United Kingdom: IT and Internet

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has launched a strategic market status investigation into Microsoft's business software ecosystem, examining whether the tech giant holds substantial and entrenched market power across its productivity suite, operating systems, and security tools. The investigation will scrutinize Microsoft's commercial practices, technical design choices, and potential leveraging of market dominance into adjacent markets like cloud services, with the possibility of imposing bespok

The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is an EU product cybersecurity law for connected products (formally, “products with digital elements” under the CRA) commercialized in the EU; it entered into force on 10 December 2024...

The UK government has announced sweeping plans to ban social media for under-16s and restrict AI chatbots for under-18s, marking a dramatic policy shift from its earlier stance on the Online Safety Act.

The UK and Gulf Cooperation Council have finalized a comprehensive free trade agreement that will eliminate tariffs on 93% of UK exports worth £580 million annually.

Last July, the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee published its report on social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms. It criticised the UK's online safety regime...

The European Commission has launched a privacy-preserving age-verification app designed to help platforms comply with the Digital Services Act, but Member States are simultaneously implementing divergent national age...

Organisations developing or procuring AI tools face complex questions around data rights, model training, explainability, liability, and regulatory compliance. With global frameworks still evolving and intellectual property questions unresolved, well-crafted AI contract clauses serve as the primary risk control mechanism, providing certainty on ownership, data usage, and governance while adapting to emerging regulations.

Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether the provider of two online image boards has failed to comply with duties to protect people in the UK from illegal content.

As part of its broader efforts around online age checking, the EU commission announced that it has created its age verification app. Last year the Commission announced that it was working with Member States to create a harmonized approach for age verification.