Report from the New York Times In Brief – The Trump Administration has called on Republicans in Congress to drop a controversial tax provision dubbed the “Revenge Tax” from the massive budget reconciliation bill. Referred to as Sec. 899, the measure would impose a new...
Second Circuit Panel Rejects Meta Pixel Tracking Tech as a VPPA Violation
Report from MediaPost In Brief – A panel of the Second Circuit Federal Court of Appeals has ruled that web companies don’t violate the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a 1980’s law designed to keep private the names of videos that customers rented, when a...
Canada Promises to Rescind Digital Services Tax to Boost US Trade Talks
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced it is rescinding its digital services tax (DST) that targets the largest US digital companies in a bid to boost trade talks with the US and avoid major...
Another Week. Another State Social Media Teen Law Blocked – Georgia
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Federal District Judge Amy Totenberg has blocked enforcement of Georgia law SB 351, the Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act. In her 50-page order she says, “The state seeks to erect barriers to speech that cannot...
Google’s Latest Offer to Change Vertical Search to Comply with EU DMA
Report from Reuters In Brief – Google has proposed more changes to its search results to improve the visibility of “vertical” search competitors, such as those specializing in hotels, airfares, or local services, aiming to resolve the European Commission’s preliminary...
Apple and Google Asked to Block DeepSeek Downloads in Germany
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – The Data Protection and Privacy Commissioner of Berlin has announced that she asked Apple and Google to remove China-based chatbot DeepSeek from their app stores due to data security concerns and a failure to comply with the EU General...
Google Agrees to Invest in Legal Compliance in a Shareholder Settlement
Report from Reuters In Brief – Google and a collection of plaintiffs in shareholder derivative litigation alleging leadership wrongdoing that exposed the company to antitrust liabilities have agreed on a settlement that will have the company invest $500 million over...
AU eSafety Commissioner Enters the Chat on YouTube’s Age Limit Exemption
Report from Reuters In Brief – Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is recommending that the Albanese Government not exempt YouTube from the country’s strict social-media age limit of 16 years old despite the government’s initial plan to do so. Google representatives...
Commission-Led Google DMA Meetings Fail to Resolve Search Issues
Report from Reuters In Brief – Google used a European Commission-hosted workshop on July 7–8 to outline two more proposals intended to address complaints over how it treats “vertical” search competitors, such as those specializing in hotels, airfares, or local...
Apple Appeals to the Courts on the Commission’s DMA Fine and Demands
Report from Politico In Brief – Apple has appealed the €500 million fine imposed by the European Commission for failing to comply with the Digital Market Act (DMA), calling the penalty “unprecedented” and arguing that the regulator’s demands for changes to its App...
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Paris Prosecutors Continue to Investigate X for Criminal Law Violations
Report from Reuters In Brief – French authorities have raided X’s Paris offices as part of an expanded criminal investigation into the social media platform over its handling of unlawful content. The probe, which began last year as an investigation of the platform’s...
Grok Chatbot Faces Regulatory Criticism for Sexualizing Photo Images
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...
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