Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill’s newsletter, which presents everything you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you are not already, sign up for our newsletter LINK.
Welcome! Follow our cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@ magmill95), and tech reporter, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@chrisismills), for more coverage.
BIG UBER, LIFT DECIDES: A California judge on Monday ruled that Uber and Lyft should classify their drivers as full-time employees instead of independent contractors, a ruling that, if established, could represent a significant loss for the ride-sharing giants.
The judge of the San Francisco Superior Court gives the companies a ten-day window to file an appeal before the intelligence goes into effect, and spokesmen for both told The Hill that they would do so.
The case that forces Uber and Lyft to comply with AB 5, a landmark law that requires companies to classify their workers as full-time employees if the company has control over how they perform tasks or if the tasks are a routine part are of the company’s core business, was brought by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra
Xavier BecerraCampaigns Accuse California AG of Scorching Descriptions of Voting Initiatives California Appoints Trump Administration to Mandate Unocumented Immigrants Counted for Distribution JUST ENERGY: 20 States Advocate for Trump Restricted States’ Blockchain Pipeline Projects | House Democrats add ‘forever chemicals’ provisions to defense after nailing major amendment | Lawmakers are seeking expansion for tribes to spend stimulating money MORE and a group of city attorneys.
“Our state and workers should not have to pass the bill when large corporations try to skip over their responsibilities,” Becerra said in a statement to The Hill Monday. “We will continue to make sure Uber and Lyft play by the rules.”
In his decision, County Magistrate Ethan Schulman agreed with Becerra’s case that both Uber and Lyft were breaking AB5 by continuing to classify drivers and contractors.
‘It’s that simple,’ he wrote in his statement, ‘drivers’ drivers do not do work that is ‘outside the normal course’ of their business. Suspicions ‘insistence that their companies are’ multifaceted platforms ‘instead of transport companies is flat in line with the legal provisions governing their company as companies for transport networks, which are defined as companies that’ transport persons with cars for compensation . ‘ ”
Veena Dubal, associate professor of law at the University of California, called Hastings’ decision “incredible, probably the most important that came out worldwide.”
“California is such an enormous market for them and … the judge made such clear legal statements about how this is not a technology company but a transportation company and they are clearly in violation of the law,” she told The Hill.
Both Uber and Lyft have opposed the law since it went into effect in January, claiming that their core business is technology platforms instead of ride-hail.
If their profession eventually fails, both companies would have to provide drivers with basic labor rights such as overtime pay and health insurance that they do not currently have.
Read more.
CEO of UBER GETS OP-ED: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is asking for a set of new laws that will provide more benefits to independent contractors without appointing them as employees.
In a New York Times op-ed published Monday, the head of the ride-healing service called the current employment system “outdated and unfair” and acknowledged that the gig economy does not provide enough protection for its workers.
“Many of our critics … believe that Uber and our gig-management peers have failed by treating them as contractors, and that we will do everything we can to avoid the cost of employee benefits such as health insurance,” Khosrowshahi wrote. “Given the history of our company, I can understand why they think so. But it’s not true, and it’s not what I believe.”
Khosrowshahi argued that the U.S. employment system offers a “false choice” that allows workers to choose between self-employment that offers more flexibility and small benefits than full-time employment that does not offer much flexibility and basic protection.
“There has to be a ‘third way’ for gig workers,” Khosrowshahi said. He proposed laws requiring gig economy companies to set up “benefit funds” that offer cash to workers for benefits including health insurance or paid leave.
If such a requirement were the law in every U.S. state, Uber would have contributed $ 655 million to the fund in 2019 alone, Khosrowshahi noted.
He added that states should be mandated to provide medical and disability coverage for injuries that are on the job. He also noted that Uber would be more transparent about how much drivers earn and create more procedures to address the concerns of contractors.
Uber and other gig-economy companies have come under growing control over employee ratings in recent years. Attorneys General in Massachusetts and California filed separate lawsuits earlier this year against Uber and Lyft, a rival service for ride-healing, claiming their independent assumptions from contractors were illegal.
Read more.
INTERNAL FB REPORTS FOUND QANON RAMPANT: An internal Facebook survey revealed thousands of groups and pages with millions of members and followers supporting the QAnon collusion theory, NBC News reported Monday.
According to the report, the top 10 groups had more than a million members among them, while the remaining groups and sites shot the total figure past 3 million.
However, the report did not make clear how many users were members of multiple sites.
The Hill reached out to Facebook for comment on the reported results.
The QAnon theory proposes this President Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump suggests some states ‘can pay nothing’ as part of Trump’s unemployment plan denies White House asked about adding him to Mount Rushmore Trump, US face pivotal UN vote on Iran MAY and the military are working together to expose a shaky cabal of figures in the media, entertainment and politics who are currently running the world and a massive scheme for child trafficking.
The theory, which has evolved into dozens of other conspiracies under its broad umbrella, has grown massively online in recent years at places like Facebook.
The FBI highlighted the potential community last year as a potential threat to domestic terrorism.
QAnon has entered the mainstream this past year, with several Republican candidates for Congress voicing support for the theory that wins them primary.
Read more.
TWITTER INTERESTED IN VINE … I MEAN TIKTOK: Representatives of Twitter have approached the Chinese company that owns TikTok to express interest in the US operations of the popular short video app, according to multiple reports.
It remains unclear whether Twitter would go ahead with a potential deal, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. It is also said that it is uncertain if the company in San Francisco has the means to finalize a deal until President Trump’s executive order implements the use of TikTok in the US.
Microsoft, a company much larger in size and market capitalization than Twitter, said earlier this month that it would pursue a acquisition of TikTok’s U.S. operations. It is considered the favorite to score a deal, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Twitter declined to comment. TikTok did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Trump last Thursday signed executive orders that imposed heavy sanctions on ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, and the Chinese owners of the messaging app WeChat. The move, which marked the latest escalation in the increasingly hurtful relationship between the US and China, set a September 15 deadline for a U.S. company to get TikTok before a ban goes into effect.
The executive order stated that TikTok posed a national security risk, considering the relationship with a Chinese company and local laws in the country that allow the viewing of user data. TikTok has strongly backed down against suggestions that China could access U.S. data through the app.
Read more.
AMAZON EYEING RETAIL SPACE: Amazon and the largest owner of shopping mall in the US are reportedly in talks to use space previously used by department stores for the online retail giant’s follow-up malls.
Amazon and Simon Property Group have discussed converting past and present locations of JC Penney and Sears, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources. Dozens of locations for both stores are set to close after both chains filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Journal noted, adding that Simon currently has malls with 11 Sears and 63 JC Penney stores, according to May public filings.
The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated the financial problems that malls have been plaguing for years, even after large indoor spaces in several states reopened. In contrast, Amazon reported the best quarter for sales this year, as customers increasingly relied on shopping.
Large box stores are often the largest retail spaces in shopping malls, and are often a source of traffic flow to smaller tenants. Simon’s other tenants would probably not lead to much added foot traffic, and many landlords have instead chosen to replace department stores with businesses such as gyms or theaters. However, those institutions are also affected by the pandemic and are unable to expand, the newspaper noted.
Read more.
Lighter click: I’m proud of them
An op-ed to chew on: SpaceX builds the way to the moon and Mars in Texas
NOTABLE LINKS FROM THE WEB:
The man Google loves hate (Politico / Leah Nylen)
Here’s how Professional Union Busters Talk about ‘Woke’ technical organizers (OneZero / Sarah Kessler)
The study of Google rivals requires mobile users to leave select default for search (Axios / Ashley Gold)
De major legal issues after Trump’s TikTok and WeChat bans (The Verge / Adi Robertson)
.
