Information democracy
Filter resources
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Turkish civil society: Declaration on the state of the internet
On the occasion of the Internet Week (11-24 April 2019) and the 26th anniversary of the arrival of the internet in the country, Turkish civil society organisations focusing on digital rights have released a declaration on the state of the internet.
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Austria: New “responsibility” law will lead to self-censorship
Shortly after the EU gave green light to upload filters, two laws were proposed in Austria, with the alleged goal of tackling online hate speech, that rang the alarm bells.
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What the YouTube and Facebook statistics aren’t telling us
After the recent attack against a mosque in New Zealand, the large social media platforms published figures on their efforts to limit the spread of the video of the attack. What do those figures tell us?
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Facebook Custom Audience illegal without explicit user consent
Online shops and marketers routinely share customer data with Facebook to reach them with targeted advertising. Turns out that in many cases this is illegal. A ground-breaking decision by a German Data Protection Authority (DPA) recently ruled that matching customers’ email addresses with their Facebook accounts requires their explicit consent.
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Press Release: EU Parliament deletes the worst threats to freedom of expression proposed in the Terrorist Content Regulation
Today, 17 April 2019, the European Parliament (EP) adopted its Report on the proposed Terrorist Content Regulation. Although it has been questioned whether this additional piece of law is necessary to combat the dissemination of terrorist content online, the European Union (EU) institutions are determined to make sure it sees the light of day. The […]
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EU Member States give green light for copyright censorship
Today, on 15 April 2019, European Union Member States gave their final approval to the text of the copyright Directive as it was adopted by the European Parliament on 26 March. This vote in the Council of the EU was the last procedural requirement in the EU law-making process. Now the Directive, once translated and […]
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UK: Online Harms Strategy must “design in” fundamental rights
After months of waiting and speculation, the United Kingdom government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has finally published its White Paper on Online Harms – now appearing as a joint publication with the Home Office. The expected duty of care proposal is present, but substantive detail on what this actually means remains […]
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Public campaigns on digital rights: Mapping the needs
In February 2019, the Digital Freedom Fund (DFF) strategy meeting took place in Berlin. The meeting was the perfect occasion for experts, activists, and litigators from the broad digital and human rights movement to explore ways of working together and of levelling up the field.
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Filters Incorporated
On 26 March 2019, the European Parliament (EP) adopted the new copyright Directive. The music industry and collecting societies celebrated it as a victory for authors and creators, despite actual authors (along with civil society groups) being worried about the outcome.
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Terrorist Content Regulation: Successful “damage control” by LIBE Committee
Today, on 8 April 2019, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) adopted its Report on the proposed Regulation for moderation of terrorist content online. Released by the European Commission in September 2018, the proposal was very welcomed in the Council of Member States, which rapidly concluded a political agreement […]
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GDPR incompatibility – the blind spot of the copyright debate
The debate around the Copyright Directive reform has been intense. Former Article 13, which became Article 17 in the text voted by the European Parliament on 26 March, created the greatest controversy between stakeholders arguing about the so-called “value gap” in the creative sectors, upload filters, and a new platform liability regime, among others issues. […]
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Google fined 1,5 billion euro for abusive online ad practices
On 20 March, the European Commission imposed yet another massive fine, 1,5 billion euro, on Google. The Commission Directorate-General for Competition stated that the data company has abused its dominant position in the online advertising market by imposing restrictive contracts with third-party websites that prevented rivals from placing their search adverts on these websites.
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