Image by Solen Feyissa, from Unsplash
Meta And TikTok Win EU Court Fight Over Tech Fees
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
Meta and TikTok scored a legal victory this week after an EU court ruled that the European Commission needs to revise its method for calculating Digital Services Act (DSA) supervisory fees.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Judges said the fee methodology should be set via a delegated act.
- The annual fee equals 0.05% of global net income.
- EU regulators have 12 months to create new fee rules.
The General Court in Luxembourg supported the tech companies by declaring the Commission used improper legal procedures to establish the fee system.
Judges ruled that the fee calculation “should have been adopted not in the context of implementing decisions but in a delegated act, in accordance with the rules laid down in the DSA,” as first reported by Reuters .
The Luxembourg-based General Court sided with the tech giants, saying the Commission had used the wrong legal procedure when setting the levy. Reuters notes that the annual fee amounts to 0.05% of worldwide net income from companies to support EU expenses for DSA compliance monitoring.
The fee amount depends on user numbers and the profit status of each company. Critics argued that the fee structure produced unequal results as loss-making companies with large user bases to avoid paying while others were overcharged.
According to the ruling, EU regulators must create new rules within the next 12 months. The companies will not receive any reimbursement for their previously paid fees.
The Commission downplayed the impact, with spokesperson Thomas Regnier saying: “The Court confirms our methodology is sound: no error in calculation, no suspension of any payments, no problem with the principle of the fee nor the amount,” as reported by Politico .
Another spokesperson added, “The Court’s ruling requires a purely formal correction on the procedure,” reported Reuters
Meta welcomed the decision, stating: “Currently, companies that record a loss don’t have to pay, even if they have a large user base […] We look forward to the flaws in the methodology being addressed”. TikTok also welcomed the ruling, saying: “We’ll closely follow the development of the delegated act,” all reported Reuters.
Image by Jonathan Kemper, from Unsplash
Pixel 10 Lets Users Check If Photos Are AI-Made
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
The Made by Google 2025 event brought news about the Pixel 10 lineup which will be the first to support C2PA Content Credentials directly in Pixel Camera and Google Photos.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Pixel 10 is first phone with built-in C2PA Content Credentials.
- Credentials prove how and when images were created.
- Pixel Camera achieved C2PA Assurance Level 2 security rating.
According to Google , “The Pixel 10 lineup is the first to have Content Credentials built in across every photo created by Pixel Camera.” These credentials act like a digital signature that proves how and when an image was made, helping people tell the difference between real photos and AI-generated ones.
These credentials act like a digital signature, serving as proof of origin and time stamp for images, aimed at helping users identify genuine photos from AI-generated content.
The Content Credentials system operates under the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) which brings together major companies to create standards to track the origin of digital media. The steering committee member Google stated that this development becomes crucial as generative AI technology makes it difficult to distinguish between real and synthetic content.
“Generative AI can help us all to be more creative, productive, and innovative. But it can be hard to tell the difference between content that’s been AI-generated, and content created without AI. The ability to verify the source and history—or provenance—of digital content is more important than ever,” Google explained.
The Pixel 10 system operates through the combination of Tensor G5 processing power and Titan M2 security chip and Android hardware security features. The Pixel Camera app received the highest security rating of Assurance Level 2 from the C2PA Conformance Program. Google says this level is “only possible on the Android platform.”
To protect privacy, Google created a “One-and-Done” system which generates distinct certificates for each image to prevent users from tracing multiple photos to a single person. The phones maintain offline trusted time-stamps which enable credentials to stay valid when users take photos without internet access.
Google plans to expand Content Credentials to more products soon, saying it is “a tangible step toward more media transparency and trust.”
