The European Commission has unveiled a draft Digital Fairness Act aimed at curbing manipulative app and gaming practices, including dark patterns, hard-to-cancel subscriptions, loot boxes, and ads targeting minors. Companies that violate the rules could face fines of up to 6% of annual global revenue. The proposal also pushes for centralized enforcement power at the EU level rather than relying solely on member states.
engadget.com
· 2026-11-11
The European Commission published a draft Digital Fairness Act that would regulate online manipulation, including banning gambling-like loot box mechanics for minors, requiring opt-outs for addictive design features like autoplay and endless scrolling, and mandating clearer influencer ad disclosures. The proposal also targets misleading pricing claims, unfair personalized ads aimed at children, and hard-to-cancel subscriptions.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-11
The European Commission said preliminary findings show TikTok's recommendation algorithm creates a 'rabbit hole effect,' repeatedly exposing users to content tied to sadness, isolation, or body image. The Commission says TikTok's existing mitigation controls are insufficient and the platform must redesign its For You feed or risk fines up to 6 percent of global annual turnover.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-06
Google is challenging in court two European Commission requirements issued in July: one forcing it to give rival AI assistants deeper access to Android, including voice-activation capability, and another requiring it to share Google Search data with competing search providers. The Android rule would require Google, within 12 months of the July decision, to let users set a non-Google AI assistant like ChatGPT as their default and invoke it by voice.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-29
Anthropic has provided the EU's cybersecurity agency with access to its Mythos 5 model, following months of negotiations with the European Commission. The model is capable of detecting vulnerabilities in computer code, a capability that had previously raised national security concerns among officials.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-10
The European Commission unveiled a new internal security strategy called ProtectEU, framing rising cybercrime and terrorism threats as justification for developing 'technological solutions' to access encrypted communications. The plan avoids concrete legislative proposals for now, instead calling for a roadmap on lawful law enforcement access to encrypted data.
reclaimthenet.org
· 2026-08-30
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