terms of service
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A privately managed public space?
Our “public spaces” online where we meet each other, organise, or speak about social issues, are often controlled and dominated by private companies (platforms like Facebook and YouTube). Pushing platforms to decide which opinions we are allowed to express and which not is not going to solve major problems in our society. The EU rules […]
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Facebook’s commitments on ToS: Much ado about nothing?
On 9 April 2019, the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commission (DG JUST), together with the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network, cheered at the new Facebook commitments to amend its Terms of Services (ToS). The amendments should address the concerns already raised by national competition authorities about the current ToS. They should […]
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Anatomy of a Commission press campaign. Case study: Terrorist Content Regulation
On 12 September, the European Commission will propose a new legislative tool: the Regulation on preventing dissemination of “terrorist content”
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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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Social media as censors of public sphere: YouTube vs. Ombudsman
In early September 2016, a popular Norwegian writer got suspended from Facebook, on account of “child nudity”. The matter escalated into an international incident, involving Norway’s largest printed newspaper and the country’s prime minister. Finally the writer’s Facebook status was restored, the suspension was ended, and Facebook promised to do better.
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EU Internet Forum against terrorist content and hate speech online: Document pool
Since last year, we have been reporting on the “EU Internet Forum” set up by the European Commission to fight terrorism and hate speech online. In reality, the IT-Forum gathers two initiatives: one run by the Home Affairs Directorate General of the European Commission, on “terrorism”; and one run by the Justice and Consumers Directorate […]
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Microsoft’s new small print – how your personal data is (ab)used
Microsoft has renewed its Privacy Policy and Service Agreement. The new services agreement goes into effect on 1 August 2015, only a couple of days after the launch of the Windows 10 operating system on 29 July. The new “privacy dashboard” is presented to give the users a possibility to control their data related to […]
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UPC Ireland trapped by its own ToS, has to introduce “three strikes”
UPC Ireland, a largest Irish telecoms provider, has been obliged, by injunction, to introduce a “three strikes” disconnection strategy by the Irish High Court. UPC’s own terms of service are at least partly at fault. In 2009, the former Irish monopoly telecoms provider, Eircom, entered into a voluntary arrangement with the music industry in order […]
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Google modifies ToS: “automated systems analyse your content”
In an update to its Gmail Terms of Service, Google has clarified that all users inbound and outbound email is scanned by automated software. Addressing the decision, a Google spokesperson said “We want our policies to be simple and easy for users to understand. These changes will give people even greater clarity and are based […]
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Microsoft terms of service – a half-step forward
A few weeks ago, there was a media storm when it became known that Microsoft was availing of the right that it gives itself, in its terms of service, to search through users’ Hotmail messages. In the aftermath of the media storm, Microsoft took the welcome decision to change its terms of service. In future, […]
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