Report from EuroNews In Brief – The European Commission has announced a formal investigation of Chinese ecommerce platform Shein under the Digital Services Act (DSA), 2022 legislation regulating how digital platforms address illegal and objectional content. Platforms...
Judge Allowing California AG Lawsuit Targeting TikTok’s Addictive Design
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – A California judge has tentatively ruled that TikTok must face the state’s lawsuit alleging the platform’s design is addictive and harmful to children. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Beth McGowen rejected the company’s attempt...
Federal Judge Allows School District Social Media Lawsuit to Proceed
Google Faces Heightened EU Scrutiny of Search Ad Market Conduct
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – Google is the target of heightened scrutiny by the European Commission antitrust officials over concerns that the digital giant may be illegally rigging the cost of advertising on its search engine. A February 9 letter and request for...
Brazil Orders Grok to Stop Sexualized Images
Report from DigWatch In Brief – Brazil has ordered X to stop AI chatbot Grok from generating sexualized images, adding to the global regulatory pressure on Elon Musk’s social media platform and AI chatbot. The directive, issued by Brazil’s National Data Protection...
India Adds Deepfakes to Tightened Social Media Takedown Regime
Report from MediaNews4U In Brief – India has amended its rules requiring social media platforms such as Meta, YouTube and X to remove unlawful material, adding AI-generated “deepfakes” to the regime. The new rules, which go into effect on February 20, bring...
French Retailers and Government Backers Resisting Online Marketplaces
Report from Reuters In Brief – France’s Minister of Small and Medium Businesses says Shein and other online retail platforms will face a “year of resistance" from traditional storefront retailers and their backers in the government. Serge Papin argued that retail...
Federal Jury Finds Uber Financially Liable for Driver Sexual Assault
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – A federal court jury in Arizona has ordered Uber to pay $8.5 million in damages to a young woman who was allegedly raped by her driver in 2023. The decision marks the first time Uber, which has been fighting such claims for a decade,...
France Considering VPN Regulation to Follow Social Media Age Threshold
Report from TechRadar In Brief – As France continues forward with legislation to impose an age threshold of 15 for social media use in the country, Anne Le Hénanff, the Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, said that the government is...
EU Commission Directs Google to Play Nice with Chatbot Competitors
Report from Courthouse News In Brief – The European Commission has announced two “specification proceedings” to direct Google in setting policies related to third-party AI chatbot competitors that comply with its Digital Markets Act (DMA) obligations. One process...
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Google Faces New Antitrust Lawsuit from Old Android App Store Rival
Report from Reuters In Brief – Aptoide, a Portuguese company that specializes in mobile games and claims the world's third-largest Android app store, filed an antitrust lawsuit in US federal court accusing Google of shutting out rival app stores by monopolizing app...
European Commission Rejects WhatsApp Plan to Charge Chatbots
Report from Politico In Brief – The European Commission announced that it has sent a charge sheet to Meta rejecting its plan to introduce fees for rival AI assistants on WhatsApp, arguing that the proposal effectively mirrors the company’s earlier outright exclusion....
Swedish Court Delays Ruling in PriceRunner v Google Damages Case
Report from Crowdfund Insider In Brief – Sweden’s Patent and Market Court has delayed until June 10th its decision in a major antitrust damages case between comparison shopping site PriceRunner, which is owned by Sweden-based fintech company Klarna, and Google, citing...
Appeals Court Rejects Bid to Reinstate Virginia Social Media Time Limits
Report from MediaPost In Brief – A federal appeals court has denied Virginia’s request to enforce SB 854, its new law requiring social media platforms to verify users’ ages and limit minors under 16 to one hour of daily use unless they receive parental consent to use...
Indonesia Warns YouTube Over Not Complying with Age Limit Rules
Report from Business Today In Brief – Indonesia has issued a formal reprimand to Google over noncompliance by its YouTube service with the country’s new child-protection rules for social media platforms that took effect March 28. The regulations require “high-risk”...
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