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National

An anonymous user or users posted racial slurs targeting African Americans and promoted Nazi Germany on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's hacked account Friday afternoon.

Why it matters: This raises concerns about the account security of other noteworthy figures, including presidents and prime ministers.

Details: Chuckling Squad, mentioned in the tweets, has been tied to hacks of several YouTube and Instagram internet celebrities. The hack was public for about 20 minutes before the offensive posts — one of which included a bomb threat at Twitter HQ — were removed from Twitter.

CloudHopper, a third-party service used by Twitter for its SMS service, was reportedly used by hackers to access Dorsey's account, per the New York Times and Verge.

Flashback: Dorsey's account was also hacked by the group OurMine in 2016, but those messages did not use racial slurs or promote violence. In 2015, hackers sent nearly 300 spam messages from the account of Anthony Noto, Twitter's former CFO.

Go deeper: The rule-free world of federal officials' personal accounts

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account hacked

Chuckling Squad, mentioned in the tweets, has been tied to hacks of several internet celebrities.

In this image, Dorsey is speaking while wearing a shirt and a hoodie.

Dorsey at a 2018 interview at the Twitter India office in New Delhi, India. Photo: Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Technology

Twitter

Media

Big Tech

Social Media

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

Google has agreed to pay a $150-$200 million fine to the Federal Trade Commission for violating children's online privacy laws via its video platform YouTube, Politico reports. 

Our thought bubble: It's a small fine given how much backlash YouTube has experienced over the past year for not adequately policing content and advertising on its platform that is aimed at children.

Details: According to the report, the FTC voted 3-2 along party lines to approve the settlement. Reports have suggested that the FTC was looking into whether YouTube was collecting data from children under 13 years old to serve up targeted ads.

Yes, but: Critics argue the fine doesn't go far enough, especially given how much cash Google has and how influential YouTube has become in children's media diets. 

"[I]f the FTC fines Google only $200 million, that’s terribly inadequate. They have allowed YouTube to build a children’s media empire through illegal means that now, no one can compete with; all for the cost of a fine which is the equivalent of two to three months of YouTube ad revenue." 

Josh Golin, executive director, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Meanwhile, YouTube has taken precautions to ensure that its kids content and policies don't attract more scrutiny from policymakers and advertisers in the future.

Ahead of the settlement, YouTube said it's creating a separate website for YouTube kids, previously only accessible via a mobile app. 

YouTube will also reportedly end targeted advertising on videos aimed at children, Bloomberg reports.

The big picture: The fine is the latest action the FTC has taken to rein in children's privacy violations over the past year. In February, the Chinese-owned video app TikTok agreed to a $5.7 million settlement with the U.S. FTC for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

What's next: The settlement will head to the Justice Department for review.

YouTube's kid problem is more than child's play 

Children's advertisers move their business away from YouTube

YouTube reportedly settles with FTC over children's privacy violation

Critics argue the fine doesn't go far enough, especially given how much cash Google has.

Business

YouTube

Politics

Axios AM

Juul's campaign to convince America it does not target kids to vape is getting crushed by lawmakers, attorney generals and the media. The backlash is wicked — and widespread: 

Driving the news: Attorneys general from Illinois and Washington, D.C. are launching new investigations into Juul, and how the company's e-cigarettes became so popular with young people, reports AP. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also issued a formal warning on Friday against the broad use of e-cigarettes and recommended users avoid buying bootlegged vaping products.

The Connecticut attorney general announced an investigation into Juul's health claims and appeal to young people.

In May, North Carolina's attorney general sued Juul "for designing, marketing, and selling its e-cigarettes to attract young people."

A year ago, the attorney general from Massachusetts launched a probe into accusations that Juul markets and sells to minors. [Corrects date]

The Trump administration has followed up tough talk with real action, Axios' Sam Baker tells me: The FDA is still moving forward with tight limits on e-cigarette sales, even over the objections of conservatives who say it's too much regulation from a Republican administration.

On April, 11 Democratic senators (including Elizabeth Warren) sent Juul a letter demanding data and documents about "hooking an entire new generation" via its "highly addictive nicotine." Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the lead senator on the letter, wasn't satisfied by Juul's 22-page response, and continued to blast Juul's "PR campaign."

Juul is asking policymakers to distinguish between its past and present. 

Juul CEO Kevin Burns wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in March that after FDA objections, "we stopped the sale of flavored Juul pods to traditional retail stores, enhanced our online age-verification process, strengthened our retailer compliance, and exited our Facebook and Instagram accounts."

But I continue to hear horror stories from parents and teachers about the vaping "epidemic" in middle and high schools — and administrators' helplessness in curtailing e-cigarettes in their halls, bathrooms and classrooms.

Why it matters: No sooner had cigarettes become decisively uncool when a sleek new nicotine delivery device started captivating our kids. 

Along with Fortnite and other screen issues, "Juuling" has become a leading topic for parent-teacher conversations.

Federal researchers said in December that in an annual survey of American teenagers, 21% of high-school seniors "said they had vaped within the past 30 days — about double the level from the year before," the N.Y. Times reported. 

Juul has about 75% market share, based on Nielsen convenience store data.

A front-page article in Saturday's Washington Post reported that some teens refer to school bathrooms as "Juul rooms":

"As e-cigarettes have skyrocketed in popularity, ... pediatricians report seeing teens who behave less like tobacco users and more like patients with substance-abuse disorders."

Many e-cigarettes, "including Juul, allow users to ingest far more nicotine than they would with traditional cigarettes."

A devastating analogy in the Post story: "[E]ven though many teens assume e-cigarettes are safe, some turn up with signs of nicotine toxicity, a condition previously seen in young children who accidentally ingested nicotine gum."

"These kids have behaviors that we often see in patients who have opioid or marijuana addiction," Sharon Levy of Boston Children's Hospital told The Post.

Addiction treatment specialists told The Post that some kids resort "to stealing from their parents or selling e-cigarette paraphernalia to support their habits."

A congressional hearing last week explored parallels between marketing by Juul and Big Tobacco, with a Stanford expert testifying that Juul's "early marketing (2015-early 2016) was patently youth oriented."

Dr. Robert Jackler, a surgeon and Stanford professor who launched a group to study the impact of tobacco advertising, testified that Juul "saturated social media channels frequented by underage teens ... which led to viral peer to peer promotion ... on youth oriented social media, especially Instagram."

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chair of the economic subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee, accused Juul of using "social media influencers to build a youth-oriented brand, making vaping a cultural phenomenon."

Juul's view ... James Monsees, co-founder and chief product officer of Juul, said in his opening statement at last week's congressional hearing: 

"When minors use our product, far from benefiting our business, it causes direct harm. Indeed, the single biggest risk to our company is that unabated growth in underage usage will cause us to lose our ability to reach our true intended market of adult smokers."

In a response for this article, Juul's Ted Kwong told Axios: "JUUL Labs exists to help adult smokers switch from combustible cigarettes, which are still the leading cause of preventable death in the world and we do not want non-nicotine users to buy JUUL products. We share these serious concerns about youth vaping."

Go deeper: Juul exploring opening its own store

Juul's growing kids crisis

The vaping giant claims it does not target kids.

Juul

Health Care

The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

Health

A military judge has set a trial date for five men accused of helping to carry out the 9/11 attacks — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who the 9/11 Commission Report called their "principal architect" — for Jan. 11, 2021, reports the New York Times. 

Why this matters: This is the first time a trial date has been set for the alleged plotters, who have been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and face the death penalty in conjunction with the charges. They were first arraigned in 2012. Mohammed has been held at Guantanamo since at least 2006 after his capture in Pakistan in 2003.

Go deeper: Global terror attacks have skyrocketed since 9/11

Military judge sets 2021 trial date for alleged 9/11 plotters

The 9/11 Commission Report called him the "principal architect" of the attacks.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, consider the "principle architect of 9/11"

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Photo: Mai/Mai/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

U.S. News

September 11

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call Friday that "Iran is expending its aggression in the region and this is not the time" to arrange a summit between President Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, according to a statement by Netanyahu's office.

Why it matters: Netanyahu is very concerned about Macron's initiative. The statement from Netanyahu's office was his first public reaction on the Iran developments at the G7 meeting in France last Sunday. 

The backstory: Yesterday, Axios' Jonathan Swan and I reported on Netanyahu's attempts to reach Trump while he was at the G7 summit. Netanyahu was worried Macron would arrange a meeting between Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and tried to get Trump on the phone to convince him not to take the meeting. 

According to Netanyahu's statement, Macron was the one who initiated today's phone call. Netanyahu and Macron discussed the situation in Lebanon after last Saturday's drone attack against Hezbollah's precision missile production site in Beirut.

Netanyahu told Macron that Israel will continue to act to prevent its enemies from arming themselves with weapons to destroy Israel, and that whoever gives cover for aggression against Israel — such as the Lebanese government — will not be off limits.

Netanyahu to Macron: "Not the time" for Trump-Rouhani meeting

It's his first public statement about the events at the G7 meeting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron

Netanyahu greets Macron in Paris in June 2018. Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images

World

Iran

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

Data: Yahoo Finance and Chinese Internet Report from South China Morning Post; Chart: Axios Visuals

A slew of Chinese-inspired smartphone apps and products are flourishing in the U.S., adding new Chinese influences to American culture and business just as the trade conflict between the two countries intensifies. 

Why it matters: U.S. tech giants that once inspired Chinese products in the era of PCs and the web are now borrowing moves from East Asian counterparts, mimicking their smartphone apps and innovations, as a recent in-depth China Internet Report by the South China Morning Post documents.

Driving the news: Facebook is creating an app called Thread that aims to make it easier for users to chat more intimately and frequently with their closest friends on Instagram, The Verge reports.

The concept, reminiscent of Snapchat, was pioneered by WeChat, the chat app owned by China's Tencent.

For Chinese users, WeChat has become a "super" app, one that broadly expands across many different services. WeChat started as a messaging app but now offers everything from ride hailing to tickets to gaming. 

Facebook Messenger has more broadly been mimicking WeChat over the past two years. Messenger has gone from focusing on private messaging between Facebook friends to a one-stop shop for payments, stories and games. 

Shopping apps in China have also been heavily copied by U.S. tech giants like Amazon and Instagram. 

Chinese shopping giants like Alibaba-owned Taobao and publicly-traded Pinduoduo that have pioneered the combination of ecommerce and social media are now being recreated for U.S. users by American shopping giants like Amazon and Instagram. 

Amazon launched Amazon Live, a feature that allows users to unbox and test new purchases via  live-streamed video. Instagram this year launched Checkout with Instagram, a feature that allows users to buy products within its app.  

Short video: The recent explosion of TikTok in the United States, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been a wake-up call for U.S. tech giants like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. TikTok grew its U.S. footprint first by acquiring U.S. karaoke company Musically in 2017 and then by spending roughly $1 billion on U.S. marketing. 

Facebook launched a TikTok competitor last year called Lasso which lets users create viral short videos that often feature lip-syncing.

The big picture: Innovation on the smartphone has flourished in China because phones were the first broadly-adopted screen there. 

Chinese companies had to build most of their new products and innovations for a smartphone-driven society, while U.S. companies had already built out services and products for the consumer PC market.

Be smart: Apps for social media, messaging and video are relatively easy for U.S. tech companies to replicate — they're less regulated by local governments than finance, hardware, or transportation, and less tied to physical supply chains that can be subject to trade-war tariffs.

What's next: The "BAT" companies, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, have been increasingly investing in new companies that act as extensions to their services. 

" If you're BATs, you want to invest in things you're not good at. For the most part, their core competency is social media, so they own the data. They want to make sure people use more data elsewhere — they see it as a protective shield. It helps them neutralize competitors."

Humphrey Ho, managing director of Hylink USA, China's largest independent digital advertising agency

U.S. apps take more cues from China

Chinese innovations are finding their way into U.S. software under the shadow of a trade war.

Axios

Friday's top stories

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account hacked

YouTube reportedly settles with FTC over children's privacy violation

Juul's growing kids crisis

Military judge sets 2021 trial date for alleged 9/11 plotters

Netanyahu to Macron: "Not the time" for Trump-Rouhani meeting

U.S. apps take more cues from China

Corporate heavyweights split with Trump on energy regulatory rollbacks

Negative interest rates have hurt, not helped

DNC to tell Iowa and Nevada to dump virtual caucus plan for 2020

America's worker deserts

Trump personal assistant Madeleine Westerhout abruptly resigns