Cyberlaw

A federal jury in San Francisco, US, has determined that Google has to pay $425 million in damages after being found guilty of illegally harvesting user data during a long-running class action lawsuit that started in 2020. The plaintiffs sought $31 billion in damages.

China’s new law requiring AI-generated content to carry visible labels and digital watermarks took effect this week. Platforms like WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu activated compliance tools, marking a major step in Beijing’s 2025 “Qinglang” campaign against misinformation and online manipulation.

The move, forced upon Valve to comply with UK government regulations, has seen some hilarious situations where some accounts that are over 19 years old or older have to prove that their owners are actual adults.

Google has managed to delay a simple data protection ruling for more than five years through various delaying tactics. A decision has now finally been made, and Google, or rather YouTube, must act, unless the company decides to appeal.

Export controls and new data security rules keep Nvidia’s latest accelerators out of reach for many Chinese firms. Instead, refurbished A100s and second-hand H100s are powering inference clusters, extending the life of older hardware and reshaping the country’s AI hardware economy.

Apple's marketing claims that the Apple Watch Series 10 is completely carbon-neutral. However, a German court thinks that’s not the case and has prohibited Apple from advertising the smartwatch as climate-neutral as long as this is only achieved by purchasing carbon offset certificates.

A programmer for a Steam game featuring adult content is in an ongoing dispute with PayPal. The payment processor is allegedly withholding £80,000, claiming the title violates its terms of service. PayPal and credit cards have increasingly restricted marketplaces that sell mature-themed games.

The legal issues between Krafton-owned Unknown Worlds and its founders kicked up a notch as the publisher countersued while alleging misappropriation of sensitive company data by the latter.

Softbank closed an agreement to acquire $2 billion in common shares, becoming the sixth-largest shareholder. The Trump administration is reportedly considering acquiring a 10% stake in Intel.

At the Black Hat USA security conference, researchers revealed a new technique for attacking AI systems. By embedding hidden instructions, attackers can silently manipulate tools like ChatGPT to extract sensitive data from connected cloud storage. Some providers have begun to react, while others are downplaying the risk.

After nearly three years of fighting BOE in court, Samsung has reportedly secured an "unprecedented" decision from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against Chinese display maker BOE. The decision, which is said to be finalized in November, reportedly bans the sale and import of BOE displays in the US.

As per the Smartphone Act, Japan has now officially ordered Apple to end browser engine restrictions on iOS. According to the new Mobile Software Competition Act guidelines, Apple would have to remove them by December 2025.

After Cara Cadaver's game was banned in the sweeping censorship tide hitting digital storefronts, the solo developer has now re-released the game as a free shareware title under the Creative Commons license.

A new report out of Taiwan has revealed that the current US administration is tying the reduction on trade of trade tariffs on Taiwan to significant TSMC investment in the US. This investment includes a 49% stake in Intel.

Often viewed as an alternative to GOG, Zoom Platform sells popular DRM-free retro games. After the controversial bans of Itch.io and Steam games, payment processors now have concerns about the marketplace. In response, Zoom Platform is introducing two-factor authentication and digital wallets.

Ross Scott’s Stop Killing Games initiative, credited with catalyzing global action against the deletion of paid digital games, is winding down its direct activism. With key legislative and regulatory efforts now in motion across the EU and beyond, Scott reflects on the movement’s progress, personal toll, and future direction — including calls for preserving virtual game worlds through AI and community action.

Cadence Design Systems has admitted to violating U.S. export control laws by selling chip design tools to Chinese military-linked entities during Lip-Bu Tan’s time as CEO. With Tan now leading Intel—and with no personal consequences—his case illustrates how executive accountability remains elusive across the tech industry, much like Elon Musk’s ongoing insulation from liability in fatal Tesla Autopilot crashes.

After removing NSFW games from search results site-wide due to pressure from payment processors, Itch.io has now begun restoring access to NSFW games listed as free on the platform.

Senator Ron Wyden has pressed U.S. intelligence to evaluate national-security risks from Britain’s Investigatory Powers Act and its secret technical-capability orders targeting American tech firms. He cautions that any enforced encryption back-door endangers U.S. privacy and widens avenues for hostile cyber actors.

YouTube has announced that the service will introduce a system that will try to figure out the age group of the users without any user input. The system is set to undergo a limited trial in the US in the coming weeks and a wider rollout is planned for the future.

An Argentine court has ordered Google to pay around $12,500 to a police officer after Street View captured and published an image of him naked in his yard. The court ruled that the company violated his privacy, rejecting arguments about public visibility and emphasizing Google's responsibility to prevent such intrusions.

Microsoft has announced that it will begin requiring age verification for Xbox players who indicate their age as 18 in their accounts. Starting early next year, age verification will be needed to access social features on the account.

The Brave browser, a web browser focused on user privacy, claims it is able to fully block the Recall feature in Windows 11 from taking screenshots of browser windows. The new block setting is enabled by default, although users can turn Recall's screenshots back on if they so choose.

Google’s Threat Analysis Group dismantled over 10,900 YouTube channels between April and June 2025 for coordinated influence operations. Approximately 7,700 were tied to PRC networks pushing Beijing’s policies in English and Chinese, while over 2,000 Russian-linked channels supported Moscow’s messaging.

The UK government is reportedly mulling backing down from a controversial backdoor request to Apple after mounting pressure from the US and the combined might of Silicon Valley.

An investigative report has forced the software giant and the U.S. Department of Defense to close a decade‑old loophole that let engineers in China troubleshoot military networks.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise has historically run afoul of state regulations in some middle eastern countries who cite its heavy emphasis on alcohol, sexual content and gambling to be key factors.

Gamers Nexus reports that Asus faces multiple security issues in 2025, with active exploits targeting its routers and flaws affecting utilities like DriverHub, MyAsus, and Armory Crate. The coverage warns that persistent backdoors and low-level code vulnerabilities make firmware updates and the removal of unnecessary ASUS software essential for user safety.

Leaker Jon Prosser revealed a version of Apple's "Liquid Glass" design months before iOS 26 was announced at WWDC. This could now cost the leaker dearly, as Apple has now filed a lawsuit again Jon Prosser, making wild allegations about how the leaker allegedly obtained the information.

An Italian YouTuber is under investigation by the Guardia di Finanza for allegedly violating copyright laws, which has already culminated in the raid and subsequent seizure of over 30 gaming handhelds. These are suspected to have ROM files of old games that potentially violate Italian copyright law.

Steam has quietly updated its adult content guidelines and removed some adult games from the store, after pressure from payment processors like Visa and Mastercard.

Virtually all major US companies ceased official operations in Russia in H1 2022, making key day-to-day electronics such as laptops harder to get a hold of - and more expensive. Three years later, products from brands like Apple and HP are still purchasable in the heavily sanctioned country but Taiwan and China-based brands reign supreme.

Stop Killing Games has largely put its weight behind an EU Citizen's Initiative, and that seems to be paying off, as the movement to protect the ownership of video games has earned its first endorsement in the EU parliament.

This is to comply with the UK's Online Safety Act, which requires platforms to implement additional measures to stop children from accessing sensitive content online.

A Rotterdam court sentenced German former engineer Aksenov to three years in prison for copying confidential ASML and NXP semiconductor designs onto USB drives and passing them to a Russian contact linked to the FSB.

According to a report, Nintendo can brick the Nintendo Switch 2 of completely innocent users if they use a second-hand game - depending on how the game was previously used.

Researchers have discovered an exploit with Chat GPT-4o and GPT-4o mini that makes it reveal valid Windows product activation keys. The strategy works because ChatGPT has publicly known Windows keys baked into its data set.

According to The Information, a second version of TikTok, led by a group of new owners, could be released in the US on Sept. 5. The existing version would then sunset in March 2026.

SpaceX is facing a lawsuit filed by Mexico following the explosion of the Starship on June 18. This is despite the company's efforts to limit its impact on the environment.

The Counter-Strike 1.6 Source engine remake has run into a legal hurdle. Its developers promise they're working with Valve to resolve the issue, and that its early access window might have to be pushed to 2026 as a result.

The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that raids were recently carried out at a total of 29 North Korean "laptop farms" operating in 16 US states. As part of the operation, 29 bank accounts and 21 fraudulent websites have been seized.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on Aeza Group, a bulletproof hosting (BPH) provider based in Russia, for facilitating cybercriminal operations that affect victims across the globe. BPH providers such as Aeza Group deliver internet hosting services designed to resist takedown efforts and law enforcement intervention, thereby enabling unlawful or harmful online activity.

GNCA interviews Ross Scott of Accursed Farms to discuss the Stop Killing Games campaign and its push for legal protections when online-only games are shut down. The focus is a European Citizens’ Initiative that would require publishers to offer playable end-of-life versions, marking a critical step for digital ownership rights.

New research from Ben-Gurion University shows how malware can exfiltrate data from air-gapped computers using inaudible signals and nearby smartwatches, exposing overlooked risks in high-security environments.

Since Chinese AI language model Deepseek has been forwarding user data from Europe to China, German authorities are now attempting to ban the app. Apple and Google have now been officially requested to ban the app from their stores.

Meta has announced its plans to introduce personalized advertising on WhatsApp, which will be based on personal data from other Meta services such as Facebook and Instagram. Data protectionists are viewing this as a consolidation of Meta's social media monopoly.

Gamers Nexus has withdrawn from class action lawsuits against PayPal, Capital One, and others over alleged affiliate commission theft. The move allows GN to report freely under its GNCA series while protecting viewer privacy and source confidentiality.

Gamers Nexus has introduced a new monthly series under the GNCA (Gamers Nexus Consumer Advocacy) banner, aimed at covering investigations and developments that typically fall outside the hardware review channel's usual scope. The debut episode of the Tipline segment spans major updates in product recalls, digital preservation lawsuits, e-waste accountability, and right to repair legislation.

As of June 4, the aforementioned adult platforms are offline in France. The operators of these sites are refusing to implement an age verification law as a protest against the potentially "privacy-infringing", "ineffective" and "dangerous" requirement, triggering a dispute between the EU Commission and the adult entertainment industry.

Brazilian authorities have filed a lawsuit against the Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD and two of its partners for labor exploitation and multiple labor violations related to the construction of a factory in the state of Bahia.