censorship
Filter by...
-
#PrivacyCamp20: Technology and Activism
The 8th annual Privacy Camp will take place in Brussels on 21 January 2020. With the focus on “Technology and Activism”, Privacy Camp 2020 will explore the significant role digital technology plays in activism, enabling people to bypass traditional power structures and fostering new forms of civil disobedience, but also enhancing the surveillance power of […]
Read more
-
Facebook users blocked simply for mentioning a name?
Merely writing or including two words, in this case “Tommy Robinson”, in a Facebook post or link is enough to get the post removed and the writer blocked. At least it seems so in Denmark and Sweden.
Read more
-
CJEU: Public documents could be censored because of copyright
On 29 July 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgment that could have serious impact on freedom of expression. The case (C‑469/17) concerns Funke Medien NRW GmbH, the editor of the German daily newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, and Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany). It follows a request in […]
Read more
-
E-Commerce review: Safeguarding human rights when moderating online content
This is the fourth and last blog post in our series on Europe’s future rules for intermediary liability and content moderation. You can read the introduction here. In our previous blog posts on the upcoming E-Commerce review, we discussed examples of what can go wrong with online content regulation. But let’s imagine for a moment […]
Read more
-
How security policy hijacks the Digital Single Market
On 22 August, when Politico leaked an internal European Commission document that outlined policy plans for the upcoming mandate from all corners of the EU’s executive branch, Brussels was at high alert. Although the document is an internal note, not an official Commission position, it isn’t irrelevant: Its purpose is to inform the incoming Commissioners […]
Read more
-
E-Commerce review: Mitigating collateral damage
This is the third article in our series on Europe’s future rules for intermediary liability and content moderation. You can read the introduction here. Asking social media and other platform companies to solve problems around illegal online content can have serious unintended consequences. It’s therefore crucial that new EU legislation in this field considers such […]
Read more
-
More responsibility to online platforms – but at what cost?
In the European Commission’s internal note published by Netzpolitik.org on 16 July 2019, the Commission presents current problems around the regulation of digital services and proposes a revision of the current E-Commerce Directive. Such a revision would have a huge impact on fundamental rights and freedoms. This is why it’s crucial for the EU to […]
Read more
-
The digital rights of LGBTQ+ people: When technology reinforces societal oppressions
Online surveillance and censorship impact everyone’s rights, and particularly those of already marginalised groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and others (LGBTQ+) people. The use of new technologies usually reinforces existing societal biases, making those communities particularly prone to discrimination and security threats. As a follow-up to Pride Month, here is an […]
Read more
-
“SIN vs Facebook”: First victory against privatised censorship
In an interim measures ruling on 11 June 2019, the District Court in Warsaw has temporarily prohibited Facebook from removing fan pages, profiles, and groups run by Civil Society Drug Policy Initiative (SIN) on Facebook and Instagram, as well as from blocking individual posts. SIN, a Polish non-profit organisation promoting evidence-based drug policy, filed a […]
Read more
-
E-Commerce review: Technology is the solution. What is the problem?
This is the second article in our series on Europe’s future rules for intermediary liability and content moderation. You can read the introduction here. When it comes to tackling illegal and “harmful” content online, there’s a major trend in policy-making: Big tech seems to be both the cause of and the solution to all problems.
Read more
-
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.
Read more
-
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 […]
Read more