عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Technology

Google, Twitter, Meta, Apple Face Tougher EU Online Content Rules

The logo of Google internet giant is seen on the opening day of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) audiovisual and systems integration exhibition in Barcelona on January 31, 2023. (AFP)
The logo of Google internet giant is seen on the opening day of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) audiovisual and systems integration exhibition in Barcelona on January 31, 2023. (AFP)
TT
TT

Google, Twitter, Meta, Apple Face Tougher EU Online Content Rules

The logo of Google internet giant is seen on the opening day of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) audiovisual and systems integration exhibition in Barcelona on January 31, 2023. (AFP)
The logo of Google internet giant is seen on the opening day of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) audiovisual and systems integration exhibition in Barcelona on January 31, 2023. (AFP)

Alphabet Inc's Google, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc, Twitter and Apple face stricter EU online content rules, based on monthly user numbers published by the companies, which exceeded an EU threshold for big online platforms.

The new rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) label companies with more than 45 million users as very large online platforms and subject to obligations such as risk management and external and independent auditing. They are also required to share data with authorities and researchers and adopt a code of conduct.

The European Commission had given online platforms and search engines until Feb. 17 to publish their monthly active users. Very large online platforms have four months to comply with the rules or risk fines.

Twitter said it has 100.9 million average monthly users in the EU, based on an estimation of the last 45 days.

Alphabet provided one set of numbers based on users' accounts and another set based on signed-out recipients, saying users can access its services whether they sign in to an account or are signed out.

It said the average monthly number of signed-in users totaled 278.6 million at Google Maps, 274.6 million at Google Play, 332 million at Google Search, 74.9 million at Shopping and 401.7 million at YouTube.

Apple said only its App Store built for its iPhones, with more than 45 million monthly users, qualifies as a very large online platform. But it will also apply the same rules to the App Store for iPads, Mac computers, Apple Watch and TV.

"Apple intends, on an entirely voluntary basis, to align each of the existing versions of the App Store (including those that do not currently meet the VLOP designation threshold) with the existing DSA requirements for VLOPs because the goals of the DSA align with Apple’s goals to protect consumers from illegal content," it said in a statement.

EBay said it is below the EU user threshold.

Earlier this week, Meta Platforms said it had 255 million average monthly active users on Facebook in the EU and about 250 million average monthly active users on Instagram in the last six months of 2022.

Most Viewed

 
 
Technology

Report: France Aims to Ban Under-15s from Social Media from September 2026

French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference during a European Union leaders' summit, in Brussels, Belgium December 19, 2025. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference during a European Union leaders' summit, in Brussels, Belgium December 19, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Report: France Aims to Ban Under-15s from Social Media from September 2026

French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference during a European Union leaders' summit, in Brussels, Belgium December 19, 2025. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference during a European Union leaders' summit, in Brussels, Belgium December 19, 2025. (Reuters)

France plans to ban children under 15 from social media sites and to prohibit mobile phones in high schools from September 2026, local media reported on Wednesday, moves that underscore rising public angst over the impact of online harms on minors.

President Emmanuel Macron has often pointed to social media as one of the factors to blame for violence among young people and has signaled he wants France to follow Australia, whose world-first ‌ban for under-16s ‌on social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok ‌and ⁠YouTube came into force ‌in December.

Le Monde newspaper said Macron could announce the measures in his New Year's Eve national address, due to be broadcast at 1900 GMT. His government will submit draft legislation for legal checks in early January, Le Monde and France Info reported.

The Elysee and the prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.

Mobile phones have been banned ⁠in French primary and middle schools since 2018 and the reported new changes would extend that ban ‌to high schools. Pupils aged 11 to ‍15 attend middle schools in the French ‍educational system.

France also passed a law in 2023 requiring social platforms to ‍obtain parental consent for under-15s to create accounts, though technical challenges have impeded its enforcement.

Macron said in June he would push for regulation at the level of the European Union to ban access to social media for all under-15s after a fatal stabbing at a school in eastern France shocked the nation.

The European Parliament in ⁠November urged the EU to set minimum ages for children to access social media to combat a rise in mental health problems among adolescents from excessive exposure, although it is member states which impose age limits. Various other countries have also taken steps to regulate children's access to social media.

Macron heads into the New Year with his domestic legacy in tatters after his gamble on parliamentary elections in 2024 led to a hung parliament, triggering France's worst political crisis in decades that has seen a succession of weak governments.

However, cracking down further on minors' access to social media could prove popular, according to opinion ‌polls. A Harris Interactive survey in 2024 showed 73% of those canvassed supporting a ban on social media access for under-15s.

Technology

Poland Urges Brussels to Probe TikTok Over AI-Generated Content

The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Poland Urges Brussels to Probe TikTok Over AI-Generated Content

The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. (Reuters)

Poland has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after the social media platform hosted AI-generated content including calls for Poland to withdraw from the EU, it said on Tuesday, adding that the content was almost certainly Russian disinformation.

"The disclosed content poses a threat to public order, information security, and the integrity of democratic processes in Poland and across the European Union," Deputy Digitalization Minister Dariusz Standerski said in a letter sent to the Commission.

"The nature of ‌the narratives, ‌the manner in which they ‌are distributed, ⁠and the ‌use of synthetic audiovisual materials indicate that the platform is failing to comply with the obligations imposed on it as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP)," he added.

A Polish government spokesperson said on Tuesday the content was undoubtedly Russian disinformation as the recordings contained Russian syntax.

TikTok, representatives ⁠of the Commission and of the Russian embassy in Warsaw did not ‌immediately respond to Reuters' requests for ‍comment.

EU countries are taking ‍measures to head off any foreign state attempts to ‍influence elections and local politics after warning of Russian-sponsored espionage and sabotage. Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in foreign elections.

Last year, the Commission opened formal proceedings against social media firm TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, over its suspected failure to limit election interference, notably in ⁠the Romanian presidential vote in November 2024.

Poland called on the Commission to initiate proceedings in connection with suspected breaches of the bloc's sweeping Digital Services Act, which regulates how the world's biggest social media companies operate in Europe.

Under the Act, large internet platforms like X, Facebook, TikTok and others must moderate and remove harmful content like hate speech, racism or xenophobia. If they do not, the Commission can impose fines of up to 6% ‌of their worldwide annual turnover.

Technology

Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority Launches Service to Verify Suspicious Links

Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority Launches Service to Verify Suspicious Links
TT
TT

Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority Launches Service to Verify Suspicious Links

Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority Launches Service to Verify Suspicious Links

The National Cybersecurity Authority has launched the “Tahqaq” service, aimed at enabling members of the public to proactively and safely deal with circulated links and instantly verify their reliability before visiting them.

This initiative comes within the authority’s strategic programs designed to empower individuals to enhance their cybersecurity, SPA reported.

The authority noted that the “Tahqaq” service allows users to scan circulated links and helps reduce the risks associated with using and visiting suspicious links that may lead to unauthorized access to data. The service also provides cybersecurity guidance to users, mitigating emerging cyber risks and boosting cybersecurity awareness across all segments of society.

The “Tahqaq” service is offered as part of the National Portal for Cybersecurity Services (Haseen) in partnership with the authority’s technical arm, the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE). The service is available through the unified number on WhatsApp (+966118136644), as well as via the Haseen portal website at tahqaq.haseen.gov.sa.