We are subject to numerous United States (U.S.) federal, state, and local, as well as foreign laws and regulations covering a wide variety of subjects, and the scope of this coverage continues to broaden with continuing new legal and regulatory developments in the U.S. and internationally. Like other companies in the technology industry, we face increasingly heightened scrutiny from both U.S. and foreign governments with respect to our compliance with laws and
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regulations. Many of these laws and regulations are evolving and their applicability and scope, as interpreted by the courts, remain uncertain. Particularly with regard to AI; competition; consumer protection; content moderation; data privacy and security; news publications; and sustainability and other social matters, we have seen an increase in new and evolving laws and regulations, as well as related enforcement actions and investigations, being proposed and implemented in recent years by legislative and regulatory bodies around the world. As we have seen in recent years, different laws and regulations on the same topic may not always have the same requirements, and even when requirements overlap, the rules are not always consistently implemented, interpreted, and enforced from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Our compliance with these laws and regulations may be onerous and could, individually or in the aggregate, increase our cost of doing business, make our products and services less useful, limit our ability to pursue certain business practices or offer certain products and services, cause us to change our business models and operations, affect our competitive position relative to our peers, and/or otherwise harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results.
For additional information about government regulation applicable to our business, see Item 1A Risk Factors; Trends in Our Business and Financial Effect in Part II, Item 7; and Legal Matters in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.