european commission

TikTok is in the EU's crosshairs over potential Digital Services Act (DSA) breaches around the safety of minors and other matters. The formal proceedings will focus on addictive algorithms, the "rabbit hole effect," age verification issues and default privacy settings. The European Commission is also probing ad transparency and data access for researchers, it said in a press release.The probe is focusing on the privacy and safety of minors. The Commission will look at the potentially negative aspects of TikTok's design…

iMessage, once considered an exclusive messaging service for Apple users, was just deemed too lame to regulate by EU officials. The European Commission said it would not regulate iMessage as a “gatekeeper service” on Tuesday, along with Microsoft’s Bing and Edge, which allegedly have a similar level of importance. Oof.Video Chat - From Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact“The Commission found that iMessage, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising do not qualify as gatekeeper services,” said regulators in a press release Tuesday. “The…

Meta and TikTok owner ByteDance are not keen on the idea of paying the European Union to regulate them. The companies have challenged a supervisory fee set forth by EU moderators, who are now required to monitor Meta, TikTok, and other major platforms under the Digital Services Act (DSA), Politico reports. Meta first announced its action, with ByteDance following suit a day later.Under the current arrangement, all designated companies must split the €45.2 million ($48.7 million) that EU's regulators argue is necessary to…

Europe on Friday moved a step closer to adopting rules governing the use of artificial intelligence and AI models such as Microsoft-backed ChatGPT after EU countries endorsed a political deal reached in December.The rules, proposed by the European Commission three years ago, aim to set a global standard for a technology used in a vast swathe of industries from banking and retail to the car and airline sectors. They also set parameters for the use of AI for military, crime and security purposes. EU industry chief Thierry…

Meta has been fighting upcoming regulations in the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) for months, but no more. The company has announced it will comply with the DMA's stipulation that it can't favor its own services or force users to remain inside its ecosystem. This decision will greatly impact Meta's user experience in the EU, including allowing people to utilize Messenger and Facebook Marketplace without a Facebook account. Meta previously filed an appeal arguing that the two platforms should not be included…

The long-running dispute between the European Commission and Apple over the use of its payment technology could soon come to an end. The Commission has officially announced Apple's plan to open up its Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, used for tap-and-go payments, to third-party mobile wallet providers. Rumors of Apple's proposal first surfaced in December 2023.The Commission opened an investigation into Apple in 2020 over potentially restricting rival mobile wallet pay developers' access to necessary technology,…

The European Union said Tuesday it is examining Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the popular ChatGPT tool, and whether it is subject to the bloc’s merger rules. “The European Commission is checking whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the EU Merger Regulation,” the EU’s executive arm said in a press release. The disclosure came as part of calls from the European Commission on Tuesday for feedback from…

European Commission investigators are to inspect Chinese automakers in the coming weeks as part of a probe into whether to impose punitive tariffs to protect European electric vehicle (EV) makers, three people involved in the process said.The inspectors will visit BYD, Geely and SAIC, two sources said, with one of them saying the investigators will not visit non-Chinese brands produced in China, such as Tesla, Renault and BMW.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteMITMIT…

The European Union says three porn sites are now subject to stricter rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The bloc has designated Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos as "very large online platforms" (VLOPs) after determining that they each have an average of more than 45 million monthly users in the EU. As such, the three sites are subject to the same stringent rules as the likes of Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.The European Commission (the EU's executive arm) says VLOPs have until February 17 to comply with the…

Adobe Inc. walked away from its $20 billion acquisition of startup Figma Inc. after clashing with regulators in Europe and the UK. Adobe will pay Figma a $1 billion termination fee, the companies said in a statement on Monday. They saw “no clear path” to getting regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.  Adobe, the dominant force for years in such creative software as Photoshop and Illustrator, announced the purchase of Figma in September 2022.  The acquisition,…