Commission sets out AI Continent Action Plan to scale Europe’s AI capacity
A new EU strategy focuses on infrastructure, data access, and skills to strengthen AI deployment across industry and public services.
Canada’s privacy regulator issues guidance on age checks for online services
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has released new guidance on age assurance, aiming to balance child safety online with data protection obligations.
Pope Leo XIV calls for AI governance centred on human dignity in first encyclical
In Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV frames artificial intelligence as a major social, political, and ethical challenge, arguing that technological progress must remain subordinate to human dignity, justice, and the common good.
RightsCon 2026 cancelled
RightsCon organisers have announced the cancellation of the event in Lusaka and online, citing immediate concerns and advising participants not to travel.
ICANN opens second evaluation window for domain infrastructure providers
A new application period allows technical providers to qualify for supporting domain name operations in the 2026 gTLD round.
ICANN opens applications for new domain names in 2026 round
Organisations can now apply to operate new internet domain endings, with the first application window in over a decade running until August 2026.
EU Commission pushes member states to deploy EU age verification app by year-end
The European Commission is urging countries to accelerate rollout of a privacy-focused age verification system to support online child protection rules.
EU legislators fail to agree on delay to AI Act
Negotiations between EU institutions broke down over exemptions for industrial AI, leaving uncertainty ahead of upcoming rules.
ITU updates global telephone numbering standard to reflect evolving services
A revised version of the International Telecommunication Union’s E.164 recommendation introduces updated structures for international numbering, including provisions for IoT and non-traditional communication services.
Civil society groups call for stronger focus on linguistic diversity in UN AI governance talks
The Center for Democracy & Technology and the Cornell Global AI Initiative have urged policymakers to address structural gaps in multilingual AI systems, warning that current approaches risk reinforcing global inequalities.
