Information democracy
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Real Time Bidding: The auction for your attention
The digitalisation of marketing has introduced novel industry practices and business models. Some of these new systems have developed into crucial threats to people’s freedoms. A particularly alarming one is Real Time Bidding (RTB). When you visit a website, you often encounter content published by the website’s owner/author, and external ads. Since a certain type […]
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EU worries over the possibility of losing wiretapping powers
5G telecoms networks could render obsolete the “lawful interception” techniques that police is traditionally using, unless the European Union and national governments take action. This was revealed in internal EU documents obtained by EDRi member Statewatch, that has published a new analysis explaining the issues and calling for a public debate. “It is unsurprising that […]
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Regulating online communications: Fix the system, not the symptoms
Our digital information ecosystem fails to deliver the communications landscape needed to sustain our democracies. In a problem analysis, EDRi member Bits of Freedom introduces and disentangles some of the key concepts and issues surrounding the dominant role of platforms and the resulting harms to our freedom of expression.
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Open letter demands interoperability of the big online platforms
On 21 May 2019, EDRi observer La Quadrature du Net, along with 70 other organisations, including some EDRi members, sent a letter asking the French government and members of the Parliament to force web giants (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter…) to be interoperable with other online services. The purpose is to allow users of these platforms to […]
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Fighting online hatespeech: An alternative to mandatory real names
The internet facilitates debates: People around the globe can connect at almost zero cost, and information and opinions that would otherwise hardly be noticed can go viral through social media. However, services like Twitter and Facebook can also be used for targeted defamation. Especially people who belong to minorities or endorse views outside the mainstream […]
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E-Commerce review: Opening Pandora’s box?
The next important battle for our rights and freedoms in the digital sphere is looming on the horizon. While the public debate has recently focused on upload filters for alleged copyright infringements and online “terrorist” content, a planned legislative review will look more broadly at the rules for all types of illegal and “harmful” content.
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Fighting defamation online – AG Opinion forgets that context matters
On 4 June 2019, Advocate General (AG) of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Maciej Szpunar, delivered his Opinion on the Glawischnig-Piesczek v Facebook Ireland case. The case is related to injunctions obliging a service provider to stop the dissemination of a defamatory comment. Looking carefully at this Opinion is important, as […]
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BEREC workshop: Regulatory action by NRAs and consumer empowerment
On 29 May 2019, EDRi was invited to participate in a workshop of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) on the planned update of its Net Neutrality Guidelines. Thomas Lohninger from Austrian EDRi member Epicenter.works and Jesper Lund from Danish EDRi member IT-Pol represented our network. Lund provided the following input to […]
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Our dependency on Facebook – life-threatening?
What is your priority when a terrorist attack or a natural disaster takes place close to where your parents live or where your friend went on holidays? Obviously, you would immediately like to know how your loved ones are doing. You will call and text them until you get in touch.
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Facebook and Google asked to appoint representatives in Serbia
Three months before the new Serbian Law on Personal Data Protection becomes applicable, EDRi member SHARE Foundation asked 20 data companies from around the world – including Google and Facebook – to appoint representatives in Serbia as required by the new law. This is crucial for providing Serbian citizens and competent authorities with a contact […]
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Christchurch call − pseudo-counter-terrorism at the cost of human rights?
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Arden showed compassionate and empathetic leadership in her response to the Christchurch terrorist attack on a mosque in her country on 15 March 2019. On 16 May in Paris, Arden and the French President Emmanuel Macron co-launched the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist […]
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Hey Google, where does the path lead?
If you do not know the directions to a certain place, you use a digital device to find your way. With our noses glued to the screen, we blindly follow the instructions of Google Maps, or its competitor. But do you know which way you are being led?
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