MISA Zimbabwe: Proposed new law to govern social media platforms will over-regulate the digital space. “The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, has stated that the government is formulating a new law to regulate social media platforms to tackle the increasing challenges of unregulated usage. During a recent Ministers Meet the Media meeting, the […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/15/misa-zimbabwe-proposed-new-law-to-govern-social-media-platforms-will-over-regulate-the-digital-space/

Tubefilter: Washington’s attempted ban is helping TikTok Shop become big business in Mexico. “The increasing interest in the Mexican version of TikTok Shop — which launched last month amid TikTok’s regulatory turmoil — is both a sound investment and a hedge against volatility in the U.S. creator economy. Latin American ecommerce will approach $200 billion in annual sales this year, […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/11/tubefilter-washingtons-attempted-ban-is-helping-tiktok-shop-become-big-business-in-mexico/

Associated Press: UK watchdog drops competition review of Microsoft’s OpenAI deal. “Britain’s competition watchdog said Wednesday it has dropped its review of Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, saying it’s satisfied that the deal doesn’t need a closer investigation under the country’s merger rules.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/11/associated-press-uk-watchdog-drops-competition-review-of-microsofts-openai-deal/

Unseen Japan: Japan Cancels Billion-Yen AI Child Abuse Detection System After Failed Tests . “The Agency trained the system on 5,000 cases of confirmed child abuse. Based on information provided on new cases, the system was supposed to judge the likelihood of abuse based on 91 data points, including injuries found on the child and the parents’ attitude, using a scoring system of 0 to 100. […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/05/unseen-japan-japan-cancels-billion-yen-ai-child-abuse-detection-system-after-failed-tests/

ICO (UK): Investigations announced into how social media and video sharing platforms use UK children’s personal information. “We are today announcing three investigations looking into how TikTok, Reddit and Imgur protect the privacy of their child users in the UK. Our investigation into TikTok is considering how the platform uses personal information of 13–17-year-olds in the UK to make […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/05/ico-investigations-announced-into-how-social-media-and-video-sharing-platforms-use-uk-childrens-personal-information/

Discovered on LinkedIn: Global AI Regulation Tracker. From the front page: “An interactive world map that tracks AI law, regulatory and policy developments around the world. Click on a region (or use the search bar) to view its profile. Other features are also available to support your research of AI regulation (including an AI governance library, country comparison tool, live AI newsfeed and […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/04/global-ai-regulation-tracker/

Reuters: Canada regulator to impose fee on Google for online news law’s operating costs . “A Canadian regulator said on Wednesday it will impose a fee on Google to recover the cost of enforcing a law that requires large internet platforms to pay for news content on their websites.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/28/reuters-canada-regulator-to-impose-fee-on-google-for-online-news-laws-operating-costs/

Reuters: Google, Meta face penalties for anti-competitive behaviour towards South African news media. “Google could be required to pay up to 500 million rand ($27.29 million) a year in compensation to South African media outlets after the country’s competition watchdog found the tech giant guilty of anti-competitive practices, while Meta and X also face fines.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/25/reuters-google-meta-face-penalties-for-anti-competitive-behaviour-towards-south-african-news-media/

India Today: Centre asks social media platforms to remove apps enabling caller ID fraud. “In a bid to curb cyber fraud, the Centre has sent an advisory to social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and X among others, directing them to remove applications that enable users to manipulate their caller IDs.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/20/india-today-centre-asks-social-media-platforms-to-remove-apps-enabling-caller-id-fraud/

Reuters: New downloads of DeepSeek suspended in South Korea, data protection agency says . “South Korea’s data protection authority on Monday said new downloads of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek had been suspended in the country after DeepSeek acknowledged failing to take into account some of the agency’s rules on protecting personal data.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/18/reuters-new-downloads-of-deepseek-suspended-in-south-korea-data-protection-agency-says/

AFP: Australia bans DeepSeek AI program on government devices. “Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies, a top official said Wednesday, citing privacy and malware risks posed by China’s breakout AI program.” I’m not going to index this for every single country but this is happening in multiple places.

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/06/afp-australia-bans-deepseek-ai-program-on-government-devices/

Economic Times: Third eye: Google Maps issue raised in Rajya Sabha, Delhi demand and just friends!. ” Ajeet Gopchade, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, raised concerns about growing incidents of people being misled by Google Maps. During zero hour, he said this is leading to accidents and drivers are ending up at unexpected destinations. Gopchade demanded measures to deal with the […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/04/third-eye-google-maps-issue-raised-in-rajya-sabha-delhi-demand-and-just-friends-economic-times/

AFP: Meta not ending fact-checks outside US yet, fails to appease Brazil. “Meta told Brazil it would not yet end fact-checks outside the US, but its attempts to clarify its new social media policies fell flat Tuesday as the Latin American nation slammed measures which promote a digital Wild West.'”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/30/afp-meta-not-ending-fact-checks-outside-us-yet-fails-to-appease-brazil/

AFP: European watchdog takes aim at online gambling, gaming among youths. “Online gambling and gaming can cause depression and other mental health issues in young people, which the Council of Europe rights watchdog is trying to counter with a new project encouraging good policy and awareness raising. The 46-member bloc, which launched its project at the start of a two-day conference in Rome […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/29/afp-european-watchdog-takes-aim-at-online-gambling-gaming-among-youths/

Search Engine Land: Google testing new-look search results in EU. “Google is testing a new search results display for a small group of EU users when they search for products, restaurants, flights, and hotels. The test is part of Google’s efforts to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/29/search-engine-land-google-testing-new-look-search-results-in-eu/

Route Fifty: California is investigating OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit company. “As part of what it described as an ongoing investigation, the California attorney general’s office has sought answers from OpenAI about its reported plan to convert to a for-profit corporation and how it intends to transfer assets out of its existing nonprofit.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/29/route-fifty-california-is-investigating-openais-conversion-to-a-for-profit-company/

Search Engine Journal: Google Rejects EU’s Call For Fact-Checking In Search & YouTube. “Google has reportedly told the EU it won’t add fact-checking to search results or YouTube videos, nor will it use fact-checks to influence rankings or remove content. This decision defies new EU rules aimed at tackling disinformation.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/17/search-engine-journal-google-rejects-eus-call-for-fact-checking-in-search-youtube/

The Register: Europe coughs up €400 to punter after breaking its own GDPR data protection rules. “In what appears to be a first, the EU General Court has fined the European Commission for violating its own GDPR data protection regulations by failing to prevent the transfer of a German citizen’s data to the United States.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/15/the-register-urope-coughs-up-e400-to-punter-after-breaking-its-own-gdpr-data-protection-rules/

BBC: US markets watchdog sues Musk over Twitter stake disclosure. “The US markets watchdog has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk alleging he failed to disclose that he had amassed a stake in Twitter, allowing him to buy shares at ‘artificially low prices.’ The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit alleges that the multi-billionaire Tesla boss saved $150m (£123m) in share purchases […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/15/bbc-us-markets-watchdog-sues-musk-over-twitter-stake-disclosure/

Gizmodo: Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Gets a Boost From Lina Khan’s FTC. “Federal antitrust regulators on Friday added weight to portions of Elon Musk’s lawsuit seeking to prevent OpenAI from restructuring itself into a fully for-profit company. In a brief filed with a federal court in California, attorneys for the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s antitrust […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/11/gizmodo-musks-lawsuit-against-openai-gets-a-boost-from-lina-khans-ftc/