Policy & Regulation

A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for enabling child exploitation, and a California bellwether jury found both Meta and YouTube negligent in designing addictive platforms that harmed a minor.

The CMA proposed its first conduct requirements under the UK's new digital markets law, targeting Google's AI Overviews, search ranking, and choice screens, while securing app store commitments from Apple and Google effective April 1.

Internal documents reveal DHS has deployed over 200 AI use cases across immigration enforcement while privacy assessments have dropped to zero in 2026, alarming civil liberties groups and a federal judge who found ICE violated 96 court orders in one month.

The Trump administration released a seven-pillar legislative blueprint on March 20 that asks Congress to override state AI laws and adopt a light-touch federal approach, drawing opposition from both parties.

Nintendo of America filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade on March 6, seeking a refund with interest of duties paid under IEEPA tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February, joining more than 2,000 corporate lawsuits that have overwhelmed federal refund systems.

The House advanced the 12-bill KIDS Act on a party-line vote, the Senate passed COPPA 2.0 unanimously, and the Ninth Circuit revived California's design code, setting up a collision between federal preemption and state enforcement.

The U.S. government is simultaneously encouraging universal wearable adoption through an HHS advertising campaign and loosening FDA oversight of wellness devices, while the health data these sensors generate remains largely unprotected by federal privacy law.

Two federal courts reached opposite conclusions on whether AI-generated legal materials are protected from discovery, while the Supreme Court declined to extend copyright to AI-authored works, leaving the legal profession to navigate a patchwork of emerging rules with no clear federal framework.

Seven U.S. states now enforce consumer electronics right-to-repair laws, the EPA has clarified that farmers can fix their own diesel equipment, and defense contractors blocked military repair provisions from the 2026 defense bill.

The FDA is simultaneously overhauling its GRAS ingredient notification system, phasing out petroleum-based food dyes by year-end, and confronting PFAS contamination in produce, marking the broadest transformation of US food chemical regulation since the 1958 Food Additives Amendment.

A convergence of AI-powered assistive tools, smart wearable devices, and looming regulatory deadlines in the US and EU is reshaping the accessibility technology landscape in 2026.

The FCC will vote on March 26 to eliminate Section 214 and Section 251 barriers that slow copper network retirement, potentially freeing billions in carrier capital for fiber and wireless broadband.