'A tax on speech', EU goes after scam ads and TikTok child safety spotlight
Hello and welcome to Everything in Moderation's Week in Review, your in-depth guide to the policies, products, platforms and people shaping the future of online speech and the internet. It's written by me, Ben Whitelaw and supported by paid members like you.
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Here's the stories to be on top of this week — BW
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Policies
New and emerging internet policy and online speech regulation
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings into how Booking.com combats scams and fraud under the Digital Services Act. The investigation, announced on Wednesday, will examine whether the platform properly assessed and mitigated risks from fraudulent or non-compliant listings, including phishing scams that exploit reservation and guest data. It will also look at whether paid placement in search results is clearly identified as advertising.
Australia's relationship with platforms has got even frostier this week after a class-action lawsuit was filed in a Federal Court against Meta. It alleges that eight unnamed plaintiffs were harmed by using Facebook and Instagram before they were 18 years old, mirroring the arguments made in the California case that cost the company $375 million (EiM #332). The country's communication minister Annika Wells has also said a federal case will be brought against Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google for their adherence to the under-16 social ban, although details on that are scarce.
In the US, there's been an almost frenetic level of state activity. Alongside the big news about New Mexico (see: Platforms), we've now know that:
- Georgia will be able to enforce its age-verification law while challenges to the law continue, following an appeals court decision on Thursday. Courts have mostly blocked these laws to date so this is notable.
- Rhode Island has become the first US state to bring a case against Meta for the company's approach to scam ads, which generated billions of revenue for the company in 2024 (EiM #346). It'll be interesting to see if other states follow suit.
- Florida last week announced it would sue Discord for putting young users at risk by processing children's information with "willful disregard" for safety and privacy issues.
Also in this section...
- Organizations Ask US Congress to Investigate Meta's Role in Brazilian Election (Folha)
- Germany sets graduated age model for social media ahead of d-you wallet launch (Biometric Update)
- Unpacking the Public Health Turn in Internet Regulation (Tech Policy Press)