A new US bill has proposed a ban on autoplaying videos on YouTube, Facebook’s infinite newsfeed and Snapchat’s Snapstreak badges. The Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology (Smart) Act takes aim at techniques and features that, according to its author, Republican Senator Josh Hawley, are created to encourage and deepen addictive behaviours among users. The bill […]
Spanish regulator CNMC has dismissed Vodafone Spain’s complaints over Movistar’s football promotions last summer. and put an immediate end to the proceedings. Vodafone had filed two complaints accusing Movistar of abuse of a dominant position in the football TV market by trying to capture Vodafone’s football subscribers through a telephone campaign offering half-price fibre bundles […]
An economic report by trade body the GSMA – which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide – reveals that releasing 5G mmWave capacity will create $565 billion of economic expansion. This figure represents 2.9 per cent of global GDP growth by 2034, which the GSMA says points to a huge impact on developing economies […]
British TV will be explicitly required to protect the “welfare, wellbeing and dignity” of individuals who take part in their programmes, under proposals from Ofcom. Ofcom, said it was proposing to add two rules to the existing broadcasting code to protect members of the public who take part in programmes, in an announcement timed to […]
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) – a global coalition dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market and reducing online piracy – has welcomed the sentencing of two operators of the Uruguay-based piracy outfit, Pelispedia to three years and four months jail time by the prosecutor’s office in Montevideo. Approximately $500,000 (€449,377) in assets […]
Matt Warman MP has been appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in one of the final elements of new PM Boris Johnson’s allocation of ministerial responsibilities. Warman is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Boston and Skegness, first elected in May 2015. Retaining the seat […]
South Africa’s communication minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has released the ministry’s long-awaited spectrum policy direction White Paper. She has passed the direction to the country’s media and communications regulator ICASA and to give preferential bandwidth access to a new wholesale open access network (‘WOAN’) in order to increase competition in the nation’s cellular market. “The minister […]
UK broadcast regulator Ofcom has fined the news channel RT £200,000 (€223,000) for serious failures to comply with its broadcasting rules – and required the channel to broadcast a summary of the findings to its viewers. Ofcom has rules in place requiring broadcast news to be presented with due impartiality. Its investigation found that RT […]
Nigel Adams MP has been named Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as new Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues his ministerial appointments. The post had remained vacant since the resignation of Margot James on July 18th after voting for a proposal to block a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. Adams was Parliamentary […]
More than a million pensioners will struggle to pay their TV licence once the concession is scrapped next year, the Age UK charity has warned. The BBC will no longer be funding the TV licence for people aged over-75 from next June. However, those claiming pension credit will still be able to claim a free […]