alphabet controversies

Company response

• Denial — Google

  Google called the lawsuit's claims "meritless" and "inaccurate."

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• The Daily Mail, owner of the MailOnline newspaper, sued Google on Tuesday, alleging that the search and advertising giant's power over selling online ad space means newspapers see little of the revenue their content produces.

• The federal lawsuit against Google and its parent, Alphabet Inc, alleges that Google controls the tools used to sell ad inventory as well as the space on publishers' pages where ads can be placed and the exchange that decides where ads will be placed.

• Google called the lawsuit's claims "meritless" and "inaccurate."

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• Now, with his finances in the hands of the New York judiciary, he announced the lawsuit under the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech.

• He sued Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc. (owner of Google and YouTube) because they banned him from using their platforms after he incited the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

Company response

• Investigation — Dell

  In response to a request for comment, Dell said in an email that it has “never knowingly sourced operations” using child labour and has launched an investigation into the allegations.

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• Filed on Sunday by International Rights Advocates, the case marked the first time the tech industry jointly has faced legal action over the source of its cobalt.

• Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Dell and Google‘s parent company Alphabet have been identified in a lawsuit as part of a system of forced labour that 14 families claim led to the death or serious injury of their children.

• In response to a request for comment, Dell said in an email that it has “never knowingly sourced operations” using child labour and has launched an investigation into the allegations.

Company response

• Remediation — Alphabet

  The company will eliminate mandatory arbitration and limit Google's use of non-disclosure agreements while prohibiting Google from "providing severance to any employee, including a senior executive, terminated for sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, or retaliation."

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• The settlement requires Alphabet to amend its leadership charters for its Leadership Development and Compensation Committee — the committee that approved payouts to former Google executives Andy Rubin and Amit Singhal — to oversee data regarding reports and resolutions of claims of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

• Alphabet has reached a settlement with shareholders in a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct mishandling and cover-up by executives, including former chief legal officer David Drummond.

• Alphabet has reached a settlement on a shareholder lawsuit that accused the board of allegedly mishandling sexual misconduct by its executives.

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• Six of the 14 children died in tunnel collapses, and the others suffered life-altering injuries, including paralysis, according to the lawsuit.

• Tesla, Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Dell Technologies and Microsoft are implicated as being aware of “the forced labor system that has brought grave harm to the Congolese minors,” according to the original legal complaint.

• The legal complaint on behalf of 14 families from the Democratic Republic of Congo was filed on Dec. 15 by International Rights Advocates, a U.S.-based human-rights nonprofit, Fortune reported.

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• Four workers at Alphabet, the parent company of Google, were terminated on November 11 for violating so-called “data access” policies.

• The four organizers were each involved in a recent campaign against Google’s involvement with Customs and Border Patrol.