The ODPA’s monthly round-up of data-related developments from around the world.
2 February – News agency Reuters publishes a summary of what countries and companies are doing to regulate access to social media. Australia in December became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's YouTube and Meta's Instagram and Facebook: Factbox - From Australia to Europe, countries move to curb children's social media access
2 February - As France prepares to vote on banning teens from social media, Australia’s ban, which came into effect in December, is already having an impact, with platforms blocking nearly five million accounts in December alone. Snapchat, which said it blocked over 400,000 accounts warns that some users may be bypassing the age verification technology: Australia’s teen social media ban blocks millions as France weighs its own ban - RFI
3 February - The UK’s data protection watchdog announced that it opened formal investigations into X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) and X.AI LLC (X.AI) covering their processing of personal data in relation to the Grok artificial intelligence system and its potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content: ICO announces investigation into Grok | ICO
3 February - NVIDIA, a U.S. chip giant, invested an undisclosed amount in Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology firm, in October 2025, marking more than a routine funding announcement. Nigeria’s Business Day takes a closer look at the deal, which signals a strategic shift in how global technology leaders view Africa as not just a consumer market but as a future hub for artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital infrastructure development: Inside NVIDIA’s strategic bet on Africa’s AI, data centre boom - Businessday NG
10 February - The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that companies can challenge binding decisions of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) in EU courts. The judgment arises from proceedings involving WhatsApp Ireland, a subsidiary of Meta, and clarifies a critical procedural question under the GDPR’s cooperation and consistency mechanism: WhatsApp Ireland v European Data Protection Commission
10 February - EU Supervisory Authorities warn Commission against narrowing privacy rights: EDPB & EDPS Joint Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation as regards the simplification of the digital legislative framework (Digital Omnibus)
12 February - India's advances in children's data protection legislation were examined in an analysis piece by the IAPP: Scroll, swipe, shield: India's evolving approach to children's data in a comparative perspective | IAPP
17 February – Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has opened an inquiry into X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) under section 110 of the Data Protection Act 2018.Data Protection Commission opens investigation into X (XIUC) | 17/02/2026 | Data Protection Commission
18 February - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified during a landmark trial in Los Angeles Superior Court over the question of social media and safety, which is being likened to the industry’s “Big Tobacco” moment: Zuckerberg testimony: Meta CEO said he reached out to Apple's Tim Cook
23 February - The UK proposed a slate of new rules and requirements in multiple enforcement tools that aim to strengthen digital protections for children: The ongoing efforts across Europe to combat explicit deepfakes, CSAM | IAPP
24 February – The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has fined Reddit £14.47 million for using children’s personal information unlawfully. Reddit’s failings included not checking the age of users accessing its platform, putting children at risk: Reddit issued with £14.47m fine for children’s privacy failures | ICO
24 February – US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to remove Anthropic from his agency's supply chain if the company declined to allow its artificial intelligence (AI) technology to be used across military applications: US threatens Anthropic with deadline in dispute on AI safeguards - BBC News
25 February – President Donald Trump's administration has ordered U.S. diplomats to lobby against attempts to regulate U.S. tech companies' handling of foreigners' data, saying in an internal diplomatic cable seen by Reuters that such efforts could interfere with artificial intelligence-related services: Exclusive: US orders diplomats to fight data sovereignty initiatives | Reuters
26 February – Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei responds to the US government’s attempts to allow its AI technology to be used to support the government’s military applications. He set out Anthropic’s red lines including the use of its tools for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons: Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War \ Anthropic
26 February – As investigations into AI-generated sexualized imagery unfold in at least eight countries, 61 data protection and privacy authorities across four continents have put AI image generation companies on notice, declaring that nonconsensual intimate imagery is a privacy violation, and regulators intend to act on it: Privacy Regulators in 61 Countries Back Enforcement Against AI Deepfakes