Zander Arnao

New draft guidelines by the European Commission aim to shape a better and safer online environment for minors. The Knight-Georgetown Institute submitted comments to the European Commission on its guidelines for protecting minors online under the Digital Services Act – underscoring the need for an evidence-based approach that focuses on strengthening risk reviews, refining default account settings, and improving algorithmic recommender system design.

As lawsuits mount and legislation proliferates aimed at stemming online harms, the battle over how algorithmic recommender systems should be designed is heating up. Yet common policy solutions that focus on mandating chronological feeds or limiting personalization fail to address the core issue: how to design recommender systems that align with users’ genuine long-term interests rather than exploiting their short-term impulses.

Google’s dominance in search has made it the subject of antitrust investigations and competition regulation around the world. The latest of these was the announcement in January 2025 that the United Kingdom was launching an investigation under its new digital markets competition regime. In public comments recently filed with UK competition authority, KGI has underscored the importance of being familiar with previous enforcement efforts around the world and prioritizing certain key aspects of competition.