Regulatory scrutiny of the EU’s digital fairness framework is set to begin on 1 July as the European Commission moves to tighten its supervision of online platforms.
The Commission is preparing a major upgrade of its consumer protection framework, expected by December 2026.
The reforms aim to reinforce enforcement tools under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, allowing regulators to intervene more effectively when platforms breach fairness standards.
Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law, has highlighted the need for greater transparency and accountability as digital markets expand rapidly.
The forthcoming scrutiny focuses on ensuring that platforms respect transparency obligations, avoid manipulating users and provide fair conditions in online transactions.
Regulators seek to replace fragmented enforcement with a more coordinated model that reflects the increasingly cross-border nature of digital commerce.
Stronger consumer safeguards are becoming central to the digital agenda of the EU.
The next phase of reforms is expected to streamline investigations across member states and deliver more predictable outcomes for affected consumers, offering steadier enforcement instead of reactive measures taken after violations escalate.
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Investigators in the US say that AI used by Meta is flooding child protection units with large volumes of unhelpful reports, thereby draining resources rather than assisting ongoing cases.
Officers in the Internet Crimes Against Children network told a New Mexico court that most alerts generated by the company’s platforms lack essential evidence or contain material that is not criminal, leaving teams unable to progress investigations.
Meta rejects the claim that it prioritises profit, stressing its cooperation with law enforcement and highlighting rapid response times to emergency requests.
Its position is challenged by officers who say the volume of AI-generated alerts has doubled since 2024, particularly after the Report Act broadened reporting obligations.
They argue that adolescent conversations and incomplete data now form a sizeable portion of the alerts, while genuine cases of child sexual abuse material are becoming harder to detect.
Internal company documents disclosed at trial show Meta executives raising concerns as early as 2019 about the impact of end-to-end encryption on the firm’s ability to identify child exploitation and support investigators.
Child safety groups have long warned that encryption could limit early detection, even though Meta says it has introduced new tools designed to operate safely within encrypted environments.
The growing influx of unusable tips is taking a heavy toll on investigative teams. Officers in the US say each report must still be reviewed manually, despite the low likelihood of actionable evidence, and this backlog is diminishing morale at a time when they say resources have not kept pace with demand.
They warn that meaningful cases risk being delayed as units struggle with a workload swollen by AI systems tuned to avoid regulatory penalties rather than investigative value.
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Non-visa nationals are now barred from entering the UK, as the country has begun enforcing mandatory digital permission through the Electronic Travel Authorisation.
Travellers from 85 nations, including the US, Canada and France, must obtain an ETA before departure; otherwise, airlines will prevent them from boarding rather than allow last-minute checks at the border. The authorisation costs £16 and remains valid for two years or until a passport expires.
British and Irish citizens remain exempt but must present valid proof of status when travelling. Authorities say the scheme brings the UK into line with similar systems used by the US and the EU.
The Home Office emphasises that the measure strengthens border security and supports a modern, efficient entry process designed to benefit both visitors and the wider public.
A requirement that also applies to travellers passing through the UK to take connecting flights, reinforcing the shift toward a fully digital immigration system.
Over 19 million people have already used the ETA since its launch in 2023, generating significant revenue that is being reinvested in broader border improvements. Officials argue that the momentum paves the way for a future contactless border, supported by the steady transition from physical documents to eVisas.
From 26 February, Certificates of Entitlement will also be issued digitally, creating a single record that no longer expires with a passport.
Most ETA applications are processed automatically within minutes, allowing short-notice trips to remain possible. However, authorities still recommend applying up to 3 working days in advance to avoid delays for the small number of cases that require additional review.
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US policymakers are increasingly treating personal data as a dual use asset that carries both economic value and national security risks. Regulators have raised concerns about sensitive information, including geolocation data linked to military personnel.
Measures such as the Protecting Americans Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 and the Department of Justice Data Security Program aim to curb misuse by designated foreign adversaries. Both frameworks impose broad restrictions on cross border data transfers.
Experts warn that compliance remains complex and uncertain, with companies adapting in what one adviser described as a fog. Enforcement signals have already emerged, including a draft noncompliance letter from the Federal Trade Commission and litigation.
Organizations are being urged to integrate national security expertise into privacy and cybersecurity teams. Observers say early preparation is essential as selective enforcement risks increase under strict but evolving US data protection regimes.
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Large language models are designed to mimic human conversation, but treating them like people can mislead users. Politeness, flattery, or threats do not consistently improve the accuracy of AI responses.
Experts recommend focusing on how questions are structured rather than on word choice. Asking for multiple options, giving examples, and conducting step-by-step interviews can make AI outputs more relevant and useful.
Role-playing may be effective for creative or exploratory tasks, but it can reduce reliability when precise answers are required. AI models are constantly updated, making old prompting tricks largely ineffective.
Maintaining neutrality in prompts prevents biased responses, and while politeness may not improve AI performance, it can make interactions more comfortable. Developing careful prompt strategies is more effective than relying on manners alone.
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AI is increasingly being tested in media production as organisations adapt to changing digital consumption patterns. Generative AI tools are being used to repurpose archival material, experiment with new formats, and expand distribution across online platforms.
In this context, the BBC World Service has launched its first AI-animated video adaptations. The initiative transforms audio episodes of Witness History into short animated films, marking a new application of generative AI within the World Service’s programming.
Five episodes are scheduled for release, starting with The World’s First Labradoodle on the BBC World Service’s YouTube channel. Further adaptations cover Brazil’s largest bank heist, the restoration of Ramesses II’s mummy, the discovery of Lord Sipán in Peru, and an arrest related to football in Brazil.
The project aims to extend the reach of existing audio content and attract digital audiences who may not engage with radio. Editorial oversight remains in place, with AI positioned as a production support tool rather than a replacement for journalistic processes.
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The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and authorities from 61 jurisdictions issued a joint statement on AI-generated imagery, warning about tools that create realistic depictions of identifiable individuals without consent. The move underscores concerns over privacy, dignity and child safety.
Authorities said advances in AI image and video tools, especially when integrated into social media platforms, have enabled non-consensual intimate imagery, defamatory depictions, and other harmful content. Children and vulnerable groups are seen as particularly at risk.
The EDPS and the other signatories reminded organisations that AI content-generation systems must comply with applicable data protection and privacy laws. They stressed that creating non-consensual intimate imagery may constitute a criminal offence in many jurisdictions.
Organisations are urged to implement safeguards against misuse of personal data, ensure transparency about system capabilities and uses, and provide accessible mechanisms for swift content removal. Stronger protections and age-appropriate information are expected where children are involved.
Authorities signalled plans for coordinated responses, including enforcement, policy development and education initiatives. The EDPS and fellow signatories urged organisations to engage proactively with regulators and ensure innovation does not undermine fundamental rights.
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The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has fined Reddit £14.47 million after finding that the platform unlawfully used children’s personal information and failed to put in place adequate age checks.
Although Reddit updated its processes in July 2025, self-declaration remained easy to bypass, offering only a veneer of protection. Investigators also found that the company had not completed a data protection impact assessment until 2025, despite a large number of teenagers using the service.
Concerns were heightened by the volume of children affected and the risks created by relying on inadequate age checks.
The regulator noted that unlawful data processing occurred over a prolonged period, and that children were at risk of viewing harmful material while their information was processed without a lawful basis.
UK Information Commissioner John Edwards said companies must prioritise meaningful age assurance and understand the responsibilities set out in the Children’s Code.
The ICO said it will continue monitoring Reddit’s current controls and expects online platforms to align with robust age-assurance standards rather than rely on weak verification.
It will coordinate its oversight with Ofcom as part of broader efforts to strengthen online safety and ensure under-18s benefit from high privacy protections by default.
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In December 2025, the Macquarie Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, and the American Dialect Society named ‘slop’ as the Word of the Year, reflecting a widespread reaction to AI-generated content online, often referred to as ‘AI slop.’ By choosing ‘slop’, typically associated with unappetising animal feed, they captured unease about the digital clutter created by AI tools.
As LLMs and AI tools became accessible to more people, many saw them as opportunities for profit through the creation of artificial content for marketing or entertainment, or through the manipulation of social media algorithms. However, despite video and image generation advances, there is a growing gap between perceived quality and actual detection: many overestimate how easily AI content evades notice, fueling scepticism about its online value.
As generative AI systems expand, the debate goes beyond digital clutter to deeper concerns about trust, market incentives, and regulatory resilience. How will societies manage the social, economic, and governance impacts of an information ecosystem increasingly shaped by automated abundance? In simplified terms, is AI slop more than a simple digital nuisance, or do we needlessly worry about a transient vogue that will eventually fade away?
The social aspect of AI slop’s influence
The most visible effects of AI slop emerge on large social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Users frequently encounter AI-generated images and videos that appropriate celebrity likenesses without consent, depict fabricated events, or present sensational and misleading scenarios. Comment sections often become informal verification spaces, where some users identify visual inconsistencies and warn others, while many remain uncertain about the content’s authenticity.
However, no platform has suffered the AI slop effect as much as Facebook, and once you take a glance at its demographics, the pieces start to come together. According to multiple studies, Facebook’s user base is mostly populated by adults aged 25-34, but users over the age of 55 make up nearly 24 percent of all users. While seniors do not constitute the majority (yet), younger generations have been steadily migrating to social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and X, leaving the most popular platform to the whims of the older generation.
Due to factors such as cognitive decline, positivity bias, or digital (il)literacy, older social media users are more likely to fall for scams and fraud. Such conditions make Facebook an ideal place for spreading low-quality AI slop and false information. Scammers use AI tools to create fake images and videos about made-up crises to raise money for causes that are not real.
The lack of regulation on Meta’s side is the most glaring sore spot, evidenced by the company pushing back against the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), viewing them as ‘overreaching‘ and stifling innovation. The math is simple: content generates engagement, resulting in more revenue for Facebook and other platforms owned by Meta. Whether that content is authentic and high-quality or low-effort AI slop, the numbers don’t care.
The economics behind AI slop
At its core, AI content is not just a social media phenomenon, but an economic one as well. GenAI tools drastically reduce the cost and time required to produce all types of content, and when production approaches zero marginal cost, the incentive to churn out AI slop seems too good to ignore. Even minimal engagement can generate positive returns through advertising, affiliate marketing, or platform monetisation schemes.
AI content production goes beyond exploiting social media algorithms and monetisation policies. SEO can now be automated at scale, thus generating thousands of keyword-optimised articles within hours. Affiliate link farming allows creators to monetise their products or product recommendations with minimal editorial input.
On video platforms like TikTok and YouTube, synthetic voice-overs and AI-generated visuals are on full display, banking on trending topics and using AI-generated thumbnails to garner more views on a whim. Thanks to AI tools, content creators can post relevant AI-generated content in minutes, enabling them to jump on the hottest topics and drive clicks faster than with any other authentic content creation method.
To add salt to the wound, YouTube content creators share the sentiment that they are victims of the platform’s double standards in enforcing its strict community guidelines. Even the largest YouTube Channels are often flagged for a plethora of breaches, including copyright claims and depictions of dangerous or illegal activities, and harmful speech, to name a few. On the other hand, AI slop videos seem to fly under YouTube’s radar, leading to more resentment towards AI-generated content.
Businesses that rely on generative AI tools to market their services online are also finding AI to be the way to go, as most users are still not too keen on distinguishing authentic content, nor do they give much importance to those aspects. Instead of paying voice-over artists and illustrators, it is way cheaper to simply create a desired post in under a few minutes, adding fuel to an already raging fire. Some might call it AI slop, but again, the numbers are what truly matter.
The regulatory challenge of AI slop
AI slop is not only a social and economic issue, but also a regulatory one. The problem is not a single AI-generated post that promotes harmful behaviour or misleading information, but the sheer scale of synthetic content entering digital platforms. When large volumes of low-value or deceptive material circulate on the web, they can distort information ecosystems and make moderation a tough challenge. Such a predicament shifts the focus from individual violations to broader systemic effects.
In the EU, the DSA requires very large online platforms to assess and mitigate the systemic risks linked to their services. While the DSA does not specifically target AI slop, its provisions on transparency, content recommendation algorithms, and risk mitigation could apply if AI content significantly affects public discourse or enables fraud. The challenge lies in defining when content volume prevails over quality control, becoming a systemic issue rather than isolated misuse.
Debates around labelling AI slop and transparency also play a large role. Policymakers and platforms have explored ways to flag AI-generated content throughout disclosures or watermarking. For example, OpenAI’s Sora generates videos with a faint Sora watermark, although it is hardly visible to an uninitiated user. Nevertheless, labelling alone may not address deeper concerns if recommendation systems continue to prioritise engagement above all else, with the issue not only being whether users know the content is AI-generated, but how such content is ranked, amplified, and monetised.
More broadly, AI slop highlights the limits of traditional content moderation. As generative tools make production faster and cheaper, enforcement systems may struggle to keep pace. Regulation, therefore, faces a structural question: can existing digital governance frameworks preserve information quality in an environment where automated content production continues to grow?
Building resilience in the era of AI slop
Humans are considered the most adaptable species on Earth, and for good reason. While AI slop has exposed weaknesses in platform design, monetisation models, and moderation systems, it may also serve as a catalyst for adaptation. Unless regulatory bodies unite under one banner and agree to ban AI content for good, it is safe to say that synthetic content is here to stay. However, sooner or later, systemic regulations will evolve to address this new AI craze and mitigate its negative effects.
The AI slop bubble is bound to burst at some point, as online users will come to favour meticulously crafted content – whether authentic or artificial over low-quality content. Consequently, incentives may also evolve along with content saturation, leading to a greater focus on quality rather than quantity. Advertisers and brands often prioritise credibility and brand safety, which could encourage platforms to refine their ranking systems to reward originality, reliability, and verified creators.
Transparency requirements, systemic risk assessments, and discussions around provenance disclosure mechanisms imply that governance is responding to the realities of generative AI. Instead of marking the deterioration of digital spaces, AI slop may represent a transitional phase in which platforms, policymakers, and users are challenged to adjust their expectations and norms accordingly.
Finally, the long-term outcome will depend entirely on whether innovation, market incentives, and governance structures can converge around information quality and resilience. In that sense, AI slop may ultimately function less as a permanent state of affairs and more as a stress test to separate the wheat from the chaff. In the upcoming struggle between user experience and generative AI tools, the former will have the final say, which is an encouraging thought.
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Digital sovereignty is gaining urgency as organisations seek infrastructure that remains secure and reliable under strict regulatory conditions.
Microsoft is expanding its Sovereign Cloud to help public bodies, regulated industries and enterprises maintain control of data and operations even when environments must operate without external connectivity.
The updated portfolio allows customers to choose how each workload is governed, rather than relying on a single deployment model.
Azure Local now supports disconnected operations, keeping mission-critical systems running with full Azure governance within sovereign boundaries. Management, policies and workloads stay entirely on site, so services continue during periods of isolation.
Microsoft 365 Local extends the resilience to the productivity layer by enabling Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and Skype for Business Server to run locally, giving teams secure collaboration within the same protected boundary as their infrastructure.
Support for large multimodal AI models is delivered through Foundry Local, which enables advanced inference on customer-controlled hardware using technology from partners such as NVIDIA.
Such an approach helps organisations bring modern AI capabilities into highly restricted environments while preserving control over data, identities and operational procedures.
Microsoft positions it as a unified stack that works across connected, hybrid and fully disconnected modes without increasing operational complexity.
These additions create a framework designed for governments and regulated industries that regard sovereignty as a strategic priority.
With global availability for qualified customers, the Sovereign Cloud aims to preserve continuity, reinforce governance and expand AI capability while keeping every layer of the environment within local control.
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