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...
German Media Regulator Says AI-Search Hybrids are Subject to Media Laws
Report from Reuters In Brief – Germany’s media regulator has declared that AI-generated search summaries and chatbot responses produced by services such as Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity AI fall under Germany’s media laws. The Commission for Licensing and...
EU Commission Accepts X’s Plan to Address DSA Transparency Concerns
Report from MediaPost In Brief – The European Commission has announced the approval of X’s plan to address several Digital Services Act (DSA) compliance shortcomings identified by the regulator. The decision follows the €120 million fine imposed on the social media...
TikTok’s Latest EU DSA Charges Allege Failing to Protect Minors
Report from Reuters In Brief – TikTok faces fresh allegations from the European Commission that its platform design violates the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to adequately protect minors. The preliminary findings mark the fourth DSA case opened against...
New Jersey Bans So-Called “Surveillance Pricing” for Groceries
Report from NJ.Com In Brief – New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) has signed the Fair Price Protection Act, banning grocery stores and third-party grocery delivery platforms from using consumers' personal data to set or vary food prices. Sherrill said the measure will...
France Officially Sets 15-Year-Old Age Threshold for Social Media
Report from the New York Times In Brief – France has become the first European country to fully approve a nationwide ban on social media for children under 15, with the law expected to take effect as early as Sept. 1. Passed by large majorities in both houses of the...
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