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Politics Archive

Archives for October 2026

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Sen. Marsha Blackburn isn’t happy about Meta’s revised business terms, either.

Blackburn (R-TN) said the updated terms “indicate Meta is attempting to exploit American creators and businesses by granting itself sweeping authority to scrape content from any website associated with Facebook ​and Instagram business accounts,” according to Reuters.

Following publisher pushback, Meta delayed the enforcement of these new policies until November 20th.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Shein reportedly agreed to pay $100 million to settle an FTC investigation.

According to Reuters’ sources, the FTC was investigating Shein over “delivery delays and other customer complaints,” adding that the settlement would be “equivalent to 44% of Shein’s second-quarter profit.” The European Union also opened an investigation into Shein earlier this year over concerns about “addictive design” features and illegal product listings.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Intel just got a temporary waiver from the foreign robot ban.

And no, you haven’t forgotten about a line of Intel-made Roombas. It requested permission to make hardware changes to the “Automatic Guided Vehicles” it’s used in semiconductor facilities for two decades. It says replacing the machines could take years, and there are no domestic alternatives. The FCC agreed, giving it permission to update its bots for the next year.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
President Trump reportedly called Elon to lift Ukraine Starlink restrictions.

Trump asked Musk on Wednesday to fully roll back the interruptions that neither has publicly taken responsibility for, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Today, the WSJ says the system is working “more normally” after the call, citing US and Ukrainian officials.

Republican politicians have embraced anti-Indian racism — and it’s costing them votes

Some Indian American conservatives say bigotry against their community has driven them away from the party they once supported.

Gaby Del Valle
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Google’s AI overview led some people to think they were donating to James Talarico when they weren’t.

Instead, their money went to a political action committee that funneled the money to the reelection campaign of Colorado’s Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper. According to The Atlantic:

The mix-up wasn’t all AI’s fault. The link led to a misleading donation page that carried Talarico’s name and picture, and specified only at the bottom that the money would go to Hickenlooper. But Google’s AI tool evidently didn’t read the fine print. And perhaps no one would have clicked on it had Google not highlighted the page in an authoritative-sounding AI response.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Australia orders Apple to open the iPhone to third-party app stores.

The court-ordered change takes effect from March 1st 2027, following similar rulings in the EU, Japan, and Brazil. Apple will have to let Fortnite back in the App Store too — one of the last holdouts after a global return — and allow developers to offer alternative payment methods. Apple told Reuters it plans to appeal.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Trump says paying communities a “dividend” could make data centers more popular.

Continuing to push the widely unpopular data center projects, Trump said in a Truth Social post that some of them “have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck.” His plan sounds lot like Meta’s approach on the Hyperion project in Louisiana, where Mark Zuckerberg has touted $50,000 bonus checks for teachers despite a secretive approval process residents didn’t know much about.

As the President of the United States, I have been watching Data Centers very closely, and have come to a very strong conclusion. New and large, in some cases gigantic, Data Centers are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid, and therefore there is electric price increase. In fact, there could be a substantial decrease. Other elements likewise! If companies want to make their Data Centers popular, pay the community, and/or individuals within the community, a “dividend.” I have watched the process closely, and Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck. MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!! GREAT FOR THE U.S.A. President DJT
Screenshot: Truth Social
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Who slowed down Ukraine’s Starlink? Trump and Musk call not-it.

After Ukraine said a Starshield slowdown had interrupted its military operations, Elon Musk claimed any limits “are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Then the president told reporters, “It wasn’t me... and I don’t think it was Elon.”

Now WSJ sources are pointing the finger back at Musk, with some claiming “Musk acted unilaterally.”

Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
Meta’s longtime policy chief Joel Kaplan is leaving.

After 15 years at Meta, the George W. Bush White House alum is exiting, Axios reports, amid a midterm election where Democrats are expected to win back more control in Washington. Kaplan will stay through 2027 to help with the transition, though, which will include bipartisan external affairs executives.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
US civilian agencies can’t use DeepSeek, DHS says.

The Department of Homeland Security ordered the agencies to remove any technology created by the Chinese AI company over concerns that its models may transfer “​sensitive data to the PRC,” according to Reuters. The ban also prevents civilian agencies from using third-party services that integrate DeepSeek’s AI models.

Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
Dozens of towns have found ways to install Flock cameras before residents even know.

A massive review of local contracts by NBC News found 55 places where Flock entered no-bid contracts that escaped public scrutiny by claiming its products couldn’t be compared to others on the market. Another 11 were priced just below thresholds that would have required local council votes.

Navigating local procurement laws is up to each public agency, Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel said in statement, and the company provides “sole-source letters” when requested that help agencies determine if they meet the criteria.

Update: Added statement from Flock.