Report from the Washington Post In Brief – Following an announcement from US President Donald Trump that new “reciprocal” tariffs would be paused for 90 days for all countries other than China, the EU announced a similar delay in the 25% tariffs it had announced in...
Trial Finally Begins in Meta Antitrust Lawsuit Filed by Trump FTC in 2020
Report from the Washington Post In Brief – The bench trial pitting the FTC against Meta before US District Judge James Boasberg is finally underway in a lawsuit initiated in 2020 by the first Trump Administration. The regulator’s antitrust complaint alleges that...
Apple and Google Face Regulation Under Japan’s New Digital Regime
Report from the Japan Times In Brief – The Japanese Fair Trade Commission has formally designated three companies as being subject to the new law regulating major information technology companies in the smartphone application market, the American mobile ecosystem...
Google Settles Android Auto Dispute with German Antitrust Regulator
Report from Reuters In Brief – The German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has announced the end of its antitrust probe of Google’s automotive services and maps platform with the company agreeing to changes addressing the regulator’s concerns. “I am delighted that we have...
Google Loses Another Federal Antitrust Case – This Time AdTech Services
Report from the Wall Street Journal In Brief – In the latest in a string of major antitrust setbacks, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema largely sided with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and ruled that Google violated federal monopoly law in the operation of their...
Minnesota Democrats Explore a State Tax on Social Media Companies
Report from CBS News In Brief – Leading Democrats in the Minnesota state legislature are proposing to tax large social media platforms as part of an effort to close a state budget deficit estimated to reach $6 billion. Legislation approved by the Minnesota House and...
EU Commission Continues Ramping Up Staffing for DSA Enforcement
Report from EuroNews In Brief – The European Commission is hoping to hire 60 additional staff members for its Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcement unit, including legal and policy officers, data scientists, and researchers. In its latest report on DSA enforcement...
EU Commission Announces DMA Penalties for Apple and Meta
Report from Politico In Brief – After more than a year of investigations, the European Commission has announced that it has fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for failing to comply with EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple, Google, and Meta were the first...
TikTok Announces Its Own Version of X-Style Community Notes
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – TikTok has announced that it is testing a new feature dubbed “Footnotes” to allow users to add additional context and relevant information to videos to help others better understand certain content. It is clearly modeled on X’s...
Another Call for the EU to Regulate Google Search – Spam Filter Edition
Report from Reuters In Brief – ActMeraki, a German media company, has complained to EU antitrust regulators that a Google anti-spam policy that penalizes websites that sell part of their websites to other companies to improve the search results for the third-party...
Australia’s 16-Year-Old Social Media Ban May Apply to More Platforms
Report from ABC News In Brief – With Australia’s 16-year-old age limit for social media going into effect on December 10, the country’s eSafety Commissioner has indicated that the ban could apply to more platforms beyond Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, and...
Meta Bringing Ad-Free Facebook and Instagram Subscriptions of the UK
Report from The Times In Brief – Meta has announced that it will offer ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram by subscription in Great Britain. The move follows settlement of a privacy lawsuit brought by digital accountability advocate Tanya O’Connell and...
EU May Block Digital Gatekeepers from New Consumer Finance Data Regime
Report from the Financial Times In Brief – The European Union appears set to prevent the largest US tech giants from participating in a new system of consumer financial data sharing. The EU’s Financial Data Access (FiDA) regulation is intended to give consumers the...
Roblox Sued by Kentucky for Harming Teens
Report from AP News In Brief – The Attorney General of Kentucky has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, a vast platform of user-generated games and interactive experiences, accusing the company of failing to protect children and that the platform is a “playground for...
EU Investigating How Four More Large Platforms Protect Minors
Report from Courthouse News In Brief – The European Commission has asked Snapchat, YouTube, Apple’s App Store and Google Play how they protect children on their platforms, including how they attempt to verify users’ ages and prevent minors from accessing harmful...
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