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Walking from Luxembourg to Brussels in two hours
A public hearing before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last Tuesday, November 10, dealt with the compatibility of Article 17, more precisely the provisions of Article 17 that require platforms to block copyright infringements, with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
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Member in the Spotlight: Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte
Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (Society for Civil Rights) is a Berlin based non-profit human rights organisation that protects every individual’s right to freedom of expression, equality and safe and private communication – especially on the internet.
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German Constitutional Court stops mass surveillance abroad
The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has so far been able to spy on foreign citizens abroad en masse and without cause—even on sensitive groups such as journalists.
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Control ©: defending free online communication through litigation
Former Member of the European Parliament Felix Reda has joined the EDRi member German Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights). The copyright reform activist will coordinate control ©, a new project to defend freedom of communication.
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CJEU to decide on processing of passenger data under PNR Directive
On 20 January 2020, the District Court of Cologne, Germany, submitted to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the question whether the European Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive violates fundamental rights. EDRi member Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights) initiated the proceedings against the directive, which allows for authorities 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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Passenger surveillance brought before courts in Germany and Austria
EDRi members Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights) and Epicenter.works have taken legal action against the mass retention and processing of Passenger Name Records (PNR) before German and Austrian courts and authorities. The European PNR Directive (Directive 2016/681) requires airlines to automatically transfer their passengers’ data to state authorities. There, the data are […]
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Strategic litigation against civil rights violations in police laws
Almost every German state has expanded or is preparing to expand police powers. The police authorities are now more often allowed to interfere with civil rights, even before a specific danger has been identified. They are also given new means to conduct secret surveillance online. EDRi member Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights) […]
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Call for whistleblowing is not a crime: The case of a peace activist
The peace activist Hermann Theisen has been convicted by several lower courts for calling on employees of weapons manufacturers to expose illegal activities of their employers. EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights) supports him in his appeal procedures to get German courts to recognise that neither whistleblowing in the public interest […]
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Germany: Fighting the anti-whistleblower provision
EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte’s (GFF) most recent Constitutional Court case in Germany concerns an anti-whistleblowing provision threatening the freedom of the press. Part-time journalists and bloggers, as well as the legal or IT experts on which journalists rely, now risk a prison sentence of up to three years for handling “leaked” data.
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GFF launches its strategic litigation for civil rights
EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights) has launched its first case and published its website. GFF is a Berlin-based non-profit NGO founded in 2015. Its mission is to establish a sustainable structure for successful strategic litigation in the area of human and civil rights in Germany and Europe. GFF’s initial cases […]
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