Overnight Tech: Trump targets Amazon | DHS opts for tougher screening instead of laptop ban | Dem wants FBI to probe net neutrality comments | Google fine shocks tech

TRUMP GOES AFTER AMAZON: President Trump on Wednesday attacked The Washington Post and its owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for its coverage of him and his administration.

“The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!” the president tweeted Wednesday morning.

The president is escalating his attacks on the news media as he struggles to advance his agenda in Congress and grapples with the wide-ranging probe into whether his associates colluded with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

{mosads}Trump’s broadside against the Post came after it published an article revealing that fake Time magazine covers with Trump’s photo hung at several of his properties.

It also ran a piece headlined “Who’s afraid of Trump? Not enough Republicans — at least for now.” It details the president’s strained efforts to get wavering GOP senators behind the Senate plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

He also went after The New York Times earlier Wednesday over a similar piece.

“The failing @nytimes writes false story after false story about me. They don’t even call to verify the facts of a story. A Fake News Joke!” he tweeted. “Some of the Fake News Media likes to say that I am not totally engaged in healthcare. Wrong, I know the subject well & want victory for U.S.”

Read more here.

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DHS ANNOUNCES NEW SCREENING REQUIREMENTS FOR FLIGHTS: The U.S. is rolling out new aviation security measures for all international flights coming into the country instead of imposing a laptop ban, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday.

Passengers on U.S.-bound flights can expect to go through a more “extensive screening process” beginning as soon as this summer in some areas, according to senior officials. The enhanced procedures will impact 105 countries, 180 airlines and an average of 2,000 daily flights.

“It is time that we raise the global baseline of aviation security. We cannot play international whack-a-mole with each new threat,” DHS Secretary John Kelly said during a security conference on Wednesday.

Read more here.

DEM WANTS FBI TO PROBE NET NEUTRALITY COMMENTS: The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee wants the Department of Justice and the FBI to look into fake comments being filed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about net neutrality.

“I am deeply concerned that the sheer number of these potentially false comments suggest a coordinated attempt to materially mislead the FCC, and therefore a coordinated attempt to break federal law,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

“I urge you to take swift action to investigate who may be behind these comments and, if appropriate under applicable federal law and regulations, prosecute the people behind these fraudulent comments,” he added.

Read more here.

NEW DOCUMENTS REVEAL FACEBOOK CENSORSHIP PRACTICES: Internal Facebook documents published by the investigative outlet ProPublica on Wednesday shed light on how the social media platform decides what speech to delete and what groups should be protected from inflammatory speech.

The report included a slideshow that explains that Facebook’s content moderators should consider which groups of people are “protected,” meaning that speech attacking them should be deleted from the network.

These groups include those defined by race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and disabilities. But age groups, political ideologies, social classes and “continental origins” are not protected.

Read more here.

GOOGLE FINE ROILS US TECH LANDSCAPE: The massive fine that the European Union levied against Google on Tuesday is sending shockwaves across the tech industry, highlighting the intense regulatory scrutiny that companies face when doing business across the Atlantic.

The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, imposed a record $2.7 billion penalty on Google after a seven-year investigation into whether the company was promoting its own comparison shopping tool over those of its competitors in search results.

“What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” said EU competition policy chief Margrethe Vestager. “It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate. And most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation.”

Read more here.

SENATORS WANT TO BAN CALLS ON FLIGHTS: A bipartisan pair of senators introduced a bill on Wednesday that would make it illegal to talk on the phone during a flight.

The legislation, called the Commercial Flight Courtesy Act, would direct the secretary of Transportation to ban phone calls by passengers during commercial flights.

“Passengers chatting on their mobile devices in the small confines of an airplane could make flying even less comfortable,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who introduced the bill with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).

Read more here.

ON TAP:

The House Judiciary Committee Regulatory Reform Subcommittee will hold a hearing on international antitrust enforcement at 10 a.m.

The House Science space subcommittee will examine in-space propulsion at 10 a.m.

The Data Coalition will hold an event on the Data Act at 1 p.m.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Lawmakers prepare for forthcoming effects of AI on the economy

DNC hires a new chief technology officer

Turkey tells Twitter to shut down American’s account

Senate Intel asks 21 states to publicize election hacking

Encrypted app Telegram reaches deal with Russia

Massive ransomware attack not actually ransomware: report

WSJ: Silicon Valley’s own fight for $15

Reuters: Google could learn from Microsoft’s battles with the EU

Buzzfeed: Palantir responsible for Bobby Shmurda’s arrest