7-minute read | 1,550 words
What to know this week
Congress targets cyber scams.
Congress is considering several new bills aimed at cracking down on growing cyber scams.
Spain considers banning social media for children under 16.
The Prime Minister of Spain plans to bar minors from accessing social media.
This week's full stories
Congress looks to target cyber scammers.
THE NEWS
On Monday, Congress considered a series of bills aimed at addressing cyber scams. More specifically, these bills aim to address new cyber fraud scams, which have become increasingly widespread and effective.
For context, these scams often involve targeting an individual, building an online relationship with the victim, and then tricking them into sending funds, such as through a crypto scam. Each year, these scams have continued to become more effective, with the Treasury Department estimating that these scams cost Americans over $10 billion in 2024, which marked a 66% increase from 2023.
Outside of these legislative efforts, the United States (US) has been working to crack down on these operations. For example, in October 2025, the US led an operation where it imposed significant sanctions on individuals and groups tied to these operations, such as the Prince Group.
This effort is a bipartisan one within Congress, with both Democrats and Republicans voicing support for these various initiatives. Representative Jefferson Shreve noted how these efforts were “fundamentally nonpartisan,” with Representative Joaquin Castro emphasizing that these are “things that really affect all our constituents.”
THE KNOWLEDGE
Out of all the bills currently being considered, HR 5490, or the Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act, is one of the most comprehensive efforts. In this bill, the legislation would establish a new interagency task force tasked with leading a government-wide effort to target the scamming industry.
More specifically, agencies would be tasked with creating anti-scam strategies, coordinating efforts with law enforcement, and engaging with foreign governments to share intelligence and promote greater accountability.
Alongside increasing pressure on scam centers, this bill places significant emphasis on investigating China's involvement in supporting these operations.
Some of the other related bills being considered take these calls further. One bill passed by the Senate in January 2025 states that these scammer compounds “spread [Chinese] propaganda," with another bill stating that China's involvement in these compounds “presents an urgent national security threat.”
These claims echo other nations’ findings. For example, Philippine officials reported that scam centers had evidence that Chinese intelligence agencies were using them to spy on nearby military bases.
THE IMPACT
Given how effective cyberscams continue to be, it is unlikely that the US will be able to take any unilateral action that will address these problems in the short term. However, if the US is able to garner increased global cooperation when targeting these operations, a greater effort could likely be made to address these widespread scam syndicates.
For now, citizens across the world should take time to understand these scams, how they are initiated, and how to protect themselves. By doing so, people can ensure that the risks posed by these scams are minimized as much as possible.
Spain looks to ban social media for minors.
THE NEWS
On Tuesday, the Spanish Prime Minister announced his intentions to bar anyone under sixteen from accessing social media platforms. In his speech at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that Spain would “protect [minors] from the digital wild west.”
Sanchez said that any ban would still require parliamentary approval and would be included in a broader package of new regulatory measures. These efforts include making executives legally responsible for hate-related content, criminalizing certain forms of algorithmic manipulation, and strengthening enforcement against illegal content.
More specifically, the amendment would raise the age at which individuals can consent to the processing of their personal data to sixteen. Minors under this age requirement would only be able to access these platforms with the permission of a legal guardian. Under the proposal, platforms would be required to implement age-verification systems to comply with government regulations.
Prime Minister Sanchez stated that this proposed social media ban would be put into a bill as early as next week.
THE KNOWLEDGE
Alongside Spain’s efforts to crack down on social media platforms, other nations around the world are increasingly taking a more aggressive stance to rein in social media sites. One of the other largest nations to restrict social media access for minors is Australia. In this effort, Australia banned minors under the age of sixteen from using many major social media platforms, including Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Threads. With this ban, minors are unable to set up new accounts, and their existing profiles have been deactivated.
When implementing the ban, the Australian government emphasized that the effort was tied to:
“Design features that encourage [young people] to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing.”
When determining what sites could be banned, the Australian government assessed three main factors:
- Whether the platform’s sole or “significant purpose” is to enable online social interaction between users.
- Whether it allows users to interact with some or all other users.
- Whether it allows users to post content.
With the ban, Australia puts the responsibility for enforcing this policy solely on social media platforms and imposes fines of up to $32 million for serious or repeated breaches. To follow these guidelines, the government suggests companies utilize multiple age assurance technologies, which could use official IDs, “age inference” analyses, and facial/voice recognition. Notably, platforms are not allowed to rely on self-certifying or parents vouching for their children to make these accounts.
In addition to Australia, Greece is also heavily considering banning social media platforms for minors under the age of fifteen. While the details of this specific ban are unclear at the moment, this move would mark a significant development in how countries are approaching these major platforms.
THE IMPACT
The growing global shift to restrict minors’ access to social media reflects mounting political pressure to address the platforms’ effect on mental health, online safety, and data privacy. Rather than focusing solely on content moderation, many governments are increasingly targeting features of platforms, including data collection and design mechanics, when creating new regulations.
For the US, these international efforts may intensify debates over children’s online safety legislation, including efforts to revise COPPA or pass KOSA. How the US chooses to address these concerns, whether that be at the state or federal level, will be critical for shaping its broader approach to platform regulation for 2026.
This Week's Caveat Podcast: The algorithm is writing the rulebook now.
Dave Bittner and Ben Yelin discussed a story regarding how AI will automate compliance efforts alongside reports on how the Trump administration plans to use AI to write federal regulations. Afterwards, our team sits down with Tony Scott, CEO of Intrusion and a former federal CIO, to break down evolving regulations and what is driving these critical policy shifts.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY STORIES
Whistleblower alleges Google aided Israel military with AI.
What: An SEC whistleblower complaint alleges that Google breached its own ethical rules when helping an Israeli contractor with artificial intelligence (AI).
Why: On Sunday, a former Google employee alleged that Google breached its own policies in 2024 when the company aided an Israeli military contractor. In the complaint, the former employee alleges that Google utilized its Gemini AI agent to analyze drone video footage.
At the time, Google’s ethics policy explicitly emphasized that the company would not utilize AI technology in relation to weapons or for surveillance efforts that would violate international norms.
A Google spokesperson contested these allegations, stating:
“We answered a general use question, as we would for any customer, with standard help desk information, and did not provide any further technical assistance.”
FEB 1, 2026 | Source: The Washington Post
Moltbook exposed private user data.
What: Social media platform, Moltbook, exposed the private data of over 6,000 users.
Why: On Monday, Moltbook exposed the email addresses of over 6,000 individuals and more than a million credentials. This data was exposed after a security flaw was exploited, exposing user data. This flaw was created after Moltbook used “vibe coding,” a practice that uses AI to help create programs and applications.
Ami Luttwak, Wiz’s cofounder, commented on the matter, stating:
“As we see over and over again with vibe coding, although it runs very fast, many times people forget the basics of security.”
FEB 2, 2026 | Source: Reuters
Indian court questions WhatsApp policy.
What: India’s top court questions WhatsApp’s data sharing with other group entities.
Why: On Tuesday, India’s top court warned WhatsApp that it could reimpose a ban on the application over its data-sharing policies.
In the court, Chief Justice Surya Kant stated that WhatsApp’s “privacy policy is designed in such a way that how can a poor elderly woman … or [someone who] comes from a rural area understand your intentions?” Chief Justice Kant also stated that the company’s policy was “very cleverly designed to mislead users.”
For context, WhatsApp has been embroiled with India’s antitrust regulators since 2024, when the company was fined $25.4 million alongside being barred from sharing collected user data with other Meta entities. An appeals court later lifted the data restriction policy but upheld the fine. After this appeal, the case was handed to the nation’s Supreme Court.
FEB 3, 2026 | Source: Reuters