MLex: Google's new plans to give users more choice in how they receive online ads are likely to face close scrutiny from European Commission officials, as they weigh possible legislative proposals on web cookies and digital advertising in the coming months.

MLex: UK financial watchdogs may have a regulatory firepower problem on their hands that could derail their ability to crack down on firms falsely advertising their products or services as green.

MLex: The new EU Directive to combat gender-based violence could lead to stricter enforcement against online violence such as cyberflashing, cyber harassment and the creation and sharing of pornographic deepfakes. The way illegal content is handled by online platforms is regulated under the EU's content moderation law, the EU Digital Services Act (DSA)—but the law does not define what is illegal. That varies between EU countries, but the Directive now sets an EU-wide standard for gender-based violence offences. If the issue becomes a priority, online platforms will have to be increasingly vigilant for this type of content on their services.

MLex: Fintech company Klarna is trying to stay one step ahead of UK regulators keen to tighten rules around consumer credit.

MLex: EU investigators probing Lufthansa's acquisition of ITA Airways and IAG's takeover of Air Europa this week flagged extensive and varied concerns over both deals. In each case, the companies will face an uphill struggle if they seek to remedy all of the areas of concerns as identified. They'll both be fighting to narrow the concerns and avoid the kind of remedy package Korean Air had to accept to get its Asiana deal over the line.

MLex: Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Google and X have all suspended the training of generative AI models in the EU over personal data protection concerns, and they are hoping that watchdogs there will soon provide legal clarity on how the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR) applies to model training. Until European data protection authorities reach a consensus, particularly over the use of 'legitimate interest' as a legal basis for data processing, tech companies will stay away.

MLex: Meta Platforms may end up having to rethink its approach to advertising again, thanks to the European Commission’s probe into the ‘consent or pay’ model it introduced for EU users of Facebook and Instagram. Meta is trying to devise a new, ‘less intrusive’ way to deliver ads to its users, in a bid to avoid penalties from both the EU competition regulator and the Irish data protection watchdog. The search for a balance is complex and will resonate with other platform companies that rely on serving ads to users.

MLex: Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies such as OpenAI, Meta Platforms and Anthropic might face civil liability for their AI models, as the EU recently updated its product liability regime to cover software. However, applying civil liability to this fast-moving technology and its complex value chain carries plenty of question marks, and downstream economic players might be those facing the bulk of the responsibilities.

MLex: Smurfit Kappa and WestRock are likely to face questions from the EU’s merger regulator about the handful of plants the two companies own for producing folding cartons in Germany. The European Commission’s findings of whether customers are reliant on a packaging supplier in their home country, or if the market is ‘EEA-wide’, will decide if the deal raises competition concerns. In past reviews the regulator has indicated that the latter is the way the market is moving.

MLex: The success of the EU’s world-first artificial intelligence legislation will depend largely on technical standards — but getting them right and on time is proving to be a difficult task, even with the law not even formally published yet. Many industry figures worry the standards requested by the European Commission won’t be ready in time, potentially derailing implementation. And deadlines aren’t the only concern, as a copyright dispute looms over the standardisation world.

MLex: The Consumer Duty—the UK's landmark regulation that requires financial services providers to put good consumer outcomes at the heart of every business decision, will celebrate its first birthday at the end of next month.

MLex: UK Information Commissioner, John Edwards, believes the world’s data protection commissioners did not respond forcefully enough to the rise of the personal-data-fueled social media business model over a decade ago, and he is determined, through actions such as a preliminary enforcement order against Snap’s ‘My AI’ chatbot, to not repeat that mistake with generative artificial intelligence. ‘We’re not having that this time’, he said.