Google updates service policies to comply with EU regulations
Google plans to update some of its service policies to comply with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), according to an Aug. 24 blog post.
The Big Tech giant said it had made “significant investments” in various areas to comply with the DSA’s specific requirements.
It plans to expand its Ads Transparency Center, researchers’ access to data and its transparency research; add more visibility for content moderation; create a new Transparency Center for its policies; and conduct more in-depth risk analysis.
The post also expressed that Google has voiced concerns about the “potential unintended consequences” of some of these measures:
“Such as the risk of making it easier for bad actors to abuse our services and spread harmful misinformation by providing too much information about our enforcement approach.”
The EU’s DSA intends to consolidate content regulations across the region and form more specific processes for content moderation online. It also categorized 17 online platforms as “very large online platforms” (VLOPs) and two as “very large online search engines” (VLOSEs).
General requirements for sites in these categories include preventing and removing illegal posts and offering a way to report them; banning targeted advertising based on a user’s sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or political beliefs; restricting targeted ads to children; and sharing data with researchers and authorities.
Related: Google upgrades search engine with AI-powered enhancements
The VLOPs include Alibaba’s AliExpress, Amazon Store, Apple’s AppStore, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia and Zalando.
The two VLOSEs were Bing Search and Google Search.
All the platforms mentioned in these categories had until Aug. 28 to meet the obligations of the DSA. Google called its updates “compliance at scale.”
TikTok also released a statement on Aug. 4 saying it had prepared for the measures. It said it added a new way to report illegal content, gave more information on its content moderation methods, made its recommendation system more transparent and updated its ad policy for teens.
Users took to Reddit to discuss the upcoming implementation of the DSA. Some praised the regulations as “needed” to keep Big Tech in line, while others said the policies limit free speech.
Taking the middle ground, one user argued it’s “too early to make a fair judgment.”
Despite these efforts to make the internet safer, Google took to its blog on Aug. 21 to respond to accusations that ads were tracking the data of children, an allegation published in a lengthy report.
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Politics
Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.
The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.
Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.
Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”
He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.
“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.
And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.
‘PM should have addressed the protesters’
Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.
He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.
He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.
“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.
“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”
Read more:
Ex-Labour adviser suggests doing to farms ‘what Thatcher did to coal mines’
Farmers ‘could block ports and disrupt food supply’
Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.
But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.
The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.
To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.
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