Michael Kratsios, director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, suggested this week that the U.S. is against imposing export controls on open-weight AI models.
Social Media
Social media platforms are facing intense scrutiny over how they collect, share and monetize user data. As new state and federal laws focus on age verification, parental controls and transparency requirements, social media companies face legal risks around algorithmic targeting, third-party tracking and children's safety. This page follows key legislation, investigations and lawsuits shaping privacy practices for major social platforms.
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., unveiled a “discussion draft” bill July 31 that could eliminate the requirement that China’s ByteDance sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban on the popular social media application.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court judge that it said has ordered "arbitrary pre-trial detentions" and suppressed freedom of expression.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said July 28 on social media that he’s “alarmed” that the Trump administration is lifting sanctions on “key people linked to Burma’s military regime,” referring to the country now known as Myanmar.
The president of Indonesia confirmed to reporters in Jakarta that he agreed to 19% tariffs, in exchange for buying more wheat, soybeans, fuel and Boeing aircraft.
The Council of the European Union on July 15 sanctioned Russian individuals and entities for committing human rights abuses and engaging in destabilizing actions abroad through foreign information manipulation.
The chief negotiator for the EU told reporters in Brussels July 14 that his team had thought "we are very close to an agreement," though there were still "quite large gaps" on what the U.S. was offering and what the EU could accept on goods subject to national security tariffs, such as cars and steel, and, perhaps in the future, pharmaceuticals.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, on Bloomberg Television on June 30, didn't predict how many deals would be announced with the 18 largest trading partners of the U.S. before July 9. However, he said that countries "are coming in with offers" that long-time staff negotiators "can't believe," because they're so good.
The U.K. on June 26 amended various entries on its Russia sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The U.K. made changes to entries for 14 people that were originally sanctioned for undermining Ukrainian sovereignty through their work at the Social Design Agency, a Russian social media and marketing firm. OFSI also revised the entries for two entities: Rosneft Marine (UK) and the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.
Paulo Figueiredo, a Brazilian journalist living in Florida, urged the U.S. June 24 to impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on Brazilian judge and “de facto dictator” Alexandre de Moraes for persecuting political opponents and journalists.