Report from StateAndLocalTax.com In Brief – The Comptroller of Maryland, the state’s tax authority, has finally issued guidance detailing its position on the application of the state’s landmark Digital Advertising Gross Revenues (DGAR) tax, which was enacted in 2021...
Australia’s Social Media Age Limit Will Apply to Google’s YouTube
Report from Reuters In Brief – The Australian Government has reversed course and announced that the country’s strict social-media age limit of 16 years old, set to come online in December, will apply to YouTube despite the initial plan to exempt the massive and...
Platform Telecom Usage Fees Not Likely in the EU Digital Networks Act
Report from Reuters In Brief – As the Trump Administration continues to press the European Commission to step back from regulatory and tax policies that US officials argue discriminate against American tech companies, a commission spokesperson has clarified that the...
Meta to End Political and Social Issue Ads in Europe
Report from the New York Times In Brief – Meta will stop allowing political, electoral or social issue ads on its digital platforms in Europe starting in October due to the requirements of the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation....
Trump Administration AI Plan Fires a Shot in Chatbot Culture War
Report from the New York Times In Brief – President Trump’s executive order “Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government” directs federal agencies to only procure large language models (LLMs) that adhere to the principles of “truth-seeking”, which it defines as...
EU Commission Says No Plans for a DMA Regulatory Funding Scheme
Report from the Reuters In Brief – European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, who is responsible for the bloc’s technology sector, said that the Commission is not currently planning to propose that the digital giants regulated under the EU’s Digital...
Federal Judge Blocks Another California Election Misinformation Law
Report from the Courthouse News In Brief – A federal judge has blocked enforcement of California law AB 2655 that requires large social media companies to remove “materially deceptive content” about political candidates and election officials from their platforms....
Illinois Bans AI Services from Directly Providing Mental Health Treatment
Report from the StateScoop In Brief – Illinois has banned artificial intelligence services from providing mental health services directly to patients. The Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act prohibits AI systems from directly delivering therapeutic...
A Sec. 230 Win as NY Court Rejects Social Media Liability for Shootings
Report from the MediaPost In Brief – A New York state appeals court overturned a lower court decision and dismissed a lawsuit by victims of a racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo in 2022 who argued that social media platforms used by the assailant were...
Top Apartment Landlord Settles DoJ’s Algorithmic Price Fixing Antitrust Suit
Report from the USA Today In Brief – In Brief – The Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a proposed settlement to resolve its antitrust case against Greystar Management Services, the largest residential apartment landlord in the country. Greystar was accused of...
European Publishers Suing Google for Adtech Monopoly Damages
Report from the Press Gazette In Brief – More than 20 European news publishers from eight countries have launched a lawsuit against Google seeking over €640 million in damages, alleging the company’s dominance in advertising technology harmed their businesses by...
European Commission Orders Meta to Allow Chatbots on WhatsApp for Free
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – The European Commission competition authority has issued an interim order to Meta requiring the digital giant to allow AI companies to use WhatsApp to interact with European users without charges. The dispute stems...
Colorado Governor Vetoes Bill Restricting Data Use for Prices and Wages
Report from Colorado Newsline In Brief – Colorado Governor Jared Polis vetoed House Bill 26-1210, legislation that would have barred companies from using personal data and algorithmic tools to set individualized wages or prices. The bill targeted so-called...
Cyber Concerns Results in Ban on Foreign Use of Top Anthropic Models
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – The Trump administration's decision to halt foreign access to Anthropic's most advanced Fable and Mythos AI models followed warnings from Amazon’s CEO that his company’s researchers had been able to prompt the Fable 5...
Meta Adds Funding to the Content Moderation Oversight Board
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Meta has agreed to provide the Oversight Board, an independent organization it created in 2020 to review content moderation decisions across Meta’s platforms, an additional $13 million in “top up” funding to support its operations...
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