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The EU must take action to protect whistleblowers
The right of citizens to report wrongdoing is a natural extension of the right of freedom of expression, and is linked to the principles of transparency and integrity. – Transparency International Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden are some of the most famous whistleblowers, thanks to their huge impact on the protection of human rights. However, there […]
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ENDitorial: Commissioners’ oath – a broken promise on fundamental rights
On 3 May, 2010, the entire European Commission travelled to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Strasbourg to, for the first time in the history of the Union, take an oath that included a solemn declaration to “respect the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in […]
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EU moves one step closer to the world’s worst internet filtering law
In September 2016, the European Commission proposed legislation that would require the constant monitoring and filtering of virtually everything that is uploaded to the internet in Europe. Under the extreme rules proposed by the Commission in the Copyright Directive, uploads to the internet would need to be scanned to assess if any photo, video or […]
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The tale of the fight for transparency in the EU Internet Forum
Chapter One: The dark knights at a secret meeting It was the beginning of the year 2014 when the European Commission first announced the creation of an “EU Internet Forum”. But it would take almost two years and several meetings before its official launch on 3 December 2015. The Forum’s mission: to “counter terrorist content […]
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A positive step forward against the “censorship machine” in the Copyright Directive
On 24 February 2017 the Rapporteur of the European Parliament (EP) Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), Catherine Stihler MEP, published her draft Opinion on the Copyright Directive. The Opinion sends a strong message against the most extremist parts of the European Commission’s proposal: the “censorship machine” (aka upload filter) proposal in Article […]
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Consultation on multilateral investment court misses the point
The European Commission has launched a consultation on establishing a multilateral investment court, which would serve as a permanent body to decide investment disputes. The court would replace controversial investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in existing and future trade and investment treaties. It would interpret the substantive rules in these treaties, which provide a high […]
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e-Privacy proposal – Commission leaves the European Parliament with lots of work to do
Today, on 10 January 2017, the European Commission published its proposal for an e-Privacy Regulation. This legislation is crucial to provide clear rules on tracking individuals as they surf the web, and on freedom of communication more generally. The European Commission has resisted the most extreme demands from certain parts of industry. said Joe McNamee, […]
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ENDitorial: What do two copywrongs make? Definitely not a copyright
Anyone who turns up in Brussels these days and tries to follow discussions around the proposal for “ancillary copyright” (aka “link tax”) in the Copyright Directive must be truly baffled.
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Commission responds to Ombudsman investigation on EU Internet Forum
In April 2016, the European Ombudsman launched an investigation into the European Commission’s failure to disclose information of the “EU Internet Forum”. The EU Internet Forum brings together US internet companies (Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Google), government officials, and law enforcement agencies to discuss how to reduce the accessibility of undefined “terrorist material” and badly defined […]
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Free flow of data – what is it?
The “think tank” European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) recently produced a database of “restrictions on data”. The database lists laws which, in ECIPE’s opinion, are barriers to trade in 65 economies worldwide, including the European Union, and it was produced apparently due to influence from “the business community”. The database considers the EU […]
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The Copyright Reform – a guide for the perplexed
The debate whether the copyright reform in a proposed shape would be beneficial for Europe or not is now a key topic for digital rights organisations. But what do measures suggested by the European Commission actually mean? COMMUNIA and EDRi have jointly developed a guideline to the “legalese” of the draft directive. We present key […]
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FAQ: EU Code of Conduct on illegal hate speech
On 31 May 2016, the European Commission signed a “Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online” with four US online companies. This initiative came as a response to what is generally seen as a significant increase in extreme hate speech and a growth in violence against minorities.
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