Yazılar

Google Ordered to Pay $314 Million in California Cellular Data Class Action Verdict

/in /tarafından

A jury in San Jose, California, has ruled that Google misused Android smartphone users’ cellular data without their permission, awarding over $314.6 million in damages to an estimated 14 million affected Californians. The verdict, delivered on Tuesday, found that Google collected and transmitted data from idle Android devices for its own benefit, imposing “mandatory and unavoidable burdens” on users.

The class action lawsuit, filed in 2019, argued that Google’s unauthorized data use served corporate purposes like targeted advertising while consuming users’ cellular data at their expense. Google denied wrongdoing, maintaining that users consented to data use via its terms of service and privacy policies, and claimed no harm was caused.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated the company plans to appeal, arguing the verdict “misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices.” Plaintiffs’ attorney Glen Summers praised the decision, calling it a strong vindication of the case’s merits and highlighting the seriousness of Google’s misconduct.

Separately, a similar federal lawsuit covering Android users outside California is set for trial in April 2026 in San Jose.

Elon Musk’s X Sues New York Over Social Media Hate Speech Disclosure Law

/in /tarafından

Elon Musk’s social media company, X Corp, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of New York’s Stop Hiding Hate Act, which mandates social media platforms to publicly disclose how they monitor and manage hate speech, extremism, disinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference.

X argues the law violates the First Amendment and state constitutional rights by forcing the company to reveal “highly sensitive and controversial speech” that New York officials might find objectionable, potentially exposing the company to lawsuits and heavy fines. The law imposes civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation per day.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, states that deciding what speech is acceptable is a complex issue that “engenders considerable debate among reasonable people,” and that regulating this is not a role for government authorities.

X cited a letter from the law’s sponsors, state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee, accusing Musk and X of having a “disturbing record” on content moderation that allegedly threatens democratic foundations.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who enforces the law, is the named defendant. Her office did not immediately comment.

Since acquiring Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion, Musk has promoted himself as a free speech absolutist, significantly reducing content moderation on the platform, which was rebranded as X.

New York’s law, signed in December by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul with help from the Anti-Defamation League, requires platforms to disclose their efforts and report progress in combating harmful content.

The law mirrors a similar 2023 California law, whose enforcement was partially blocked by a federal appeals court last September over free speech concerns. Notably, California agreed in February to suspend enforcement of disclosure requirements after reaching a settlement with X.

Legislators Hoylman-Sigal and Lee expressed confidence that the court will uphold New York’s law, emphasizing the necessity of transparency given Musk’s resistance.

Case Reference: X Corp v. James, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 25-05068.

Reddit Sues AI Firm Anthropic for Alleged Unauthorized Use of Data

/in /tarafından

Reddit has filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, accusing it of illegally using Reddit’s content to train its AI models without permission or a licensing agreement. The suit was filed Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, marking the latest legal clash over AI companies’ use of third-party online content.

In the complaint, Reddit alleges that Anthropic has scraped and exploited data from the platform over 100,000 times, despite publicly claiming last year that it had blocked its bots from accessing Reddit. According to Reddit, Anthropic’s Claude chatbot even acknowledged it was trained on at least some Reddit data, but could not confirm whether deleted content had been included.

“Anthropic refuses to respect Reddit’s guardrails and enter into a license agreement,” the complaint says, contrasting the company’s stance with that of Google and OpenAI, both of which have entered licensing arrangements with Reddit.

Reddit claims Anthropic’s actions violate its user policies and have allowed the startup to enrich itself by “tens of billions of dollars.” The lawsuit seeks unspecified restitution, punitive damages, and an injunction to stop Anthropic from further using Reddit content for commercial purposes.

Anthropic Responds

An Anthropic spokesperson said the company disagrees with Reddit’s claims and intends to defend itself vigorously. The lawsuit adds further scrutiny to Anthropic, whose backers include tech giants Amazon and Alphabet (Google).

Anthropic recently launched its latest Claude models, Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, on May 22, and has reportedly reached $3 billion in annualized revenue, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Growing Legal Tensions Over AI Training Data

This legal dispute highlights a broader industry-wide debate over how AI companies source and utilize data to train large language models. Many websites and publishers argue that AI firms are profiting from content without compensating the creators, while AI companies contend that publicly available internet data falls under fair use.

In a statement, Reddit Chief Legal Officer Ben Lee emphasized the platform’s support for an open internet but said AI companies need “clear limitations” when it comes to scraping and monetizing content.

Both companies are headquartered in San Francisco, located just a few blocks apart.

The case has been filed under Reddit Inc v Anthropic PBC, California Superior Court, San Francisco County, No. CGC-25-524892.