Report from the New York Times In Brief – The US and Chinese officials have said that they have the “framework for a deal” on TikTok as part of broader bilateral and foreign policy talks that could see President Trump certifying that the divestiture conditions set in...
Major Online Publisher Sues Google Over AI-Enabled Search Features
Report from Reuters In Brief – Penske Media, which owns online publisher sites including Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Variety, has sued Google in federal court alleging that it is leveraging its online search monopoly to gain access to Penske’s content for the...
California State Legislature Passes Major AI Transparency Bill
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – The California Legislature has passed SB 53, the “Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act” (TFAIA), that imposes new AI transparency requirements, especially for large developers, and creates whistleblower protections for...
Federal Judge Blocks Second California Election Deepfake Law
Report from Straight Arrow News In Brief – Federal Judge John Mendez has struck down California’s AB 2839 on summary judgement, ruling that the legislation combatting so-called political deepfakes violates the First Amendment. The measure, enacted in 2024, proposed to...
Amazon Suffers Initial Setbacks Before Trial in FTC Dark Patterns Lawsuit
Report from Reuters In Brief – Federal Judge John Chun delivered several quick wins to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just days before the jury trial begins in its lawsuit accusing Amazon of violating federal consumer protection law by using deceptive practices,...
Amazon Agrees to Pay $2.5 Billion to Settle FTC Dark Patterns Lawsuit
Report from the New York Times In Brief – Amazon has reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations it tricked people into signing up for Prime subscriptions and made it difficult to cancel. The digital giant agreed to pay...
MD Tax Authority Proposes Digital Ads Tax Rules to Circumvent Federal Ban
Report from StateAndLocalTax.com In Brief – The Comptroller of Maryland, the state’s tax authority, has finally issued guidance detailing its position on the application of the state’s landmark Digital Advertising Gross Revenues (DGAR) tax, which was enacted in 2021...
Australia’s Social Media Age Limit Will Apply to Google’s YouTube
Report from Reuters In Brief – The Australian Government has reversed course and announced that the country’s strict social-media age limit of 16 years old, set to come online in December, will apply to YouTube despite the initial plan to exempt the massive and...
Platform Telecom Usage Fees Not Likely in the EU Digital Networks Act
Report from Reuters In Brief – As the Trump Administration continues to press the European Commission to step back from regulatory and tax policies that US officials argue discriminate against American tech companies, a commission spokesperson has clarified that the...
Meta to End Political and Social Issue Ads in Europe
Report from the New York Times In Brief – Meta will stop allowing political, electoral or social issue ads on its digital platforms in Europe starting in October due to the requirements of the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation....
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Polish Competition Authority Challenges Apple App Tracking Privacy Policy
Report from Reuters In Brief – Poland’s antitrust agency, the UOKiK, is the latest regulator to announce a formal investigation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy that requires all third-party apps to get explicit approval from iPhone users to collect...
French Retailers and Brands Sue Shein Arguing Unfair Competition
Report from New York Times In Brief – A large coalition of French retailers and brand owners has filed a class action lawsuit against Chinese ecommerce platform Shein, accusing the company of engaging in systematic unfair competition. The plaintiffs are seeking up to...
Twitch Added to Australia’s New Social Media Age Threshold Regime
Report from New York Times In Brief – Twitch, a live-streaming platform that emerged primarily with video-game related content but now features a wide range of material, has been added to the list of digital platforms that must implement age verification and block...
Amazon Settles Gig Delivery Labor Investigation in Italy
Report from Reuters In Brief – Amazon’s Italian logistics business unit has resolved a major investigation brought by the Milan public prosecutor’s office into alleged tax evasion and unlawful labor practices by paying roughly €180 million ($210 million) to Italy’s...
Google Testing Paid Media Relationships Related to AI Answers
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – Google has announced a pilot program with news publishers to test AI-powered article overviews as part of the Google News pages. Participating outlets, including The Guardian, Der Spiegel, El País, and the Washington Post, will work...
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