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BusinessReutersChip industry group urges Biden admin to review export controls on China
A semiconductor industry group on Monday called for a review of the Trump administration's export control policy, and urged the incoming U.S. Commerce Secretary to work with allies when curbing sales of U.S. technology to China for national security. SEMI, which represents semiconductor equipment makers and device manufacturers worldwide, said the prior administration’s unilateral rules had made any potential benefit likely to be less effective over time, had unnecessarily hurt American industry, and had left U.S. exporters vulnerable to retaliation. In a letter to Gina Raimondo, secretary-designate of the U.S. Commerce Department, SEMI President Ajit Manocha said the United States should coordinate with allies whose companies compete in the global market.
BusinessReutersFacebook to provide data on targeted political ads to researchers
The social media giant said the data would include targeting criteria, such as location and interests, selected by advertisers running social issue, electoral or political ads. Academics and researchers can apply for access to this information through the Facebook Open Research & Transparency (FORT) platform on Feb. 1, Facebook said in a blog post, adding that the data package would cover more than a million ads that ran between Aug. 3 and Nov. 3.
PoliticsReutersFacebook blocks Netanyahu chatbot, citing privacy violation
Facebook said on Monday it removed a post and suspended a messenger bot from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's page, after it posted that he wanted phone numbers to call and convince people to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Netanyahu on Thursday posted a video on Twitter encouraging senior citizens to get vaccinated and ended with the line: "If you know someone who is nervous about getting vaccinated, send me their name and phone number, maybe they'll get a surprise phone call from me and I'll convince them." The Facebook bot posted a similar line to the prime minister's page, which was later removed by Facebook over privacy concerns.
