GME3: Tanking Frank, Grok’n the Boat & Growing (S)Pains

In this week’s GME3, York Regional Police’s Project Scala takes down an illegal gambling ecosystem involving cash, crypto, contraband, and “gaming houses” – with a cameo from a man known as “Frank the Tank.” In Europe, X and Grok are under intensifying scrutiny over alleged harmful outputs and data practices, with regulators in France, the UK, and Canada all in the mix. And in Spain, Pedro Sánchez is pushing a blunt under-16 social media ban and tougher rules on algorithm-driven harms, as the country prepares for a major fight over age verification and platform accountability. Read the full stories below!

Gambling

Tanking Frank 

York Regional Police (“YRP”) have laid 22 charges against nine people following a two-year investigation into alleged illegal gambling operations in the Greater Toronto Area. Police say the investigation – dubbed “Project Scala” and led by YRP’s Traditional Organized Crime Task Force with South Simcoe Police Service – uncovered an organized operation tied to the collection of money from illegal gambling establishments in Toronto and Vaughan.

According to YRP, the probe resulted in search warrants at three residences and three alleged gaming houses, plus additional warrants involving a business, a storage locker, and two vehicles in Toronto. The reported seizures are notable not just for the “gaming house” angle, but for what they suggest about the broader ecosystem: multiple video gaming machines and accessories, large amounts of cash, silver bars and coins, a crypto wallet, illegal tobacco and alcohol, two vehicles, and an undisclosed quantity of controlled substances. The nine accused – with ages ranging from 27 to 70 – face charges including keeping a gambling house, possession of property obtained by crime, and trafficking in proceeds of crime (among other offences). As always, at this stage, these allegations have not been proven in court.

The story also situates these arrests in a wider enforcement push: just two weeks earlier, YRP announced separate charges against retired Toronto Police Service constable John Madeley relating to alleged illegal online gaming and credit betting between January 2024 and October 2025. In that case, YRP alleged cash collection practices involving threats and violence, naming co-accused Thomas Phippard (inexplicably also known as “Frank the Tank”). 

Media

Grok’n the Boat

French law enforcement raided the Paris offices of X on February 3rd as part of a preliminary criminal investigation. Prosecutors have also summoned Elon Musk for questioning, alongside former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, with “voluntary interviews” scheduled for April 20th. The investigation reportedly began after a French lawmaker’s complaint about algorithmic bias, and expanded following allegations that Grok produced content including Holocaust denial (a crime in France) and non-consensual sexual deepfakes.

The scrutiny isn’t limited to France. The UK’s data protection regulator, Information Commissioner’s Office, has opened formal inquiries into how xAI and X handled personal data in developing and deploying Grok, and whether safeguards existed to prevent the creation of harmful manipulated images. The UK’s Office of Communications (“Ofcom”) is also running a separate probe into Grok. In Canada, Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne has expanded an investigation into X after reports that Grok was used to create and share explicit images without consent. Abroad, Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily banned Grok before lifting those restrictions.

X claims that French prosecutors are pressuring US senior management by targeting its French entity, alleging that proper international evidence channels weren’t used, with Musk even calling it a “political attack.” 

Entertainment

Growing (S)Pains

Spain is moving toward a blanket ban on social media access for children under 16, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announcing the plan at the World Government Summit in Dubai. He framed major platforms as a kind of “failed state” and pitched the new rules as part of a broader push to curb illegal content, polarization, and online harms = pointing to recent scandals involving X’s AI chatbot Grok, and broader concerns about disinformation and platform governance.

Under the proposal, platforms would be required to implement effective age verification to keep under-16s from holding accounts. The measures are reportedly part of a package of digital reforms that still need to clear the legislative process, and details like enforcement timing remain unclear.

Spain is also signalling a harder line on the systems that spread harmful material. Sánchez said the country will target “algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content,” and he has floated criminal liability for tech executives tied to hateful or illegal content on their platforms. He also says Spain is coordinating with a coalition of other European governments to tighten oversight across the region.