The FTC should develop policies for protecting minors from “pervasive, sophisticated and data-driven digital marketing practices,” the Center for Digital Democracy wrote the agency Monday with Fairplay, Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG and more than 20 other groups. They cited manipulative tactics from influencers and fictional characters designed to exploit children’s developmental vulnerabilities. Research on digital advertising is limited but suggests children have less ability than adults to recognize advertising on digital media, the groups said. They suggested an FTC policy statement on digital marketing for minors. The groups filed the comment in response to the FTC's October event on digital advertising. The agency didn't comment.

TikTok responded to our recent item (see 2207150064) identifying it as a "Chinese social media app," saying TikTok is an "entertainment platform.” The leadership of TikTok, a company owned by Chinese parent ByteDance, "is based in Singapore and the United States,” the company said.

Congress should act quickly to pass chips legislation, TechNet said Monday in response to Tuesday’s expected Senate vote to begin advancing the Chips Act and portions of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) (see 2207140067). Moving the smaller chips package is a “good step,” but Congress should work to pass other USICA measures like “investing in regional technology hubs across the country, enhancing STEM education programs, and attracting and retaining the world’s best and brightest talent,” said CEO Linda Moore. Democrats and Republicans are “hashing out” final details on a bill so “we can move forward with this week,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate Floor Monday. He urged conference committee members to continue negotiating the “larger jobs and innovation package that both sides have been working on for months” but said in the meantime Congress needs to “get chips done as soon as we can.”

Congress shouldn’t leave for August recess without passing chips legislation and $52 billion in federal investment for semiconductor research and manufacturing, National Governors Association Chair Asa Hutchinson (R) of Arkansas and Vice Chair Phil Murphy (D) of New Jersey said Friday. The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger also urged lawmakers to pass the bill. The Senate plans to vote Tuesday to begin advancing a smaller chips package (see 2207140067). The $52 billion Chips Act is “absolutely critical” to national security, the governors said. The mayors urged Congress to include the Chips Act, support for STEM education and an investment tax credit in the final bill. “Do not go home for August recess until you have passed the Chips Act, because I and others in the industry will make investment decisions,” Gelsinger said on CNBC Friday. “Do you want those investments in the U.S. or are we simply not competitive enough to do them here and we need to go to Europe or Asia? Get the job done.”

Amazon’s Prime Day, ended Wednesday, was “the biggest Prime Day event ever,” said Amazon Thursday, not disclosing receipts for the 48-hour event. Prime members in over 20 countries bought more than 300 million items, said Amazon. The first Prime Day, a 24-hour event in July 2015, had 34.4 million items ordered in nine Prime-eligible countries, Amazon said. Prime Day had a positive impact on e-commerce overall. Adobe emailed Thursday that the total U.S. online spend over the two days was $11.98 billion -- $6 billion Tuesday and $5.9 billion Wednesday, 8.5% higher than last year’s $11 billion. Adobe pegged the total online revenue for U.S. retail for the two days at 141% above an average day in June. In the first Prime Day featuring influencer videos, Amazon Live Prime Day streams had over 100 million views, Amazon said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday sued the FTC in an effort to gain access to Freedom of Information Act documents it says the agency “unlawfully” withheld (see 2112030042). The FTC circumvented due process, concentrated power in the hands of Chair Lina Khan and used “dubious legal means to achieve pre-ordained ends,” Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark said in a statement. The Chamber is seeking access to documents on so-called “zombie votes,” which the commission counted after Commissioner Rohit Chopra left the agency. The Chamber requested communication between the FTC, the European Commission and other foreign bodies about the Illumina-Grail transaction. The FTC “may have collaborated with and relied upon a foreign government authority to strong-arm American corporations into abandoning a planned merger,” the Chamber said. It requested details of Khan’s “legal fellow” employment status under Chopra. “The position of ‘legal fellow’ is highly unusual and not a typical title used in relationship to staff positions in support of a commissioner,” the Chamber said. The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The agency didn’t comment.

Louisiana and Missouri can proceed with collecting discovery documents in a freedom of speech case involving top Biden administration officials and social media companies, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled Tuesday (see 2207070058). The states sued the Biden administration in May claiming officials colluded with social media companies to censor and suppress truthful information on topics like COVID-19, the efficacy of masks and election integrity. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) called the grant of discovery a “huge development.” The order noted the “First Amendment obviously applies to the citizens of Missouri and Louisiana, so Missouri and Louisiana have the authority to assert those rights.”

Schools, from primary through university, are increasingly being hit with ransomware, with 60% suffering attacks in 2021 compared with 44% in 2020, reported Sophos Tuesday. The cybersecurity company canvassed 730 educators in 31 countries, finding only 2% were able to recover all their encrypted data after paying a ransom, down from 4% in 2020, it said. Schools, on average, were able to recover 62% of encrypted data after paying ransoms, down from 68% in 2020, it said. Colleges and universities reported the longest ransomware recovery time among all types of schools canvassed, with 40% saying it took them at least a month to recover, compared with 20% for other sectors, and 9% reporting it took three to six months to recover. Schools are “prime targets for attackers because of their overall lack of strong cybersecurity defenses and the gold mine of personal data they hold,” said Sophos analyst Chester Wisniewski. “Education institutions are less likely than others to detect in-progress attacks, which naturally leads to higher attack success.”

TikTok should end plans to “force personalized ads” on users, Access Now said in a statement Tuesday. Access Now wrote a July 5 letter to TikTok asking the company to cancel plans to target users over 18 with personalized ads in the European Economic Area, U.K. and Switzerland. Access Now cited a report that TikTok is pausing those plans in favor of working with regulators. Access Now Global Data Protection Lead Estelle Masse said the company “must end” the practice for good: “When we rang the alarm bells, data protection authorities from Italy, Ireland, and Spain listened. With their swift action to protect people’s rights, they shut down a problematic practice and potential harmful precedent before TikTok could implement it.” TikTok didn't comment.

Global merchant losses to online payment fraud will exceed $343 billion 2023-2027, reported Juniper Research Monday. The number includes sales of digital and physical goods, money transfer transactions, and banking and airline ticketing via fraudster attacks including phishing, business email compromise and socially engineered fraud, it said. A key driver is fraudster innovation such as account takeover fraud, where a user’s account is hijacked, despite identity verification measures, Juniper said. To combat rising fraud, fraud prevention vendors need to orchestrate the right mix of verification tools, at the most effective time. “No two online transactions are the same, so the way transactions are secured cannot follow a one-size-fits-all solution,” said analyst Nick Maynard. Fraud prevention requires several verification capabilities, intelligently orchestrated, to protect merchants and users, Maynard said. Physical goods purchases will be the largest source of losses, at an expected 49% of online payment fraud losses globally over the next five years, Juniper said. Lax address verification processes in developing markets are a major risk, with fraudsters targeting physical goods specifically, due to their resell potential, Juniper said.