Malaysia Pulse delivers breaking news, politics, business, sports and lifestyle coverage from Malaysia and Southeast Asia — trusted, timely and independent.
Google has exhausted its legal options in the EU after the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld a €4.1 billion fine for abusing its Android market dominance, bolstering Europe's aggressive tech regulation stance.
TikTok has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a Florida teenager who claims the platform's addictive features damaged his mental health, joining YouTube in compensation. Meta and Snapchat face trial in Los Angeles.
TikTok has agreed in principle to settle a lawsuit brought by a 15-year-old Florida boy claiming the platform damaged his mental health. The settlement comes as social media companies face thousands of addiction-related lawsuits across US courts.
The US Supreme Court will hear Apple's challenge to a contempt ruling over its App Store practices in a dispute with Epic Games. The case centres on Apple's compliance with court orders to allow alternative payment methods.
The US House passed legislation on June 29 requiring online platforms to implement child safety measures including age verification and parental controls. The Senate is separately advancing stricter measures that would impose legal accountability on technology companies.
Australia is introducing legislation to strengthen its under-16 social media ban and grant its internet regulator greater authority to pursue technology companies in court for violations, signalling a harder line on platform compliance.
Indonesia's communications ministry says TikTok and YouTube have deactivated 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under 16, enforcing new regulations designed to protect young people from cyberbullying and addiction.
Malaysia will impose penalties up to RM10 million on social media platforms that fail to verify user ages under the Online Safety Act 2025, Communications Minister Fahmi announced in Parliament.
Alibaba has sued the US Department of Defense over its designation as a Chinese military company, arguing the classification has no factual or legal foundation and that it operates exclusively in commercial sectors.
The European Commission is moving forward with a formal investigation into Meta's Facebook and Instagram, alleging the platforms employ addictive design tactics that harm children's wellbeing through algorithmic manipulation.
India blocked messaging app Telegram in mid-June over concerns it was being exploited to sell leaked NEET medical entrance exam papers. The confrontation between New Delhi and the platform's management, documented in government records, reveals how regulatory pressure and conflicting claims about content moderation led to the unprecedented action.
Democratic and Republican US House lawmakers have unveiled draft legislation that would prevent individual states from enacting laws to regulate artificial intelligence model development, sparking debate between tech companies and consumer protection groups.
The Trump administration has signed an executive order directing major AI companies to voluntarily submit their most advanced models for government cybersecurity testing before public launch, marking a shift toward closer federal oversight of the technology sector.
The United Nations has cautioned that restricting children's access to social media platforms is not enough to ensure their safety online, calling instead for tech companies to redesign their services with child protection in mind.
Apple and Google are lobbying Canadian lawmakers to strengthen judicial oversight in Bill C-22, an online safety measure that could force technology companies to break encryption without public disclosure.
The European Union is preparing its largest penalty under the Digital Markets Act against Alphabet's Google, with the fine expected before summer. The investigation centres on concerns that Google unfairly promotes its own services in search results.