More robust advertising restrictions on HFSS products to come into force

01 April, 2022
UK – Advertising and Marketing The Government has announced that it will introduce both a 9pm TV watershed for HFSS products and restrictions on paid-for HFSS advertising online (including on-demand programme services). These changes will come into effect in January 2024 via the Health and Care Bill 2022. Read more

European Commission to revise Code of Practice against Disinformation

31 March, 2022
EU – ONLINE PROTECTION AND EDUCATION  The Code of Practice against Disinformation was published in September 2018 and was subsequently signed by Facebook, Google, Mozilla and Twitter, among others. The Code is a self-regulatory document and, following European Commission assessments and reports on adherence, guidance was issued in May 2021 to address shortfalls in the … Read more

Online Safety Bill formally introduced to Parliament

18 March, 2022
On 17 March 2022, the Government published its much-anticipated re-draft of the Online Safety Bill, following various announcements over the last few months as to new features to be added to the Bill. We intend to publish a more comprehensive analysis of the latest draft in due course, but here’s a quick overview of the … Read more

Adapting road safety to autonomous vehicles: joint law commission issues report on legislative changes to prepare for driverless vehicles

11 February, 2022
In 2018, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles asked the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission (the “Joint Commission“) to undertake a comprehensive review to enable the safe and responsible introduction of automated vehicles on British roads and public places. After multiple rounds of consultation, the Joint Commission published … Read more

EBA Contribution to joint ESAs response to the European Commission’s Call for Advice on digital finance

07 February, 2022
EU – Finance  On 21 September 2021, the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) published a report on the growing platformisation of the EU banking and payments sector. In particular, this report considers steps to strengthen the EBA’s supervisory capacity to monitor market developments. The findings in the report informed the EBA’s contribution to the joint European … Read more

DCMS Committee announces inquiry into influencer culture

27 January, 2022
UK (AND OTHERS) – ADVERTISING AND MARKETING On 26 March 2021, the DCMS Committee launched an inquiry into “the power of influencers on social media, how influencer culture operates, and… the absence of regulation on the promotion of products or services, aside from the existing policies of individual platforms” with a view to assessing whether … Read more