Bloomberg

A backlash against the app stores of Apple and Google is gaining steam, with a growing number of companies saying the tech giants are collecting too high a tax for connecting consumers to developers’ wares. Netflix and video game makers Epic Games and Valve are among companies that have recently tried to bypass the app stores or complained about the cost of the tolls Apple and Google charge. Grumbling about app store economics isn’t new.

White House Counsel Don McGahn’s July 17 call to Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai over the decision to send the $3.9 billion merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media to an administrative law judge wasn’t improper, Chairman Pai said: “It was pretty unusual, and it was the first time we got a status inquiry of that kind.” Chairman Pai, when asked if McGahn’s call was improper, said, “Oh, not at all. It was just a big old status inquiry.”

Russia’s social-media trolling operation began stepping up its Twitter presence to new heights in late July 2017 -- more than eight months after sowing discord and disinformation in the 2016 presidential election. The burst of activity -- revealed in a new, comprehensive dataset of nearly 3 million tweets -- had an overriding focus over the ensuing three months: popularizing headlines and news stories that were originally authored by a US-based news site called Truthfeed that supports President Donald Trump and specializes in hyper-partisan, factually incorrect stories.

The Trump administration likely will seek public comment on a new online privacy proposal it is hammering out with tech companies before sending it to Congress. The White House is working with technology giants on a legislative proposal through the National Economic Council and the Commerce Department.

Facebook can no longer block minorities or other groups from seeing advertisements, according to an agreement with Washington state. Facebook signed a binding agreement to modify its advertising platform so third parties can’t discriminate based on ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, according to Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Facebook must make the changes nationwide within 90 days, according to Ferguson’s office. Will Castleberry, Facebook vice president of state and local policy, said the company worked closely with Ferguson’s office to reach the agreement.