New rules for streaming giants head into final Parliamentary stretch

Written by Matthew Niblett on 28 Feb 2024

The Media Bill is a broad piece of legislation which will, amongst other things, makes changes to the way in which video-on-demand services are regulated in the UK. On 28 February, the Media Bill will have its second reading in the House of Lords, having been passed by the House of Commons. In this blog, we discuss the implications the Media Bill will have for the video-on-demand sector in the UK, as well as the next steps. 

Read More

What is the EU doing to regulate artificial intelligence?

Written by Shane Cumberton on 07 Aug 2023

In this blog, we look at the steps the European Union is taking to regulate artificial intelligence.

Read More

Does regulation of AI in the UK strike the right balance for business?

Written by Pia Doering on 23 Jun 2023

In this blog, Inline Policy looks at how the UK, home to many promising AI start-ups, is seeking to balance certainty with flexibility in its regulatory framework.

Read More

The DMCC: balancing fair competition and economic competitiveness

Written by Hannah Fuchs on 15 Jun 2023

In this blog, Inline looks at the details of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill, what it means for businesses, and the debate surrounding the draft legislation.

Read More

The state of UK tech policy in London Tech Week 2023 

Written by Mitali Sud on 12 Jun 2023

As London Tech Week gets going, we take a look at the key debates in UK tech policy and recap where all of the major new regulatory proposals have got to. 

Read More

What will Rishi Sunak’s premiership mean for UK tech policy?

Written by Pia Doering on 25 Oct 2022

Once again, the UK has a new Prime Minister. What does this further leadership change mean for the UK’s tech ecosystem and regulatory environment? In this blog, Inline Policy illuminates where a Rishi Sunak premiership could land on issues such as digital competition, data protection, online safety, net zero, artificial intelligence, innovation, and foreign relations.  

Read More

Digital Markets Act: EU closes in on Big Tech

Written by Shane Cumberton on 12 Oct 2022

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is set to establish a concrete list of dos and don’ts for the world’s biggest digital platforms when operating in the EU. These include hitherto absent ‘ex ante’ regulations to provide more fairness in the area of antitrust issues. Quite simply, the DMA aims to level the digital market’s playing field to ensure that smaller firms can operate under fairer competition.

Read More

What a Liz Truss premiership will mean for UK tech policy

Written by Alex Rennie on 05 Sep 2022

Liz Truss is the new UK Prime Minister. Her premiership is likely to mean broad continuity with the previous government’s tech policy of making the UK a technology superpower, but with a renewed focus following the drift of the last few months of the Johnson premiership. This offers opportunities for tech firms, but they should be alert for a possible deterioration in UK-EU relations. In this blog we explore the impact of the new administration on the key tech policy areas.

Read More

What next for the Online Safety Bill?

Written by Matthew Niblett on 25 Jul 2022

The Online Safety Bill is the UK Government’s flagship piece of digital regulation, the British equivalent of the EU’s Digital Services Act. Prior to Boris Johnson’s resignation and the ensuing fallout, there were hopes that the bill would clear the House of Commons before parliamentary recess began on 22 July 2022. However, due to the distractions caused by the Prime Minister’s resignation, the bill still has several parliamentary stages before it becomes law , and could face further revision, depending on which one of Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak becomes the next Prime Minister. In this blog, Inline asks: what next for the Online Safety Bill?

Read More

Is transparency the key for turning AI into a force for good?

Written by Pia Doering on 20 Jan 2022

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become embedded in many of the processes of business operations, public life, and politics. Yet as AI is increasingly becoming a part of people’s lives, suspicions have mounted as to whether AI is a force for good, or whether its algorithms create bad outcomes for some of those on the receiving end of its calculations. In a 2020 survey by KPMG, only 26% of UK citizens were willing to rely on information provided by an AI or to share data with an AI. To combat the festering mistrust in AI, the UK Government published its novel Algorithmic Transparency Standard in late November 2021. This blogpost introduces the standard, evaluates its potential, and points to the questions which remain open.

Read More

Digital Services Act: EU institutions seek to tighten rules for online players

Written by Mathilde Quembre on 13 Jan 2022

The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), currently working its way through the legislative process, will create an unprecedented set of new rules for intermediary service providers. The legislation will establish a framework for content moderation and reinforce the rules for platforms that should serve to further protect the fundamental rights of all users of digital services across Europe. This blog looks at the DSA’s progress and the positions recently taken by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. We explore how they are seeking to re-shape the original proposal and what this means for businesses and consumers.

Read More

The Online Safety Bill: what’s next and key areas for debate

Written by Nicolette Stickland on 23 Jun 2021

The UK Government has published a draft Online Safety Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. This marks the start of a lengthy legislative process likely to be full of lively debate. In this blog, Nicolette Stickland outlines the next steps and some areas of the Bill likely to attract scrutiny by Parliamentarians.

Read More

Cybersecurity of consumer smart devices takes centre stage post-pandemic

Written by Alex Rennie on 03 Jun 2021

The Internet of Things (IoT) was already expected to change the way we live and work long before COVID-19 began spreading around the globe in late 2019. After a year in which human to human contact has been necessarily constrained, contact between all manner of devices has become more important than ever. A growing amount of economic activity is taking place remotely, and whilst some of this may shift back to an “offline” mode once the pandemic recedes, the move towards a greater dependence on internet connected devices long predates the pandemic, and so will almost certainly outlast it.

Read More

How countries are tackling market dominance by big tech ‘gatekeepers’

Written by Beata Fogarasi on 29 Oct 2020

Several countries are focusing their regulatory attention on large tech platforms with the power to control the markets in which they operate, that have a structural impact on the economy, and whose products and services have become indispensable to consumers and businesses - so-called gatekeepers. They are trying to target remedies where they can be most effective and identify potential problems before they cause irreparable harm. How, exactly, do regulators define such impactful platforms? What criteria can be used? As governments and international institutions lay out the ground rules, now is the time for tech companies to get involved with the regulatory processes and help shape the rules. This blog looks at the state of play in key countries and compares their approaches in identifying gatekeepers.

Read More

Platforms’ actions against hate speech

Written by Alessandra Venier on 14 Sep 2020

Preventing illegal hate speech online is a priority for policymakers worldwide, and the need to do so is increasingly evident. How can governments strike the right balance between tackling the mechanisms and incentives behind the proliferation of illegal hateful content online, while also ensuring that platforms do not enable censorship? A closer look at present and future debates demonstrates the intricacies of keeping an ever-growing number of internet users safe and preserving their fundamental rights.

Read More

Exploring the regulatory and legislative landscape for IoT devices

Written by Alex Rennie on 03 Sep 2020

The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to transform societies and economies. Such widespread transformation is bound to attract increased regulatory and legislative scrutiny. Here we explore the issues on which governments are most likely to focus their attention.

Read More

COVID-19: a turning point for online content regulation in the UK?

Written by Alessandra Venier on 10 Jun 2020

As the UK prepares some of the most ambitious online harms legislation in the world, the unprecedented efforts taken by tech companies to curb the spread of COVID-19 falsehoods have raised a number of questions for regulators and policymakers. The UK may need to adapt its original stance on online harms in order to face the ‘new normal’.

Read More

Covid-19 and data privacy pits European governments against US tech once again

Written by Alex Rennie on 03 Jun 2020

Covid-19 and the concerted push by European governments to develop contact-tracing apps has revealed the difficult trade-offs between privacy and public health. Like in previous debates, policymakers and Big Tech find themselves on opposite sides of the argument, although their roles have reversed, with US giants now positioning themselves as the guardians of their users’ privacy by refusing to facilitate centralised apps.

Read More

Personal data mobility: the new front in the battle for the digital economy

Written by Olaf Cramme on 30 May 2019

Data portability rules in GDPR do very little to alter the balance of power in the digital economy. Could a shift to an economy based on data mobility give individuals true control over their personal data, tackle antitrust concerns around big tech, and strengthen workers in the gig economy?

Read More

EU elections 2019: The MEP candidates who matter for the tech sector

Written by Denisa Avram on 22 May 2019

The European Parliamentary elections taking place on 23-26 May 2019 will be the most significant yet for the tech sector. Ahead of the poll, we have produced a short guide to the key MEP candidates to watch when it comes to the big issues for the tech sector and the broader digital economy.

Read More

Subscribe to Email Updates

Lists by Topic

see all