MediaNama reviewed reports from 10 Indian streaming services for August 2026: 35 complaints related to the Code of Ethics in total, of which seven were upheld. Netflix received 20 such complaints and agreed with one, Prime Video 14 and six respectively. Reports are published in five different formats, some arithmetic does not add up, and there is no single registry.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the regulator plans to raise over $100 billion from a series of spectrum auctions in the next two years. The first will be an auction of 160 MHz in the upper C-band by July 2027, followed by three more auctions ending by the end of 2028.
During investment talks, the U.S. proposed that South Korea invest in a pyroprocessing project for spent nuclear fuel. The U.S. has accumulated over 95,000 tons of spent fuel, but additional investments could exceed the agreed $200 billion limit. The U.S. links the project to uranium enrichment needed by Korea for SMR commercialization.
Ofcom has acknowledged that most fines under the Online Safety Act remain unpaid. Over £7 million ($9.4 million) has been imposed on 11 providers, with the largest fine of £1.4 million on 8579 LLC. Ofcom plans to target larger companies and strengthen its powers.
The European Commission has proposed the EU Kids Act: chatbots would be banned from simulating emotions and relationships with users under 18, and children under 13 would need adult supervision to access them. Platforms face fines up to 6% of global turnover, and bots cannot store memory between sessions.
Meta's Oversight Board criticized the company's rules on AI content, calling them 'consistently and fundamentally inadequate.' The board reviewed two cases of AI videos with real people that were not labeled as generated and were removed only after the board's intervention.
US and Chinese experts proposed nuclear-style AI safeguards, including a dedicated military AI hotline. The initiative is being discussed in a dialogue ahead of planned bilateral talks.
Microsoft signed a legally binding agreement with the AFT teachers union: student and teacher data will not be used for AI training, except for narrow security cases, with mandatory external audits. In India, Section 9 of the DPDP Act, which restricts processing of children's data, has not yet come into force — until May 2027.
Indian state broadcaster Prasar Bharati published a draft Expression of Interest to select studios and startups for creating AI avatars, localization, and archive reworking for WAVES OTT, Doordarshan, and Akashvani. All AI content must be labeled as synthetic under IT Rules, and AI anchors require C2PA labels and on-screen disclosure. Comments accepted until 17:00 on September 21, 2026.
India plans to support 200 semiconductor startups and train 100,000 workers. The program was approved by the cabinet in July with a budget of 1.3 trillion rupees ($13.3 billion).
ASEAN and the World Economic Forum published the first ASEAN Digital Economy Outlook 2026 after completing negotiations on the DEFA agreement. The document focuses on implementation: gaps in digital payments, logistics, regulation, and skills, as well as varying awareness of DEFA — from less than 5% to 68% across countries.
A court ordered Microsoft to provide internal documents and search top managers' communications in the ValueLicensing lawsuit over license resale. The company must explain by October 31 why the 2013 'Second-Hand Software Presentation' document was not disclosed earlier.
Cape Town authorities are drafting new rules for large data centre applications and confirmed zoning for the King Air Industria hyperscale site is suspended due to an activists' appeal. Equinix said the plot is a long-term land bank with no development plans.
At the fifth Semicon India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country has moved from policy and projects to commercial chip production. Twelve semiconductor projects have been approved, and three companies have started serial production. He named rising energy consumption and AI data center cooling as key challenges.
At a panel discussion, experts said direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity blurs the line between satellite and terrestrial use of 5G spectrum. They noted 6G risks becoming a multi-vendor disappointment as operators are likely to deploy it on the same spectrum, equipment and vendors as 5G.
The Delhi High Court is hearing Indian Kanoon's appeals against a ruling that recognized a 'right to be forgotten' and ordered deindexing in 34 of 38 cases. Justice H. C. Shankar said blocking name searches deprives lawyers from regional cities of access to court decisions and their right to livelihood.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at Semicon 2026 presented six directions for the second phase of India's semiconductor program: chip design, equipment and materials, fabs, advanced packaging, R&D and talent. The goal is to support at least 200 design startups and build 3D packaging production in Odisha.
King Charles III of the UK plans to call on key figures in AI to assure that technology companies can keep their developments under control.
Taiwan plans to launch a pilot emissions trading system (ETS) by the end of 2026 to help semiconductor and technology manufacturers meet international standards. Experts call for three safeguards.
After a Russian drone with an Nvidia Jetson Orin chip struck a gas station in Zaporizhzhia, killing three civilians, experts urged the international community to ban autonomous AI weapons against non-combatants, with mechanisms for investigations, reporting and sanctions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk recently spoke with Trump and successfully stalled an AI regulatory plan proposed by Demis Hassabis. Administration officials discuss potential AI restrictions almost daily.
The Philippine House of Representatives has called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to personally appear before the DICT to explain social media safety. The regulator demands integration of the national ID for verification and the opening of a Meta office in the country; a safe internet agreement was signed in February but no concrete action has been taken.
In an interview with Reuters, Bill Gates said governments are not prepared for "alien-level" AI risks and called for US-China coordination. He has already spoken with Trump and plans talks with Xi Jinping. The Gates Foundation will allocate at least $1 billion over two years for AI accessibility in poor regions.
Google said EU search changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act have caused the largest quality drop in 29 years. The changes affect hotels, flights, and restaurants, strengthening intermediary services at the expense of local businesses; search outside the EU is unchanged.
China is tightening export controls on rare earth metals, exposing hidden vulnerabilities in Taiwan's supply chain. Industry analysts note risks for chip and electronics manufacturers dependent on Chinese raw materials.
The federal login platform Login.gov began issuing browsers a persistent identifier, nds_experiment_uuid, a cookie with a 20-year lifespan tied to analytics with IP addresses and device data. It was introduced for a redesign experiment but is not deleted when users opt out of the new design, conflicting with claims of anonymous analytics.
A federal judge ruled that Google must improve integration of its advertising technology with competitors' products. The decision was published on Wednesday and builds on last year's verdict that Google illegally monopolized part of the ad market.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told the BBC the company is willing to introduce daily time limits for teens on Snapchat but gave no timeline. It follows pressure from Meta, which under a $12.7 billion global settlement is adding a two-hour daily limit for teens on Instagram and Facebook.
The US House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act by a vote of 417-3. The bill aims to prevent data center-related electricity costs from being passed on to ordinary consumers.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called the proposed EU ban on free access for children under 15 to online games, social media, and AI chatbots 'terrible for the next generation of humanity.' According to Reuters, the document proposes 'introductory accounts' for 13–14-year-olds and full parental control for children 3–12.
