GDPR: LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Instapaper Go Dark in Europe

Europeans hoping to read the Los Angeles Times this mornings were out of luck. So were those who peruse the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, and Baltimore Sun.

Instead of the latest headlines, they saw messages reading the sites were unavailable, and the papers were unavailable and exploring options to return to the EU market.” It was all due to the launch of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an EU initiative aimed at giving citizens more control over their personal information.

At least two media conglomerates, Tronc and Lee Enterprises, were affected by the rule change, which requires companies to get a user’s express consent to gather personal information or face large fines, up to 4% of its global turnover or $20 euros ($23.4 million), whichever is higher.

Tronc runs newspapers in ten markets. Lee Enterprises publishes 46 daily newspapers across 21 states.

GDPR forces companies to be more vigilant about obtaining consent when they collect user data and gives EU citizens the right to see what information was gathered about them and have it deleted. In cases of data breaches, companies are required to inform users and let authorities know within 72 hours of discovery.

Curious if your local paper was forced to go dark in Europe? Here’s a list of Tronc and Lee news sites, presumed to be inaccessible at present: