The Swiss government has scrapped a controversial surveillance proposal following fierce opposition from the country’s privacy tech sector. The reversal, formalized on December 10, forces officials back to the drawing board and delays any new law by at least two years.
Tourists from dozens of allied countries could be forced to provide a five-year social media history to enter the US. The proposal, citing a Trump executive order, would also demand email and phone records, potentially adding millions of man-hours to processing.
The UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, has fined AVS Group Ltd £1 million for not having robust age verification on its adult websites. The company, registered in Belize, now faces daily fines until it implements checks across all its platforms.
The Trump administration is pushing forward with an executive order to limit state AI regulations. AI Czar David Sacks is trying to quell concerns, insisting it won’t override local control on data centers or child safety laws.
President Trump is moving to ban states from regulating AI with a new executive order. This follows the failure of a 10-year moratorium in Congress and targets laws in California and New York. The push faces significant legal and political hurdles.
The U.S. Department of Energy is reorganizing, launching new offices for AI/quantum and fusion. Scientists worry this comes at the expense of the agency’s foundational $8.2 billion Office of Science, which funds broad basic research.
Apple has filed a 545-page petition against India’s Competition Commission over a new penalty calculation method that could cost the company $38 billion. The dispute centers on whether fines should be based on global or local revenue. This comes amid an ongoing antitrust investigation into Apple’s A
The UK’s Digital Services Tax raised £800 million from global tech giants in the most recent tax year, exceeding initial projections. However, the 2% tax captures only a small portion of the massive revenue these companies generate from UK users, with Amazon alone pulling in £29 billion in UK sales.
The UK’s Online Safety Act has triggered a massive VPN adoption wave as users avoid intrusive age checks. Now the government is considering restrictions, but banning VPNs entirely would be messy and complicated.
Former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler reveals that two-thirds of signatories calling to repeal the news distortion policy are Republicans. The bipartisan coalition includes FCC leaders from Reagan, Bush, and Obama administrations who see the rule as censorship.
