Inline Insights

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.

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’.

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.

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?

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.

A new report by the European Commission sets out recommendations for how EU competition policy should be reformed, drawing on concerns of Governments and senior politicians. With the debate moving beyond economic theory to become increasingly political, it’s one that all companies in the tech sector will need to keep an eye on.

Rapid technological transformations driven by US and Chinese companies are posing a serious challenge to Europe's policymakers. Third way politics looks set to shape much of the regulatory response.

The coming year is set to be an important period for online platforms in Europe. Having previously paid little regard to online platforms, EU policymakers are now laying the foundations for a more definitive approach to regulating this growing sector of the economy.

The EU’s Member States have failed to agree on the introduction of a tax on revenues from digital services. But pressure from the European Commission, European Parliament and EU citizens indicate that this is not an issue that is going to disappear any time soon.

What is the EU's new Platform-to-Business (P2B) regulation? With this short presentation, Inline Policy sheds the light on the proposed new European rules to govern the activity of intermediary online platforms, outlining their key provisions and the positons of the main EU institutions, as well as providing some insight on what is to be expected in the next upcoming months.

Governments and regulators are actively considering how competition policy should respond to the growth of the digital economy. A forthcoming report from the European Parliament provides an insight into the state of the debate in Brussels.

While discussions continue on the European Commission’s proposals for a harmonised Digital Services Tax, a number of different approaches to taxing online service providers and platforms is emerging across Europe.  With the UK the latest EU country to consider going it alone, we look at who is proposing what when it comes to digital services taxes.

The UK Government has engaged a panel to review competition in digital markets, and one of the key themes is the concentration of 'big tech'. With the panel tasked with consulting industry and reporting by early 2019, companies seeking to influence the panel's thinking need to get started as soon as possible.

As Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) comes under increased scrutiny by European policymakers, Inline has created a guide to key developments on monitoring, research, infrastructure, and standards impacting the industry.