Here, there, and officially on LinkedIn!

In very exciting news, we launched a policy-centric newsletter on LinkedIn! Our community is spread far and wide and is ever-growing, and so are we!

We will be dropping all things policy-related — breaking down the always-changing landscape, dishing the hot policy goss, and of course, all the updates for things shared today. Hope you come and hang 🫶

The policy newsletter can come straight to your inbox — set your newsletter preferences here! 

The year ended with a bang

We had a busy end of the year!

We submitted a paper to inform the Forum on Information and Democracy’s upcoming policy brief on actionable ways to move the advertising market toward funding public-interest media and loosening adtech's grip on journalism. We laid out three practical, evidence-based policy proposals, with one large call to action: for the EU to create an independent regulator for digital advertising. There are many ways to restore fairness in the market and many tools at our disposal to do so — but it starts with a commitment to clear governance, accountability, and transparency.

We submitted our feedback regarding the draft Joint Guidelines of the European Commission and European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on the Interplay between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — the two powerful legal tools in the EU that exist to dismantle disproportionate data power, keeping the internet fair, competitive, and free from harms against consumers, publishers, advertisers, and society. If these two pieces of legislation are aligned, they will be a force that protects the rights of European consumers and enables fair competition in the markets; however, if they are misaligned, they may do more harm than good.

We support the Joint Guidelines and are excited to see how the future unfolds. Our comment highlights five areas where the guidance could be clearer and stronger to improve fairness and ensure a safer and more transparent digital ad ecosystem. We also raised concerns about the new Digital Omnibus Regulation proposal, as gatekeepers may use it to dodge the DMA rules. We recommend that the upcoming Joint Guidelines close such pathways.

Is the EU rolling back digital regulations? 

The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) work together to make digital services safe for users and society, and make digital markets fair, competitive, and accountable. As US companies dominate digital markets, this set of regulations affect many of these dominant US-based tech firms.

Some in the US government see enforcement of the DSA and the DMA as "taxing" US tech companies. The US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, is urging the EU to “roll back” some of the digital rules, suggesting that such relaxation may be followed by the US companies agreeing to “possibly a trillion dollars of investments a year".

The European Commission is sending mixed messages: on the one hand, it pushes for the Digital Omnibus, which is aimed at "simplifying" the digital rulebook - in other words, making it attractive for the US tech companies. On the other hand, the DSA and DMA enforcement are only speeding up.

The European Commission issued a €120 million fine against X in December for breaching the DSA rules on platform transparency. The imposed fine has led to a high-level dispute between DC and Brussels. Shortly after the fine was announced, the US Department of State announced its decision to sanction former Commissioner Thierry Breton, who led the DSA and DMA initiatives. It is concerning that tech companies have managed to sow division between the US and the EU, long-standing allies who, in the long run, share the objective of free and fair digital markets.

2026 is the name, digital sovereignty is the game

Many in Europe see the US government as backing unaccountable tech companies, going against democratic legislation and enforcement as protectionist measures that undermine European sovereignty. This makes digital sovereignty the central theme of 2026 worldwide, particularly in Europe. We will closely follow developments and contribute to these discussions to ensure a fair, transparent, and accountable online advertising ecosystem worldwide. 

First chapter of 2026 belongs to the Omnibus 

This means that in 2026 Q1 we will most certainly focus on the Digital Omnibus and Digital Fitness Check Consultations that have been proposed by the European Commission.

At the end of December, we touched on the Omnibus proposal being fast-tracked without a proper impact assessment and the risks that became apparent. Following civil society backlash, the Commission opened a post-proposal consultation, to which we will contribute.

The Digital Fitness Check will be part two of this "simplification" process of the digital rulebook, for which the Commission is seeking feedback until March 11th.

Legal boundaries for online advertising practices to come for Google and Meta

On December 8, the Commission quietly dropped another bombshell.

Recall that in April 2025, Meta was fined €200 million for violating the DMA with its initial consent-or-pay model (March 2024–November 2025). The Commission explicitly did not assess the revised model introduced in November 2025—but said it would continue investigating. Buried in the latest press release was a surprise: Meta will introduce a third model in January 2026. We will be waiting for this to provide our commentary on a very impactful decision for the online advertising ecosystem.

DROP it like it's your personal data that no one should be selling

Calling all Californians! The DROP (Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform) website has been launched as part of the movement towards consumers gaining control of their personal data. Rather than the previous time-consuming, expansive, and expensive process of individually opting out and requesting deletion, this tool allows all California residents to send a request for mass deletion to 500 data brokers — although the requests do not have to be processed until August 1st, your job here is done.

To all our Californians, holla if you need some help with the platform! 🤌 If you're not a Californian, but would like to see a similar solution in your state, let your state legislative representatives know.

Friends of Fair Ads

We joined over 70 other groups with an interest in a more transparent and fair digital ecosystem to urge the European Commission to reject Google’s adtech trial remedies. Led by our friends at the Open Markets Institute, we signed on to the letter encouraging the breakup of Google’s monopoly. We have seen the outcome of previous behavioral remedies and the power that has been left unchecked. All signatories believe that if we want a competitive and safer market, divesting is the remedy fit for the job.

That is why this week we submitted comments to the European Commission in response to their consultation on Google's proposed remedies.

We will continue to follow the developments regarding Google adtech case both in the US and the EU in 2026, and continue to be the strong voice in stopping the abuse that has plagued the online ads ecosystem for a decade.

 

Cheers to a new year!