Trust in news hits an all-time low

New research suggests that trust in the news has fallen to an all-time low globally. In its latest Digital News Report, the Reuters Institute found that public trust is at 37 per cent – three per cent down on last year – and said that audiences around the world are ‘reacting with growing unease to successive episodes of political, economic and technological turbulence’. The research also revealed that, for the first time, more than half of respondents claimed to get their news from third-party platforms such as social media and video networks, although these formats were trusted less than average, at 22 per cent. The reports authors suggest that the data suggests ‘a mix of anxiety, disengagement and cynicism from audiences, many of whom don’t like the way publishers are covering long-running news stories such as immigration, inflation and international conflict.’ They did however, sound a note of optimism, pointing out that ‘the report also finds openness to new sources and formats, and a belief in what news at its best can offer’. The full report is available at: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2026

Anthropic suspends advanced AI models after export ban

The Trump administration has introduced a ban on the export of Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models, a move which has blindsided the AI industry, according to the Financial Times. The Department of Commerce imposed export controls days after the models had been released to the public, barring foreign nationals from using the technology and prompting the company to suspend their use for all customers. The move followed a report by Amazon researchers which had apparently identified a means, known as a ‘jailbreak’, of bypassing the models’ guardrails to reveal software security vulnerabilities. Anthropic argues that the capability is not unique, and notes that the Fable model had previously been approved for launch. The ban raises questions among many in the industry over how the administration plans to oversee increasingly powerful AI models. Anthropic said it will meet administration officials urgently to discuss next steps. (The Financial Times)

EU announces tech sovereignty package

The European Commission has announced a set of measures designed to ‘strengthen Europe’s digital autonomy and resilience’. Included in the package are two new bills, a ‘Chips Act’, which will speed up permitting and build capacity in Europe’s semiconductor industry, and the Cloud and AI Development Act, which aims to triple data centre capacity in Europe over the next five to seven years. The other components are an open source strategy which will invest in skills and support start-ups, and a roadmap for the digitalisation of the energy sector, which includes measures to integrate data centres into Europe’s energy system and accelerate the deployment of digital and AI systems in the sector. More details here. (European Commission)

Delays to US data centres threaten AI expansion

The Financial Times reports that data provided by satellite and analytics group SynMax shows that 40 per cent of datacentre projects are behind schedule and likely to miss completion dates by more than three months. Industry executives complained of projects hampered by permitting hurdles and chronic shortages of labour, power and equipment. Hyperscalers are seeking to build ever bigger datacentres, many drawing 1 Gigawatt of power – equivalent to the output of a nuclear reactor. But bottlenecks are a key constraint on companies’ ability to generate returns on investment in AI. Meanwhile Maine is expected to become the first US state to ban the construction of datacentres. States including Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia have also put forward proposals for temporary datacentre bans amid growing concerns over the energy costs and environmental impacts of such projects. (The Financial Times)

Malaysia introduces age restrictions for online platforms

Malaysia has become the latest country to limit access to online platforms for younger users after its communications regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, announced a series of new measures to be introduced from 1 June. Online service providers will be required to provide safeguards to limit account registration by users under the age of 16, alongside ‘effective reporting and response mechanisms’ and labelling of manipulated content where appropriate. The regulator said that a grace period will allow platforms to adapt to the new rules. Age verification for users will be introduced later this year. (Reuters)

UK to introduce ‘Australia plus’ social media ban

UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the government will introduce a ban on under 16s’ use of social media platforms, arguing that it will ‘make our children happier’. The minimum age will rise on sites including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram Facebook and X, but messaging sites such as WhatsApp and Signal will be excluded. The government is considering additional restrictions, including a ban on live-streaming, overnight curfews and ‘breaks in infinite scrolling’ for under 18s. Asked whether teenagers will simply evade the rules as they have in Australia, the prime minister said that the ban will ‘change the conversation over time’ and pointed to the results of a consultation in which 90 per cent of parents supported a ban. (The Guardian)

Australian teenagers avoiding social media ban

Four months after the Australian social media ban took effect, 61 per cent of teenagers who previously held accounts still have social media access, equating to half of all 12-15 year olds. A small proportion of children have opened accounts on new restricted platforms since the ban came into force. The research was commissioned by the Molly Rose Foundation, a charity dedicated to preventing online harm, and was conducted online among 12-15 year old Australians by YouthInsight. The charity says that its findings are consistent with those of Australia’s eSafety commissioner, who conducted research among parents. More details of the foundation’s research here. (Molly Rose Foundation)

Canada triples financial contributions from US streamers

Large online streaming services will have to contribute 15 per cent of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content. The country’s broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Authority (CRTC), announced the move as part of its implementation of the Online Streaming Act. The regulator had previously announced that the figure would be 5 per cent, a requirement which is already being challenged in court by US streamers including Apple, Amazon and Spotify. The CRTC argues that the contribution requirement is necessary to provide the funding for Canadian and indigenous content, such as French language content and news. Contributions from traditional broadcasters will be lowered from 30 and 45 per cent to 25 per cent. (AP News)

EU legislators reach agreement on AI Omnibus

Members of the European Parliament have agreed on the content of the AI Omnibus, the regulation amending the AI Act. The proposal forms part of the broader simplification effort underpinned by the Draghi report, which aims to make the EU more competitive. Requirements for ‘high risk’ AI systems, set to take effect imminently, are postponed until December 2027 and, for some systems, August 2028. The text also confirms an expansion of the ability to use personal data for bias detection and correction to all AI systems. So-called ‘nudifier tools’ will be explicitly banned along with child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The legislative procedure must be completed by 2 August 2026. (European Commission)

In brief

The EU’s age verification app for online platforms is ready and will shortly be available to use, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The app will be compatible with both mobile devices and computers and require users to upload their passport or ID card to confirm their age. It is recognised that the app can be bypassed by the use of virtual private networks but is intended to be a barrier that ‘avoids unintended exposure of kids’ rather than a policing mechanism, according to a spokesman.

Meta must allow other AI providers access to WhatsApp in order to prevent ‘serious and irreparable harm’ to competition according to the European Commission. Access must be maintained as an interim measure while the Commission looks to complete its investigation into Meta, which began in December 2025. However, Meta described the move as ‘regulatory overreach’ and says it will appeal.

Platforms that use press publications online can be required to negotiate fair compensation with publishers after a ruling by the European Court of Justice. The legal case represents a victory for Italian regulator AGCOM, whose framework for enforcing platform’s obligations had been challenged by Meta.

Italy’s financial police have successfully shut down a piracy network thought to have cost streaming platforms over 300 million euros in lost revenue. The operation targeted an application called CINEMAGOAL which captured and retransmitted access codes from legitimate subscriptions, bypassing platforms’ security checks and avoiding connections directly associated with a specific IP address.

The development of the Claude Mythos model by Anthropic has led to crisis meetings among finance ministers, after it found vulnerabilities in many major operating systems. Experts say it potentially has an unprecedented ability to identify and exploit cyber-security weaknesses, though others caution further testing is needed to properly understand its capabilities. Mythos was revealed in early April and found by developers to be ‘strikingly capable at computer security tasks’.

The European Union could announce a ban on the use of social media by children as soon as this summer, according to Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. In a conference in Copenhagen she said, ‘I believe we must consider a social media delay’. A panel of experts are currently deliberating online child safety and, depending on the results, ‘…we could come up with a legal proposal this summer’.

Four companies have been awarded tenders to provide sovereign cloud services for a six year period. The tender was launched in October 2025 as part of a drive to reduce the EU dependency on non-EU technology. The companies selected – Luxembourg’s Post Telecom, Germany’s STACKIT, French ​Iliad’s data centre unit Scaleway and Belgium’s Proximus – are all European. Each had to demonstrate their alignment to the Commission’s cloud sovereignty framework which includes ensuring that non-EU entities have limited control over the technologies of the services they provide.

The US government has proposed a new AI law that calls for greater parental control over children’s privacy and age verification, but resists the creation of a federal watchdog and urges ‘industry-led standards’.  The administration has twice failed to pass legislation against state-level law and instead issued an executive order threatening to withhold funding from states that pass ‘onerous’ AI laws.