Digital Platform Policy Highlights - Digest 34

Q1 2024 to Q3 2024 policy changes: major platforms are adjusting their policies to respond to challenges like app store billing disputes and enhancing safety features for young users.

Jan 08, 2025

This post is part nine of a series documenting policy changes and feature improvements introduced by platforms in Q1 2024 to Q3 2024.

TL; DR→ Here are policy changes to curb bad behaviors on the platforms:

Google removes and then reinstates popular apps in India for evading play store fees

Google’s removal of popular apps from the Play Store in India (e.g., Naukri, a popular job portal and Shaadi, a popular matrimonial portal) follows warnings to developers who repeatedly failed to comply with its billing policies. Google noted that that this action ensued after three years of lead time and three weeks after a Supreme Court order. Not surprisingly, this action was swiftly reversed, after most of these apps complied with the platform policy. Ever since Google was ordered to allow third-party payment systems in 2022, every such incident sparks discussions about developing open digital infrastructure for app distribution, similar to India's successful UPI model for payments. (link1)(link2)

Meta's Oversight Board Expands Scope to Include Threads App

This independent advisory group, funded by Meta but demonstrably independent, which reviews the company's content moderation decisions, has expanded its scope to include content decisions on Threads, the X competitor, signaling increased scrutiny of content moderation as global elections approach. Notably, the board has overturned several high-profile Meta decisions. By delegating complex moderation decisions to this quasi-independent board, Meta has actively attempted to create distance from politically sensitive content decisions. (link)

YouTube Introduces Read-Only Comment for Kids in Supervised Experiences

This policy change, aiming to expand options for child-friendly content, marks one of the first relaxations since YouTube strengthened protections around supervised experiences. Prior to this, channels could only enable or completely disable comments on such content. Now, content creators can allow adults to comment while young users with supervised accounts can read these comments but not post their own. Of course, parents can choose not to allow their kids read comments at all. This middle-ground approach seems interesting: enabling the “real and comments included” YouTube experience while allowing parents and kids collaboratively decide what works. (link)

Instagram adds new protections for teens

Among the updates, the platform will now automatically blur images containing nudity in direct messages, shielding young users from unsolicited explicit content. Instagram continues to strengthen its privacy settings since 2021, with policies defaulting new teen accounts to "private," limiting interactions with unknown adults, and providing more educational resources about online safety. As governments around the world attempting to minimize profiteering from teenagers, this proactive move may even thwart regulators from banning social media for young adults. (link)

X Adds Global Support for Passkeys on iOS and then, Android

Passkeys are not new: it is an industry standard backed by tech giants and the FIDO Alliance alongside W3C. The timing of its arrival on X (a FIDO alliance member) is notable - as elections approach and hacked account posts surge, X is implementing this technology to make account breaches significantly harder. This could prevent the common excuse of "my account was hacked" when controversial posts appear. To validate my point about timing, X also rolled out passkeys to Android a few months later (but before elections), despite Passkeys’ documented hiccups on Android. (link1)(link2)

Google Upgrades Chrome's Safe Browsing to Real-Time Protection

The switch from periodic list-based updates to real-time threat detection marks a significant upgrade in Chrome's Safe Browsing protection. This improvement allows Chrome to provide immediate protection against malicious websites, phishing attempts, and other online threats by leveraging real-time data. While Google emphasizes that all this will happen without sharing browsing data with Google, i.e., there should not be any privacy concerns around continuous monitoring, skeptics on Reddit and other platforms remain unconvinced. “It is safe, not private”, they argue. (link)

Google Restricts Sideloading of Certain Apps in Singapore

Developed in collaboration with Singapore’s Cybersecurity Agency, the Play Protect program has started disallowing users in Singapore from sideloading (i.e., installing apps from sources other than Play Store) certain apps that request permissions to read SMS (e.g., to read one-time passwords) or capture on-screen content. While aimed at preventing the distribution of malicious apps that contribute to financial fraud and identity theft, this is a departure from Google’s traditionally open approach to app installations on Android. (link)

Research help from Marshall Singer, Anantesh Mohapatra, Jennifer Xie, Anna Li and John Mai (Thanks a ton, folks!)

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