"Multiple cookies and identifiers are sent by Google servers and stored on the handset, even when no Google apps have ever been opened by the user. This includes advertising analytics/tracking cookies, links and device identifiers. No consent is sought for storing any of this data and there is no opt out." https://www.techcentral.ie/trinity-study-says-google-sending-device-identifiers-ad-cookies-via-native-apps/
“South Africa's Competition Commission has penalized technology giants including Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook for anti-competitive practices [..] The watchdog suggested that Google should pay local news outlets up to 500 million rand ($27 million) each year for a period that could extend to five years.” https://investing.com/news/stock-market-news/south-africas-antitrust-body-fines-google-meta-over-anticompetitive-practices--bloomberg-93CH-3886357
CJEU Judgment “A refusal by an undertaking in a dominant position to ensure that its platform is interoperable with an app of another undertaking, which thereby becomes more attractive, can be abusive” https://curia.europa.eu/juris/documents.jsf?num=C-233/23
“The draft guidance goes beyond what is required under the Online Safety Act 2023, in order to cover not just illegal harms but “legal” harms that do not meet a criminal threshold, with many misogynistic posts not technically illegal.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/25/ofcom-calls-on-tech-firms-to-step-up-action-against-revenge-porn
“Because Telegram failed to respond for nearly 160 days, eSafety has issued an infringement notice to the company for A$957,780. [..] A spokesperson for Telegram described the penalty as “unfair and disproportionate” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/24/australian-esafety-telegram-fine-reporting-delay
“In a supermarket in any other country, you'd likely see them in the cake toppings section [..] but in the Netherlands, where more than 14 million kilograms of hagelslag are consumed per year, many people eat them every week, sprinkling them liberally onto buttered bread as a quick breakfast, snack or lunch.” https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250220-hageslag-dutch-sandwich?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic%2Feuropetravel
“ABP, the Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in tech companies Meta and Alphabet, its CEO told Dutch newspaper FD in an interview” https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/dutch-pension-fund-abp-sells-all-alphabet-meta-shares-ceo-tells-newspaper-fd-2025-02-17/
“Corporate accountability group Ekō [..] submitted 10 extremist ads filled with hate speech to both platforms last week. Meta approved five of the ads within 12 hours. X approved all 10 ads immediately, Ekō said.” https://www.adweek.com/media/meta-and-x-approve-ai-ads-referencing-nazi-war-crimes-ahead-of-german-elections-research-finds/
“Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data.” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj54eq4vejo
"China’s Internet regulator will enhance AI technology and information content management, strengthen the labeling of generated synthetic content and combat issues like the use of AI technology to generate and disseminate false information and engage in online manipulation" https://www.mlex.com/mlex/technology/articles/2301020
“The default feed of X showed more content from far-right AfD than from other political parties. [..] Our findings suggest that engagement measures and unknown factors related to party affiliation contribute to the overrepresentation” https://zenodo.org/records/14880275
“The company said it recorded [in Europe] an average “approximately 46.8 million” monthly active users of WhatsApp Channels, WhatsApp’s broadcasting feature, over the last six months of 2024.” https://www.theverge.com/news/614445/whatsapp-channels-very-large-platform-vlop-digital-services-act-eu
“The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, a champion of the US president who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest.” https://on.ft.com/4gFarn7
“Virkkunen insisted the deregulatory push [on AI] was driven by the EU’s own ambition to enhance its competitiveness, and not “dependent on the US”.
“We are very committed to cut bureaucracy and red tape,” she said.” https://on.ft.com/42TVbPM
“During its February 2025 plenary meeting, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted a statement on age assurance [..] the EDPB lists ten principles for the compliant processing of personal data when determining the age or age range of an individual." https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/edpb-adopts-statement-age-assurance-creates-task-force-ai-enforcement-and-gives_en
“Appathurei had also seen "money paid to micro-influencers, you know, people who have 2,000 followers, 100 followers, 5,000 followers, but 10,000 of them", so that while they're reviewing make-up or whatever to also insert a line in support [of the pro-Russian candidate]".” https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar4ba259eb
"The scientists linked two quantum processors that were six and a half feet apart using a "photonic network interface" [..] [The team] hopes the achievement will lay the groundwork for a "quantum internet" of distributed ultra-secure processors." https://futurism.com/oxford-scientists-quantum-teleportation-supercomputers
“Of 150 websites tested by the Observer, 52 shared data automatically via the Meta Pixel tracking tool without explicit consent, according to analysis of network traffic.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/08/gambling-firms-secretly-shared-users-data-with-facebook-without-permission
“The list of advertisers whose ads were confirmed to have served on a site hosting CSAM include major entities such as the Department of Homeland Security, Texas state government (Office of the Texas Governor)” https://adalytics.io/blog/adtech-vendors-csam-full-report
“The demand, issued last month, relates to Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service, which heavily encrypts personal data uploaded and stored remotely in Apple’s cloud servers, according to the Post, which said this was a “blanket” request that applied to any Apple user worldwide.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/07/uk-confronts-apple-with-demand-for-cloud-backdoor-to-users-encrypted-data