Stronger EU cybersecurity rules advanced Friday when government and European Parliament negotiators agreed provisionally to the revised network and information security directive (NIS2). If approved by European Council members and the full Parliament, the measure would set the baseline for cybersecurity risk management measures and reporting obligations across several sectors, the Council said. One is digital infrastructure: The directive would apply to providers of public electronic communications services, digital services and domain name system services (see 2103220038). NIS2 introduces a size-cap rule under which all medium and large entities within the relevant sectors would be subject to the rules. Negotiators agreed on other provisions to ensure proportionality, a higher level of risk management and "clear-cut criticality criteria" for determining which enterprises are covered. The provisional accord also streamlines reporting requirements. The European Commission welcomed the political agreement, saying its next move will be a cyber-resilience act to ensure that digital products are more secure.

President Joe Biden extended for a year the national emergency declaration in then-President Donald Trump’s May 2019 executive order under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to protect U.S. information and communications technology supply chains against interference by foreign adversaries, says a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. The order was due to expire Sunday. Bad actors’ “unrestricted access” to ICT “augments the ability” of foreign adversaries to exploit “vulnerabilities” in the U.S. supply chain, “with potentially catastrophic effects,” said the notice. The “unusual and extraordinary threat” continues to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the U.S., it said. For this reason, the national emergency declaration “must continue,” it said.

Google will pay hundreds of European news publishers for their content as part of licensing agreements under the European Copyright Directive, the company said Wednesday. Google reached agreements with “more than 300 national, local and specialist news publications in Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland,” the company said. Google will launch a new tool to allow for potential agreements with “thousands more news publishers, starting in Germany and Hungary, and rolling out to other EU countries over the coming months,” said News and Publishing Partnerships Director Sulina Connal.

Google manipulated the app store market and abused its power by forcing Match Group to use the Google Play Store billing system, alleged Match Monday in an antitrust lawsuit against Google in U.S. District Court in San Jose. Google initially told Match the company would be able to use its own payment systems for its dating apps Tinder, Match, OkCupid and others. The platform pulled a “bait-and-switch” in requiring all apps selling digital goods to use Google Play billing, the company said. The “requirement will eliminate user choice on Match Group apps and increase costs to consumers by allowing Google to charge Match Group an arbitrary and discriminatory tax of 15% on all subscriptions and up to 30% on all other in-app purchases,” Match said. Google Vice President-Government Affairs and Public Policy Wilson White rejected Google’s “cynical campaign,” saying Match is trying to “freeload” on Google investments after years of reaping benefits from the Google Play store.

Considering the challenges facing eBay customers globally, “we are pleased with our performance to start the year,” said CEO Jamie Iannone on a Q1 earnings call Wednesday. Revenue in the quarter declined 6% to $2.48 billion. Since late February, when the war in Ukraine began, “we have seen lower e-commerce traffic,” said Iannone. Inflation in gas prices and home energy costs and “historically low consumer confidence,” especially in the U.K. and Germany, further impeded demand, he said. “We expect more near-term headwinds to e-commerce growth rates this year.” EBay said it’s waiving Ukrainian seller fees, and protecting sellers from late shipment penalties. It’s also matching employee donations to organizations supporting Ukraine. EBay’s international business “has experienced softer economic growth and greater exposure to the supply chain challenges impacting cross-border trade,” said Chief Financial Officer Steve Priest.

The Biden administration colluded with social media platforms to censor and suppress truthful information, Republican attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana alleged in a lawsuit Thursday. Filed by Missouri AG Eric Schmitt and Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, the lawsuit names President Joe Biden, Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS Disinformation Governance Board Director Nina Jankowicz, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others. The administration “pressured and colluded” with social media giants Meta, Twitter and YouTube to censor information on various topics, including COVID-19, the lawsuit claims. It cites several instances of truthful information it said was censored by platforms and later verified as credible: the efficacy of masks, the Wuhan, China, lab leak story and the Hunter Biden laptop story. The federal government violated the First Amendment by colluding with platforms in the censorship, the lawsuit said: Officials “coerced, threatened, and pressured social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints by using threats of adverse government action.” The White House didn’t comment.

The U.S. will establish new cryptographic standards for federal agencies to guard against quantum computing cybersecurity threats, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday through a national security memorandum and executive order. The National Institute of Standards and Technology will work with the Office of Management and Budget, the national cyber director, the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to establish requirements for “inventorying all currently deployed cryptographic systems, excluding National Security Systems.” Agencies will need to establish “comprehensive plans” to protect U.S. intellectual property, R&D and other “sensitive technology from acquisition by America’s adversaries,” the White House said. The initiatives lay the groundwork for continued American leadership, the White House said: “America must start the lengthy process of updating our IT infrastructure today to protect against this quantum computing threat tomorrow.”

Congress should reject bipartisan legislation that would authorize the Library of Congress to designate mandatory technical measures for online platforms combating piracy (see 2203180069), advocates said Monday. Mozilla, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Creative Commons, Freedom of the Press Foundation and others signed a letter from about 3,000 creators accompanied by 6,300 petition signatures. The Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies (Smart) Copyright Act (S-3880) would result in automated censorship and surveillance back doors for ISPs and storage services like Dropbox, they said.

FCC regulations don’t allow the agency to interfere with Elon Musk’s buy of Twitter, a deal that could enhance competition and free speech (see 2204290074), Commissioner Nathan Simington said Monday. Simington rejected calls for the agency to block Musk, saying the agency’s competition review authority doesn’t extend to internet platforms like Twitter. Even if the agency had jurisdiction, “it would be inappropriate and contrary to the public interest to block,” he said: The deal doesn’t raise “any concerns about vertical or horizontal concentration in the social media market.” He dismissed concerns about concentration of ownership, pointing to ownership at Google, YouTube, Facebook, The Washington Post and The New York Times. The deal could help buck trends toward “curated and managed speech informed by the sensibilities of a narrow and unrepresentative class of insiders” and bring more diversity to social media, he said. It would be blatantly illegal for the government to try to stop Musk’s free expression approach, he said: “The law in this country does not recognize a government interest in restricting the open exchange of ideas.”

The Connecticut House passed privacy legislation 144-5 Thursday, sending it to Gov. Ned Lamont (D) for his signature. The Senate unanimously passed a concurring bill earlier this month (see 2204210011). SB-6 creates a “consumer bill of rights with respect to data privacy,” said House General Law Committee Chair Michael D’Agostino (D), lead sponsor in the House. Consumers would have the right to know when their data is being tracked, how it’s being used and to delete the data under the new opt-out measure. The House declined to consider an amendment on children’s privacy.