Report from Fox Business In Brief – Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of Capitol Hill’s foremost Republican critics of large tech companies, chaired a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Crime and Counterterrorism and aggressively criticized Meta and other major...
Epic Settles Android App Store Antitrust Dispute with Samsung
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – Epic Games has settled its legal dispute with Samsung Electronics and will drop claims that the device company conspired with Google to maintain a monopoly over Android app distribution. The app developer’s federal lawsuit accused...
Arkansas Will Delay Enforcement of Social Media Law
Report from MediaPost In Brief – The Attorney General of Arkansas has agreed that the state will not enforce legislation that prohibits social media platforms from using algorithms that could “cause” a user to commit suicide, buy drugs, develop an eating disorder, or...
Brazil Tariff Threats Linked to Internet Policies and Bolsonaro Trial
Report from The Hill In Brief – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced that he backs the Brazilian Supreme Court’s (STF) decision to increase the liability of social media platforms in the country for content posted by their users, which has...
Apple’s DMA App Store Offer May Gain Approval from the EU Commission
Report from Reuters In Brief – The European Commission’s antitrust regulators are reportedly preparing to accept Apple’s latest proposal to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) on App Store rules and fees. The Commission announced in April that they were...
German Court Clears Meta to Train AI with Some EU User Data
Report from The Decoder In Brief – A German regional court has cleared Meta to use public data from Facebook and Instagram users to train its AI systems, dismissing an emergency lawsuit from a consumer protection group. Back in April, Meta announced that it would...
Texas Law Will Put Online Age Verification Duties on App Stores
Report from the New York Times In Brief – Texas is the second state to require app store operators to verify all users’ ages and then block minors from downloading apps without the permission of a parent or legal guardian. SB 2420, the App Store Accountability Act,...
European Hotels to Sue Booking for Retail Price Fixing Damages
Report from Reuters In Brief – Hotel associations from 26 European markets plan to file a class-action lawsuit against Booking .com in the Netherlands over the platform’s long-time use of price parity contract clauses that prohibited hotels using the site from...
German Government Eying Huge Tax on US Digital Giants
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – The Culture Minister of Friedrich Merz’s German Government has revealed that they are drafting legislation for a national digital services tax (DST) targeting the biggest internet companies operating in country, in particular US giants...
Senate Budget Bill Includes Modified “Revenge Tax” to Counter DSTs
Report from the New York Times In Brief – The Senate version of the massive budget reconciliation bill includes a modified version of a tax provision included by the House of Representatives that penalizes foreign countries that impose “unfair” taxes on US companies....
View By Monthly
Latest Blog
Meta and State AGs Settle Lawsuit for $18 Billion and Design Changes
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – Meta has agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 48 state attorneys general, ending a major federal trial over allegations that Facebook and Instagram harmed teenagers and signaling how the top social media platforms may...
Gig Delivery Driver Regulation Battle Revving Up in New York City
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing legislation to require Amazon, FedEx and other warehouse operators in the city to directly employ delivery workers rather than use subcontractors and other non-employees. Backers...
Maryland Tax Court Strikes Down Digital Ads Tax for Violating Federal Law
Report from MediaPost In Brief – In a major ruling in a tax law battle stretching more than five years, the Maryland Tax Court has struck down the state’s 2021 law imposing taxes on the digital advertising revenue of large online platforms and ordered the state to...
UK Continues Legal Efforts to Break Apple Encryption
Report from The Guardian In Brief – Apple has again launched a legal challenge to a UK government order calling for access to customers’ encrypted iCloud data. The move comes a year after the Home Office withdrew a broader request that led to a dispute with...
French Court Strikes Down Social Media Age Limit Over Teen Speech Limits
Report from Politico In Brief – The French Constitutional Court has struck down the country’s new law banning social media for children under 15, a flagship priority of President Emmanuel Macron. The court ruled that the measure disproportionately infringed minors’...
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.