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A Romanian Border Police patrol vessel with Frontex markings in the port of Crotone, Italy — Photo: Francesco Placco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Policy Watch|European Union

Brussels proposes a bigger Frontex: 30,000 officers by 2041, a deportations hub and a centre to monitor social media and flag posts under the DSA

The Commission’s draft recast of the Frontex regulation (COM(2026) 1030) would grow the border agency’s standing corps to 30,000 by 2041, including a 17,000-officer reserve, make Frontex the EU’s central actor for returns, add a Quick Reaction Force, and create an Online Monitoring and Response Centre that would watch public social media, flag ‘illegal content’ as a DSA trusted flagger and track ‘disinformation’. €11.9 billion is earmarked for 2028–2034. MEPs and governments must now negotiate it.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Booking.com headquarters, Oosterdokseiland, Amsterdam — Photo: Ceescamel, CC BY-SA 4.0

Policy Watch|European Union

EU opens Digital Services Act case against Booking.com over fake listings, phishing and unlabelled paid rankings

The European Commission opened formal DSA proceedings against Booking.com on 21 October. It will examine whether the platform properly assessed and reduced the risk of fraudulent and non-compliant listings, whether reservation and guest data shared with hosts is fuelling phishing, and whether listings boosted by higher commissions are clearly labelled as ads. Opening a case is not a finding of a breach.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
The Rolls Building, Royal Courts of Justice, London — Photo: Muhammad Karns, CC BY-SA 4.0

Accountability|European Union

Meta takes Ofcom’s Category 1 Instagram/WhatsApp labels to the Upper Tribunal

In mid-September 2026 Meta served an appeal against Ofcom’s Category 1 designation of Instagram and WhatsApp under the UK Online Safety Act — joining a wave of platform challenges Ofcom told Lords peers it faces in a “highly litigious environment.”

Daily Teabag Desk·Slight right