American news websites including the New York Daily News and Los Angeles Times have temporarily shut down in Europe as new data protection rules come into force.
Titles belonging to the publishing company Tronc, which also include the Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, are showing the message: ‘We are currently unavailable in your region’.
The page URLs include the term GDPR, referring to new the General Data Protection Regulation which comes into force today.
Meanwhile USA Today said it was directing British users to its ‘European Union Experience’ which was compliant with the new data protection rules.
Some American news websites have temporarily shut down in Britain as GDPR takes effect
The New York Daily News and other titles belonging to Tronc were among those affected
EU users were unable to access the Miami Herald as a result of the new regulations
However other American titles such as the New York Times and websites of broadcasters such as CNN continued to be available.
Meanwhile TIME magazine and the Washington Post required users in the European Union to agree to new terms of service.
Buzzfeed reporter Jon Passantino said: ‘It looks like all Tronc newspapers like the LA Times and Chicago Tribune are GDPR non-compliant, so all traffic from Europe is hitting this wall.’
The GDPR gives people in the EU new powers to access and control their personal data, and gives regulators greater power to levy fines on firms who mishandle data or fail to be transparent in how they collect and use it.
Consumers have faced a torrent of emails asking them to opt in to further messages from companies required to comply with the GDPR.
Internet companies that track users online, whether for shopping, banking or other reasons, are set to face significant scrutiny.
The Washington Post allowed EU customers to get through by agreeing to terms of service
The Los Angeles Times is among the titles in the Tronc group not appearing in the UK
TIME magazine was among the websites which allowed users access if they agreed to terms
The new rules require that they have specific justification, such as consent, for using personal information.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on Thursday that ‘with GDPR, we will now have to operate recognizing that privacy is a human right’.
Microsoft said this week it would apply European data rights to all its clients worldwide.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, also speaking at the conference, said GDPR means adding some controls, but he insisted it is ‘not a massive departure’ from what Facebook does.