10 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Law

These days, some of tech’s most important decisions are being made inside courtrooms. Google and Facebook are fending off antitrust accusations, while patent suits determine how much control of their own products they can have. The slow fight over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act threatens platforms like Twitter and YouTube with untold liability suits for the content they host. Gig economy companies like Uber and Airbnb are fighting for their very existence as their workers push for the protections of full-time employees. In each case, judges and juries are setting the rules about exactly how far tech companies can push the envelope and exactly how much protection everyday people have. This is where we keep track of those legal fights and the broader principles behind them. When you move fast and break things, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise when you end up in court.

The UnitedHealthcare shooter got exactly what he wanted

The shooter had a message, and the internet was happy to spread it.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Apple sued for not implementing ‘NeuralHash’ CSAM detection in iCloud.

It’s been two years since Apple dropped its plan to detect child abuse imagery using client-side iCloud scanning.

Now, the New York Times reports on a class-action lawsuit filed in California saying it harmed a group of 2,680 victims by failing to “implement those designs or take any measures to detect and limit” CSAM, like using Microsoft’s PhotoDNA.

Under law, victims of child sexual abuse are entitled to a minimum of $150,000 in damages, which means the total award...could exceed $1.2 billion

Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Apple and Google’s app stores have a child sexual abuse app problem.

While investigating apps that let livestream viewers pay to watch child abuse, The New York Times reports that it found “more than 80 apps that advertised children” on the Apple and Google app stores.

The livestream apps downloaded from Apple and Google illustrate an even darker aspect of the social media technology boom, particularly for children living in poverty in developing countries. There, with the ease of a smartphone, parents and other adults can connect with pedophiles in the United States and elsewhere who pay to watch — and direct — criminal behavior.

Trigger warning: This Times story includes descriptions of child sexual abuse.

Sheena Vasani
Sheena Vasani
A fake FBI agent duped 13 victims out of $2.9 million.

The con man used the name of a real FBI agent to scam victims attached to an “@usa.com” email instead of the real @fbi.gov.

In April, the FTC announced a new rule that could allow it to help people scammed via government and business impersonations. Seniors are often targeted, but so are others, like The Cut’s financial columnist, who lost $50,000 to a man impersonating a CIA agent.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Who actually owns your social media accounts? (Not you.)

As 404 Media and others note, Elon Musk’s X has inserted itself into The Onion’s acquisition of Infowars, arguing that neither Alex Jones nor the estate handling his bankruptcy owns the associated social media accounts.

Since X simply grants a license for their use, the lawyers say that can’t be transferred without permission.

Pursuant to the Successful Bidder Notice, the Sale Motion, and to the extent applicable, the Jones IP Sale Motion, the Trustee now seeks to contravene X Corp.’s TOS by improperly selling or otherwise transferring the X Accounts (which neither Jones nor his bankruptcy estate own) to a third party.
Case 22-33553 Document 937
Screenshot: The Verge
Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Tesla tells court it’s settling with Rivian.

Tesla notified a California judge that it had reached a conditional settlement with Rivian, reports Bloomberg, four years after accusing Rivian in a lawsuit of intentionally poaching Tesla employees and stealing trade secrets.

Conditions of the settlement weren’t revealed in the filing, and Tesla expects that a request to dismiss the suit will be filed by December 24th, Bloomberg notes.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
A hacker reportedly acquired ‘damaging’ evidence against Matt Gaetz.

The former congressman selected as Trump’s attorney general has come up in connection to a defamation lawsuit filed by one of his friends, as the New York Times reports a hacker has obtained evidence shared among lawyers on the case:

The file of 24 exhibits is said to include sworn testimony by a woman who said that she had sex with Mr. Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, as well as corroborating testimony by a second woman who said that she witnessed the encounter.

Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Google avoids a gift card fraud lawsuit.

The proposed class action suit alleged Google had illegally profited by not refunding commissions it collected from Google Play gift card scams, according to Reuters.

... U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman said the plaintiff Judy May lost money because scammers induced her to buy gift cards, and failed to show that Google caused her losses or knew it was receiving stolen funds.

Notably, Apple settled a similar lawsuit in January.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Tweet to legal filing pipeline working at record speed for Rudy Giuliani.

America’s mayor, who lost a defamation case and now owes $148 million to poll workers, didn’t turn over his valuables as ordered. Then he showed up to vote in one of them, a Mercedes Benz. Hours later, this filing showed up, citing the reporter’s X post.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Elon Musk has been ordered to appear at a court hearing tomorrow in Philadelphia.

It’s for the DA’s lawsuit over his probably illegal $1 million daily voter giveaway — I wonder if he’ll show up.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
FTX co-conspirator Nishad Singh isn’t going to prison.

Singh, now the fourth FTX executive to be sentenced after Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Ryan Salame, will receive three years of supervised release.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who has presided over the cases, said that Mr. Singh provided crucial assistance to the government and that he had played a “much more limited” role in the scheme than his colleagues had.

This election will decide what kind of car you’ll buy

Trump has promised to roll back Biden’s EV policies on ‘day one.’

Andrew J. Hawkins
Trump’s takeover of the entire legal system hinges on this election

Conservative courts are strangling the functions of government. Another round of Trump judges will finish us.

Sarah Jeong
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for school shootings and measles

An endorsement of democracy, solving problems, and Kamala Harris.

Nilay Patel
The grievance-driven blueprint for the next Trump administration

The Verge’s guide to Project 2025.

Gaby Del Valle
The pragmatist’s guide to the 2024 presidential election

Your vote matters. Here’s how it will change the future.

Adi Robertson, Gaby Del Valle and 3 more