say that an employee inside the company could take over the accounts of all of the senators in this room," Zatko said. 

The hearing is likely to amp up the pressure on Twitter, which has so far declined to address Zatko’s claims in detail. Senator Grassley said that the committee had also invited CEO Parag Agrawal to testify at the hearing but that he had “refused to appear.”

“He rejected this committee's invitation to appear by claiming that it would jeopardize Twitter's ongoing litigation Mr. Musk,” Grassley said, referring to the company’s legal battle with Elon Musk over his $44 billion acquisition of the company. “Protecting Americans from foreign influence is more important than Twitter's civil litigation in Delaware. If these allegations are true, I don't see how Mr. Agrawal can maintain his position at Twitter going forward.”

Developing…

The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are pushing Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal to address allegations made by the company’s former head of security in a lengthy whistleblower complaint. In a new letter to Agrawal reported by CNN, the leaders of the committee pressed the CEO to address claims that Twitter’s security practices could harm national security, as well as other issues raised in Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s complaint.

Up to now, Twitter has declined to address the majority of Zatko’s claims in any kind of detail, though the company’s lawyers attempted to portray him as a disgruntled former employee during a hearing in a Delaware court last week. The letter comes the day before Zatko is scheduled to appear at a Judiciary Committee hearing to publicly testify about his experience as Twitter’s head of security.

Agrawal was also “extended an invitation” to appear at the hearing, according to the letter, though he apparently declined the offer. A Twitter spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to national security concerns, Zatko also raised significant concerns regarding Twitter’s ability to counter misinformation and its handling of basic internal security. Zatko also alleges that Twitter misled the Federal Trade Commission and other regulatory agencies.

“These allegations raise serious concerns given Twitter’s significant role in the U.S. communications landscape and its global reach,” Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley write in the letter. It asks Agrawal to respond by September 26th.

The letter is sure to increase the pressure on Twitter, which is also in the midst of a messy legal battle with Elon Musk, who has been trying to get out of his $44 billion deal to buy the company. Last week, a judge said that Musk could add Zatko’s whistleblower complaint to his legal case.

Google is killing its Pixelbook laptop, according to an internal memo reported byThe Verge. The company has also “shut down” the team that was working on the next generation of the device, which was reportedly “far along in development.”

The company apparently opted to shift resources away from the premium Chromebook in an effort to cut costs. Members of the Pixelbook team were reportedly moved to other roles at Google.

The move means Google is officially done making laptops after nearly a decade of experimenting with notebooks. In 2013, the company introduced the Chromebook Pixel — the first Google-made hardware to get Pixel branding — and refreshed it with a pricier model two years later. Google shifted strategies again in 2017, when the first Pixelbook debuted as a high-end alternative to the typically low-cost Chromebooks. The 2-in-1 started at $999, and came with an optional Pixelbook Pen accessory.

In 2019, Google introduced the $649 Pixelbook Go as a more affordable, but still higher-end, Chromebook with Pixel branding. Though the Pixel-branded Chromebooks were meant to show off just how much was possible when Chrome OS was combined with more premium hardware, the devices never seemed to be as popular as the cheaper alternatives that have long dominated classrooms, particularly during the pandemic.

Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Steam Deck owners have a new option for repairs if their device breaks. Valve has opened its own Steam Deck repair centers, which should streamline the process for fixes.

The new service should come as welcome news to Steam Deck owners who will now have a simpler way of addressing hardware issues, without hunting for a third-party service. Notably, Valve says that it also supports people who prefer to go the DIY route, and points to iFixit’s guides on the subject.

Those who prefer to hand off the fix will be able to use the new service via the company’s support channels. “If you encounter an issue and need to send your Steam Deck for repair or replacement, devices will now go to one of our repair centers,” the company explains. “Once there, our team will diagnose the device, repair if needed, then ship the fixed unit back to you.”

The repair centers will cover both in-warranty fixes, which will be free of charge, as well as repairs for damage that happens outside of the device’s warranty. The company will charge for out-of-warranty fixes, though it’s not clear how much these repairs may cost.

For now, there are few other details about how the repair centers will work. The company hasn’t provided a list of the types of repairs it will be able to handle, or what the expected turnaround time will be. However, in a comment on the post, a Valve representative confirmed the repair centers will be able to handle battery replacements, which could be a common request for the handheld device.

Meta’s “Responsible Innovation Team,” a group meant to address “potential harms to society” caused by Facebook's products, is no more. The Wall Street Journal reports that the team was recently “disbanded” though “most” members will stay on with other teams at the company. A Meta spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal the company was “committed to the team’s goals,” but didn’t provide a reason for the change in strategy.

The Responsible Innovation team was first formed “several years ago,” according to a 2021 blog post written by Meta’s Margaret Stewart, the Facebook VP who oversaw the team. The team was made up of engineers as well as people with backgrounds in civil rights and ethics, and advised the company’s product teams on “potential harms across a broad spectrum of societal issues and dilemmas,” she wrote last year. Zvika Krieger, the Meta employee who led the team, departed earlier this year, according to The Journal. 

The Responsible Innovation team isn’t the only team to recently be reshuffled. Earlier this summer, Meta reorganized its entire AI team, which included folding the Responsible AI group into its Social Impact team. The company has also been looking to cut costs as its revenue shrinks for the first time in its history. Meta has also axed some projects in its Reality Labs division and slowed its hiring amid rumors of potential layoffs.

Elon Musk can use whistleblower claims from Twitter’s former head of security, Pieter Zatko, as he attempts to get out of the $44 billion acquisition, a judge has ruled. The ruling comes one day after lawyers for Musk and twitter faced off in Delaware’s Court of Chancery over Zatko’s allegations.

Twitter had argued that Zatko was a disgruntled employee, and that Musk was looking for reasons to get out of the deal long before he learned about the whistleblower complaint. The decision could complicate Twitter’s ongoing legal battle. The company has so far declined to address Zatko’s allegations in detail, though it’s not clear how long it can continue to do so. Zatko is also scheduled to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.

Musk’s attempt to delay the October trial that will decide whether he can get out of the Twitter deal, however, was rebuffed. In the same decision, the judge wrote that “even four weeks’ delay would risk further harm to Twitter too great to justify.” The trial is scheduled for October 17th and expected to last 5 days.

Twitter is expanding its experimental fact-checking program, Birdwatch, and making its misinformation debunks a lot more visible. With the expansion, about half of Twitter users in the United States will start to see Birdwatch's debunks added to misleading tweets.

The initiative, which first debuted more than a year ago, takes a crowd-sourced approach to debunking misinformation on Twitter. Community moderators who are part of the program can append notes to misleading tweets to “provide informative context” rather than a binary true/false rating like other fact checking sites. Other contributors can then rate whether a note is “helpful” or not.

Now, Twitter is adding more people to the ranks of Birdwatch contributors — there are currently about 15,000 — and introducing a new system for rating contributors. Those who join the program will now have to earn the ability to add notes by first rating the notes of other contributors. Once their contributor score reaches a “5” they can then start writing their own notes. But if those notes are repeatedly deemed “not helpful” by other contributors, they could lose their note-writing privileges.

Twitter

The scoring system seems to be designed to help ensure that Birdwatch contributors don't go rogue and begin adding their own misinformation to Twitter. Notably, documents released by Twitter's former security chief turned whistleblower, showed that the company had mistakenly allowed an "overt QAnon account" into Birdwatch and only caught it the night before the program launched. 

Birdwatch's latest expansion also means that the fact checks will be much more prominent than in the past. When the program first launched, they were only viewable on a separate website. That began to change earlier this year, with Twitter adding fact-checks directly to tweets, but it was still only visible to a small number of people. Now, Birdwatch has expanded to millions more users. Twitter says about half of its US users will be able to see Birdwatch-powered fact checks, though they caution that users shouldn’t expect to see them on “every tweet.” 

The company says that early research suggests the fact checks are having a positive impact. According to Twitter, “people who see a Birdwatch note are, on average, 20-40% less likely to agree with the substance of a potentially misleading Tweet than someone who sees the Tweet alone.” And people are “15-35% less likely” to retweet or like a tweet with a Birdwatch note, the company says, adding that the percentage is an “estimate” based on “internal data.”

Nextdoor is gearing up for a potentially contentious election season. Ahead of the midterms, the company says it will label election-related posts with information about how to vote, and will use in-app alerts to remind users to not let political conversations get overly “heated.”

In a blog post, the company says it will use “pop-up reminders” to encourage “civil political discourse” on election-related posts. “Nextdoor will use pop-up reminders when hurtful or harmful language is detected or anticipated via predictive technology,” the company writes.

Nextdoor

It’s not the first time the company has used these kinds of reminders to discourage nastiness between neighbors. The company previously introduced in-app alerts to remind people to be “empathetic” and keep conversations “constructive.” The latest notifications mirror that language. “Conversations about the election can get heated,” it says. “Check to make sure you’ve phrased it in a constructive way.”

Besides the reminders, the company is also partnering with vote.org and other organizations on in-app messages to encourage turnout and provide resources on how to register to vote.