Report from Courthouse News In Brief – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron headlined the Summit on European Digital Sovereignty in Berlin, signaling the commitment of the two largest EU member states to advance European digital and AI...
Spanish Court Orders Meta to Pay $550 million to Media Companies
Report from Courthouse News In Brief – A Spanish commercial court has ordered Meta to pay €479 million in damages to 87 Spanish media outlets for gaining an unlawful competitive advantage in advertising on its top platforms. The ruling follows a lawsuit brought in...
Japanese Court Orders Cloudflare to Pay $3m for Aiding Manga Piracy Site
Report from Torrent Freak In Brief – Cloudflare, a leading US-based online security service and content delivery network (CDN) provider, has been held legally liable in Japan for copyright infringement carried out by anonymous users of its platform. The ruling by...
RealPage Settles with the DOJ in Algorithmic Pricing Lawsuit
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – The Justice Department (DOJ) announced that it will settle its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, an apartment-pricing software provider accused of enabling landlords to coordinate rent increases. The case, filed in...
EU Commission Opens Antitrust Probe of WhatsApp’s AI Chatbot Policy
Report from Politico In Brief – The European Commission has announced an antitrust investigation into whether Meta is unfairly blocking chatbot providers from using its WhatsApp messaging app. In October, WhatsApp changed its business API policy to ban general-purpose...
EU Fines X Millions of Euros for Violating DSA with Blue Checkmark Change
Report from EuroNews In Brief – The European Commission has imposed its first-ever fine on a large online platform for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), hitting X with a 120 million euro penalty after a two-year investigation. Among the findings, regulators...
Perplexity AI Hit with Two More Big Media Copyright Suits
Report from Engadget In Brief – The New York Times has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Perplexity, the self-styled Generative AI (GAI) “answer engine”. The media giant says that it sent the AI company several cease-and-desist demands to stop using its...
EU Responds to Publisher Calls for Antitrust Probe of Google AI Practices
Report from CNBC In Brief – The European Commission has announced an antitrust investigation into whether Google unfairly uses the content of online publishers to provide AI answers to search queries without appropriate compensation to publishers, and without offering...
EU Accepts Latest Meta Offer on Free Services with Less-Personalized Ads
Report from Wall Street Journal In Brief – The European Commission has announced a tentative agreement with Meta to resolve the Digital Markets Act (DMA) investigation of Meta’s offer to provide ad-free subscription plans for Facebook and Instagram, which critics...
Trump Finally Issues Executive Order Countering State AI Laws
Report from Washington Post In Brief – After failed attempts to attach a federal moratorium on state AI regulation to “must pass” legislation, President Trump has issued an executive order that calls on government agencies to “check the most onerous and excessive”...
Florida AG Sues Netflix Following the Social Media Litigation Playbook
Report from NBC News In Brief – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) has filed a 66-page lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of misleading Florida consumers about its data-collection practices and exposing children and families to so-called...
SpaceXAI Fails to Block Minnesota Law Banning “Nudification” Apps
Report from Politico In Brief – Federal Judge Donovan Frank rejected SpaceXAI’s effort to block Minnesota’s law banning the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images while the company challenges the measure. Frank said the company, then xAI, waited too long to...
Australia Digital Duty of Care Law to Require Algorithm Choice
Report from ABC News Australia In Brief – The Australian Government has released draft legislation to add a Digital Duty of Care to the Online Safety Act of 2021. A key provision is the “My Feed, My Way” initiative requiring social media platforms to give all users a...
Google Updates Gmail Spam Filters for Political Fundraising
Report from Campaigns & Elections In Brief – Google has put in place a Gmail policy that will make it somewhat easier for political campaigns and committees to reach personal Gmail inboxes by allowing eligible political entities to become “verified senders,” bypassing...
European Commission Proposes Age-Based Social Media and Chatbot Rules
Report from the Financial Times In Brief – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for an EU KIDS Act to create age-based rules limiting minors’ access to social media, AI chatbots and companions, online game and video-sharing platforms,...
Platform Economy Insights produces a short email four times a week that reviews two top stories with concise analysis. It is the best way to keep on top of the news you should know. Sign up for this free email here.
