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...
Perplexity AI Hit with Two More Big Media Copyright Suits
Report from Engadget In Brief – The New York Times has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Perplexity, the self-styled Generative AI (GAI) “answer engine”. The media giant says that it sent the AI company several cease-and-desist demands to stop using its...
EU Responds to Publisher Calls for Antitrust Probe of Google AI Practices
Report from CNBC In Brief – The European Commission has announced an antitrust investigation into whether Google unfairly uses the content of online publishers to provide AI answers to search queries without appropriate compensation to publishers, and without offering...
EU Accepts Latest Meta Offer on Free Services with Less-Personalized Ads
Report from Wall Street Journal In Brief – The European Commission has announced a tentative agreement with Meta to resolve the Digital Markets Act (DMA) investigation of Meta’s offer to provide ad-free subscription plans for Facebook and Instagram, which critics...
Trump Finally Issues Executive Order Countering State AI Laws
Report from Washington Post In Brief – After failed attempts to attach a federal moratorium on state AI regulation to “must pass” legislation, President Trump has issued an executive order that calls on government agencies to “check the most onerous and excessive”...
Apple Finally Gets a (Small) Win in Epic Battles Over App Store Commissions
Report from Reuters In Brief – In the latest development in the five-year antitrust battle between Apple and Epic Games, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected key parts of District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ order requiring Apple to...
Platform Economy Insights produces a short email four times a week that reviews two top stories with concise analysis. It is the best way to keep on top of the news you should know. Sign up for this free email here.
