My Brexit 10 years on take. The more responsible parts of the media struggled to get useful information to voters, because hypotheticals can't be proved and plausible outcomes had to be modelled. The less responsible parts simply campaiged for Brexit.

The Canadian Digital Safety bill is a fine example of 'second-mover advantage' in the tech regulation space. But the provision that's more interesting to me is one that's totally novel: enjoining regulators with companies in the process of determining what good safety looks like.

I understand why this is newsworthy, but the crucial missing context is that this kind of intervention on tech policy matters has been a standard playbook for US embassies in Europe and globally as far back as the Obama administration. www.thetimes.com/article/cd13...

White House tells UK: Don’t ban social media for under-16s

The Trump administration criticised plans for Australian-style age restrictions, while tech companies are expected to seek judicial reviews

thetimes.com

'For de Souza, the language shouldn't be about "banning the children", but instead "banning the companies"'. The UK gov isn't planning to include an 'off-ramp' for companies whereby they can avoid a ban by offering age-appropriate services. That means it's a ban on companies AND a ban on children

Know anyone who has burning questions about how law is responding to the confluence of AI and social media? The 2026 instalment of the Law Society of Ireland's free annual Massive Open Online Course kicks off next week, and this year the focus is all things AI and social media law.

“Ireland is described as “a live cautionary example” of energy demand running ahead of infrastructure, with data centres using electricity equivalent to all urban households combined” Everyone always says how fun it is to be held up as a cautionary tale by the UN www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Ireland’s data centre strain a ‘cautionary tale’ for rest of world, UN says

Data processing accounts for 21% of Irish electricity use – compared to just 4% in the US and 1% in China

irishtimes.com

Sigh. I feel for the junior civil servants whose job it will be to write the policy to ban 'political' symbols in the NHS, that somehow captures pro-Palestine badges but doesn't mess with the poppy. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

NHS to curb political symbols on uniforms after antisemitism report

Government-ordered review reveals ‘routine ostracism’ of Jewish staff and patients in health service

theguardian.com

This episode of "Today" desperately needs a historian of policing, to explain why things like anti-racism training were introduced in the first place. This wasn't some departure from a world in which the police treated everyone the same. It was an attempt to bring that world fractionally closer.

Will Davies@will-davies.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It would take about 30 seconds to remind news audiences of the basic facts of the Stephen Lawrence case

📢 Calling all UK online safety practitioners and enthusiasts I've created a free two-part introductory course on the UK Online Safety Act, as a starting point for lawyers, public affairs practitioners, or frankly anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of the OSA and its implementation by Ofcom.

I would like to see news publishers establish a standard practice whereby the outside law firms that enable this kind of lawfare are named in the articles (and not solely their clients).

Janine Gibson@janinegibson.ft.com · 2mo ago

“This is censorship... This is a demonstration that some of the worst abuses in our time are not confined to kings, emperors, governments … but to a class of companies that have assumed the sovereign affect, and seek to assert their power the same way that some of those despotic nation states do.”

🔔Ofcom has this morning published a update on its regulatory engagement with large tech companies on child protection. www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet... Three stand-outs for me ⤵️

Tech firms commit to stronger anti-grooming measures in response to Ofcom demands

Children in the UK will be better protected from harm as some of the largest and most popular sites and apps agree to introduce significant new anti-grooming measures in response to Ofcom’s public cal...

ofcom.org.uk

I look forward to the day when Harvard Business School whiz kids write the history of Sonos' *two* catastrophic attempts at building a functioning mobile app.

Mary Branscombe@marypcbuk.bsky.social · 3mo ago

4 years on the Sonos app is *so bad* that I just had to reactivate my Tidal account (get caught by a scam ecommerce site, you have to renew all your payments) to listen to music because the Sonos app can't display our local library: the page gets stuck on the skeleton

As necessary as it is, I don't see any pathway for Labour to deliver a dramatic EU reset this side of a general election. The party got elected on a manifesto that allows for only the most tentative of resets. Either it breaks the manifesto in a radical way, or it owns the catastrophic error.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3mo ago

Andy Burnham says he will not try to return UK to EU

Companies at risk of NCII in the UK will now need to deploy dedicated hash-matching technology to remain in compliance with the Online Safety Act, under an update to Ofcom's codes of practice announced today. ofcom.cmail20.com/t/i-l-zhuykkt-iiulklydjk-i/

Platforms should use detection technology to stop spread of illegal intimate images online, under strengthened Ofcom Codes

Platforms should use detection technology to stop spread of illegal intimate images online, under strengthened Ofcom Codes.

ofcom.cmail20.com

The European Partnership Bill in the King’s Speech isn’t quite what I expected. It’s said the Bill will contain powers to implement treaties with the EU once agreed. Earlier reports suggested a form of “dynamic alignment” which would allow gov to follow EU rules even with no treaty. Will wait & see

Come & work with me at the Hasso Plattner Institute & Prof @bmittelstadt.bsky.social & @cruss.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk I am looking for a post doc on the governance of emergent tech. jobs.plattnerfoundation.org/HPI/job/Pots... Application deadline is June 18, 2026

I’m generally of the view that the EU and UK’s online safety rulebooks are sufficiently flexible to respond to the ever-evolving commercial, technological, and social factors that drive online safety risks. But GenAI chatbots and their emerging risks to children might prove an exception.

Perhaps because I 'want' it to be true, I found this piece by @mijrahman.bsky.social on Europe's emerging geopolitical consciousness to be a great read. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Yes, Europe’s leaders are finally standing up to Trump. Here’s why | Mujtaba Rahman

Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the US president was not a solo run. It was born of the realisation that US leverage has slipped, says political analyst Mujtaba Rahman

theguardian.com

Significant change at the top of Ireland's online safety regulator, with Commissioner Niamh Hodnett stepping down after three years in the role. Given she's been running the public sector equivalent of a high-octane start-up, that's a good innings. www.gov.ie/en/departmen...

Minister O’Donovan appoints Niamh Hodnett as a Commissioner to ComReg

gov.ie

According to MLex, the European Commission Pres has signalled that an EU-level social media ban could be proposed as early as this summer. If Brussels goes down that route, London will have little choice but to follow suit, irrespective of domestic sentiment. www.linkedin.com/posts/sara-b...

❗The EU is edging closer to introducing a minimum age for social media, aka a social media ban. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Brussels could present a legal… | ...

❗The EU is edging closer to introducing a minimum age for social media, aka a social media ban. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Brussels could present a legal pro...

linkedin.com

Much of the media commentary in the build-up to Starmer's last-chance speech focused on this 'Britain at the heart of Europe' line. But now that we know it doesn't imply a review of the government's self-sabotaging negotiating 'red lines' vis-à-vis the EU, it shouldn't be taken seriously.

Mujtaba Rahman@mijrahman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So Starmer's big Europe offer is an ambitious youth experience scheme. That's what he wants to be at the heart of the UK's new relationship with the EU. That's it? Is this a joke?

'We are extremely concerned about the chilling effect on the Bar of the state seeking to criminalise barristers for their representation of their clients'. Strong statement from Garden Court Chambers, as one of their barristers faces contempt of court proceedings WRT a Palestine Action case.

A major and often forgotten features of the UK Online Safety Act is that it empowers Ofcom to direct companies to deploy advanced tech to identify and suppress CSAM and terrorist content. The regulator has today set out its views on how that tech should work www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

Given the limited powers of local authorities and the constraints on financing and on doing anything, a majority is something one would perhaps wish on one's political opponents. It is almost impossible for a majority to do well in charge of a local authority nowadays, only grades of doing badly.

Crucial point by John Curtis on BBC - Councils flipping from Labour to Reform are because Labour are losing **to the left**, & Cons to Reform Chasing Reform failed Labour; they lost the base & didn’t convince many on the right (Failed Tories too) Watch everyone learn the wrong lesson anyway

Another great policy job, this time at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Focus is broader than tech, mind. www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...

Owen Bennett@owbennett.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Great jobs like this doesn't often come up in the tech policy space. Do apply if it fits with your professional aspirations, even if you don't meet *all* the job description criteria!

What has the European Convention on Human Rights ever done for anyone? A new ITV drama shows how survivors of serial rapist John Worboys used the ECHR to hold the authorities to account for failing to protect women from violence. Find out more👇 🔗 www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk/news/2026/5/...

ITV Drama, ‘Believe Me’ tells the story of the legal battle by two survivors to hold the police and parole board to account — Centre for Women's Justice

ITV’s four‑part drama Believe Me , which airs from 10 May, is the true crime story of the legal battle fought by two survivors of serial rapist taxi driver, John Worboys to hold the police accountabl...

centreforwomensjustice.org.uk

Internet Matters has just published timely research that explores how the UK online safety regulatory project is impacting the online lived experience of children. I'll be joining this online panel on Thursday, to discuss what the research tells us about the state, and the future, of regulation.