Blog: regulation

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

A regulation-heavy year for social looms in 2025

Cover image for A regulation-heavy year for social looms in 2025

Hanna Kahlert

17 Dec 2024

Product Strategy

The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has published guidelines around the Online Safety Act, warning that most social platforms are not adequately meeting standards. Sites that fail to comply can be faced with high fines and potential bans (per The Guardian ).

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Australia bans social media for under-16s: the first domino towards a new digital world?

Cover image for Australia bans social media for under-16s: the first domino towards a new digital world?

Hanna Kahlert

3 Dec 2024

age restriction

australia social media ban

Australia has just approved groundbreaking social media regulation that bans users under 16 from accessing platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, and X. This under-16 social media ban is the first of its kind that does not allow exceptions for existing users or those with parental permission.

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The BlueSky migration: How cultural shifts can disrupt even the most established social media platforms

Cover image for The BlueSky migration: How cultural shifts can disrupt even the most established social media platforms

Hanna Kahlert

19 Nov 2024

Twitter clones have proliferated since Elon Musk first bought and renamed the platform to X in 2022. Despite a lot of buzz around platforms like Mastodon and BlueSky, none have seemed to capture a significant audience, with X’s weekly active usage remaining consistent.

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Ofcom, Elon Musk, and the future of the social platform marketplace

Cover image for Ofcom, Elon Musk, and the future of the social platform marketplace

Hanna Kahlert

30 Oct 2024

Social platforms

Earlier this year, riots broke out across the UK, fuelled largely by misinformation and inflammatory discourse on social media. At the time, it was unclear who bore responsibility: did the brunt of the blame fall on certain accounts and creators, or do social platforms need to take a firmer approach...

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Who wins the social spiral? Consumers’ relationship with social platforms is changing

Cover image for Who wins the social spiral? Consumers’ relationship with social platforms is changing

Hanna Kahlert

28 Aug 2024

There is no shortage of takes on the role of social platforms in our daily lives, from former influencers lamenting the end of Twitter’s golden era to researchers studying social media’s impact on teens’ mental health .

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Regulatory decisions around AI will shape the future of digital ecosystems

Cover image for Regulatory decisions around AI will shape the future of digital ecosystems

Hanna Kahlert

27 Sep 2023

Looking back, the Francis Haugen testimony spelled a turning point for social platforms. It represents a moment where they, and tech more generally, went from being able to ‘build fast and break things’ with no one really paying attention, to an environment where not only users were watching clo...

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AI is the new digital ad industry… but the stakes are far greater

Cover image for AI is the new digital ad industry… but the stakes are far greater

Hanna Kahlert

9 Aug 2023

Zoom has been making the news this week over its controversial new terms and conditions that now allow the service (in theory) to utilise user data to train its AI-assisted features. While the company has reassured the public that they need to opt into the usage, which is necessary to use its AI fun...

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Microsoft’s big win against the FTC

Cover image for Microsoft’s big win against the FTC

Karol Severin

13 Jul 2023

Activision Blizzard

Microsoft has won its case against the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to halt or terminate the deal. There is still an ongoing antitrust case by the FTC against Microsoft, but now the acquisition can conclude before the antitrust case does.

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Why TikTok and the future of social is now on trial

Cover image for Why TikTok and the future of social is now on trial

Hanna Kahlert

5 Apr 2023

The last two weeks have seen social platforms, especially TikTok, abuzz with clips of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s hearing before the US congress, answering lawmakers’ questions about the social media app’s data protections for users and its relationship with China.

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Why the ‘Game Pass cannibalising games sales’ story does not change anything

Cover image for Why the ‘Game Pass cannibalising games sales’ story does not change anything

Karol Severin

16 Feb 2023

games subscriptions

This week it has been reported that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report includes Microsoft sharing that its “ internal analysis shows a decline in base game sales following 12 months of their addition on Game Pass.

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PlayStation and Xbox exchange PR blows amid the Activision deal approval process

Cover image for PlayStation and Xbox exchange PR blows amid the Activision deal approval process

Karol Severin

19 Aug 2022

Sony and Xbox exchanged PR salvos last week as Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision came under regulatory scrutiny in Brazil. Within it, companies got an opportunity to comment on the impacts of the acquisition.

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What pay-for-play podcasting says about the creator economy

Cover image for What pay-for-play podcasting says about the creator economy

Annie Langston

11 Aug 2022

Podcasters are operating in the grey area of payola, as creators are charging guests to be featured without disclosing it to their listeners, according to a new Bloomberg expose. Apparently, this practice is most popular among podcasts in the business, wellness, and cryptocurrency areas.

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Quick Take: Regulation and war are leading the global games industry's trajectory to diverge

Cover image for Quick Take: Regulation and war are leading the global games industry's trajectory to diverge

Karol Severin

11 Mar 2022

Over the last few years, the traditional unit sales-based model in games has been increasingly moving towards engagement-led models. In other words, we are moving away from costly price points to buy complete games – instead the industry is turning towards a set-up, where access to games is more c...

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Reflections from PG Connects London 2022

Cover image for Reflections from PG Connects London 2022

Karol Severin

25 Feb 2022

industry events

PG Connects London 2022 was the first in-person games industry event that I attended in over two years. Having spent the best part of the pandemic on Zoom, which quickly blurred the lines between a call and an event, walking into a physical venue was truly reinvigorating.

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Why the rise of a (former) political leader in the ranks of Meta spells regulatory compromise ahead

Cover image for Why the rise of a (former) political leader in the ranks of Meta spells regulatory compromise ahead

Hanna Kahlert

17 Feb 2022

This Wednesday, Nick Clegg – former MP and deputy Prime Minister of the UK – was promoted to President of Global Affairs at Meta, reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg himself. According to Zuckerberg, “Nick will now lead our company on all our policy matters, including how we interact with go...

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Microsoft sets the scene for regulator scrutiny around Activision deal

Cover image for Microsoft sets the scene for regulator scrutiny around Activision deal

Karol Severin

10 Feb 2022

Brad Smith, president and vice chair at Microsoft, published a post on Microsoft’s website yesterday , outlining the company’s new Open App Store principles and addressing key questions around exclusivity going forward.

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Quick take: Another blow for Epic Games as Fortnite shuts down in China

Cover image for Quick take: Another blow for Epic Games as Fortnite shuts down in China

Karol Severin

4 Nov 2021

It has not been the best year for Fortnite. Following the fiasco with its Apple lawsuit, as well as year on year consumer penetration having declined , the Fortnite maker announced that it is shutting down its Chinese version of Fortnite, Fortress Night.

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The social reckoning is nigh: The Haugen testimony and Facebook blackout hint at imminent regulatory changes

Cover image for The social reckoning is nigh: The Haugen testimony and Facebook blackout hint at imminent regulatory changes

Hanna Kahlert

7 Oct 2021

The race between social media (and broader tech) innovation and governmental regulation has been a bit of a hare and the tortoise situation for the past decade-plus. However, the digital-first transition as a result of; COVID-19 lockdowns; several election and voting processes being impacted by soci...

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Chinese limits on gaming are more about the long-term, rather than short-term impacts

Cover image for Chinese limits on gaming are more about the long-term, rather than short-term impacts

Karol Severin

31 Aug 2021

Audience engagement

A new regulation announced by the National Press and Publication Administration issues new rules around games engagement of under 18s. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the new rules will allow no online video games to be played during the school week, and only permits one hour of play per day...

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The new chair of the FTC and antitrust 2.0

Cover image for The new chair of the FTC and antitrust 2.0

Tim Mulligan

22 Jun 2021

The appointment of Lina Khan on June 15th to chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is poised to be a transformational one in the history of the world wide web. Khan came to prominence with an article in the Yale Law Journal, Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox , which identified the paradox of hegem...

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