LA Times among US-based news sites blocking EU users due to GDPR

The general data protection regulation, which has come into effect, has prompted a number of prestigious US-based websites including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune to shut off access to internet users in the EU. Visitors to newspapers owned by Tronc Inc – formerly Tribune Publishing – which also includes the New York Daily News, the Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel and the San Diego Union-Tribune, are being redirected to a page with the message: “Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. “We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.” Other services have announced that they are permanently deleting the accounts of European-based users in order to comply with the internationally applicable regulation, introduced on Friday, which strengthens the rules around how companies are able to use, store and process personal data.