Report from Australian Broadcasting Corporation In Brief – Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into X, is facing growing backlash for being capable of digitally altering photos posted on X to depict women, and in some cases apparent children, in revealing clothing,...
New York Enacts Law Requiring Warning Labels on Social Media
Report from Digital Watch In Brief – Governor Kathy Hochul added New York to the list of states that is trying to require social media platforms to display cigarette package-style warning labels that describe their services as employing dangerous “addictive features”...
Google Settles Character.AI Liability Suits Tied to Teen Suicides
Report from Washington Post In Brief – Character.AI and Google have agreed to settle lawsuits regarding teen suicide and self-harm bought by victims’ families in Florida, Colorado, Texas and New York. Character.AI is a role-playing chatbot platform that allows users...
More Enforcement of DMA and DSA Lead EU Digital Policy Agenda for 2026
Report from >Financial Times In Brief – Enforcement of EU digital regulations, including intensifying scrutiny of major US tech companies Google, Meta, Apple and X, is going to mark European digital policy in 2026 and almost certainly bring renewed clashes with the...
Japan Competition Regulator Opens Investigation of AI Search Services
Report from Nippon.com In Brief – The Japan Fair Trade Commission, the country’s competition regulator, has announced an investigation as to whether online search services that use generative artificial intelligence to craft responses could constitute an abuse of a...
New York State Joins California Regulating AI “Safety”
Report from New York Times In Brief – New York followed California and became the second large US state to enact sweeping legislation regulating AI services as Governor Kathy Hochul signed the RAISE Act. The bill establishes a new office within the Department of...
Tech Trade Group Challenging Virginia’s Social Media Teen Time Limit Law
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Tech trade group NetChoice is squaring off in federal court with the State of Virginia to block a law requiring social media platforms to verify users’ ages and prohibit teens under age 16 from using their platform for more than one...
Cloudflare Threatens to Pull Out of Italy After Piracy Judgement and Fine
Report from TechRadar In Brief – Cloudflare, a leading US-based online security service and content delivery network (CDN) provider, is threatening to shut down its operations in Italy after being fined €14 million by the Italian communications regulator, AGCOM, for...
Meta’s WhatsApp Expected to be Added to Digital Services Act VLOP Roster
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Meta Platforms WhatsApp is likely to be classified as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) by the European Commission which will bring it under the strictest regulatory guidelines of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA...
No Tech “Fair Share” Fees Expected in Commission’s Digital Networks Act
Report from Reuters In Brief – A draft of the forthcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA) indicates that the European Commission will not propose requiring large online platforms and cloud providers to pay new fees to telecom operators. Expected to the released by...
Appeals Court Rejects Apple Effort to Pause District Court Setting App Fees
Report from 9to5Mac In Brief – Epic Games has persuaded a panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court Appeals to reverse an earlier decision that had temporarily paused action in the district court that will determine the maximum level of fees Apple can charge app...
The Trump Administration’s Shifting View on AI Model Security Tests
Report from the New York Times In Brief – The Trump Administration is weighing a shift in policy to allow federal agencies to review advanced AI models, with officials discussing an executive order to establish an AI working group composed of government leaders and...
Big AI Industry Companies Reach Agreements with the Pentagon
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – The US Defense Department has finalized agreements with eight major US technology companies to deploy their artificial intelligence tools in classified environments. The companies are OpenAI, Google, SpaceX (via xAI),...
Meta Threatens to Leave New Mexico Rather That Create Alternative Platforms
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Meta is warning it may withdraw Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from New Mexico if a court grants an injunction sought by Attorney General Raúl Torrez requiring major changes to its platforms. Torrez is asking a federal judge to...
Australia Finally Releases Tax Plan for Tech Giants to Pay Media Companies
Report from AP News In Brief – After more than a year of talk, Australia has unveiled draft legislation to require Meta, Google and TikTok to pay a 2.25% tax on Australian revenue if they decline to negotiate agreements to pay Australian media companies for news...
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