Internet governance

Big Tech faces broad U.S. Justice Department antitrust probe

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday (23 July) it was opening a broad investigation of major digital technology firms into whether they engage in anticompetitive practices, the strongest sign the Trump administration is stepping up its scrutiny of Big Tech.

Germany wants to fine Facebook over hate speech reporting

Social media platforms in Germany are obliged to report hate speech and other illegal content. Germany's Federal Office of Justice is expected to slap a €2 million fine on Facebook for reporting only a fraction of such activity on its platform. EURACTIV Germany reports.

New developments in store for online multilingualism, EU’s Navracsics says

The diversity of European languages in use online could be improved in the near future, the EU's Commissioner for Education and Culture, Tibor Navracsics, told EURACTIV amid criticism that progress with online multilingualism in Europe has been "frustratingly slow".

Facebook to give data on hate speech suspects to French courts

Facebook has agreed to hand over the identification data of French users suspected of hate speech on its platform to judges, France’s minister for digital affairs Cedric O said on Tuesday (25 June).

Vestager’s grand plan for regulating the digital economy

The EU should be "ready to act" should social values such as "privacy, freedom and fairness" be under threat from expanding digital monopolies, the bloc's Competition Chief Margrethe Vestager said on Monday (3 April).

Kramp-Karrenbauer faces backlash over ‘censorship’ calls

A broad debate should be held on the possible regulation of political views expressed online, the leader of Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK), said on Monday. But she faced an immediate backlash, with some accusing her of advocating censorship.

Up to 400 online platforms hosting terrorist content, Commission says

Between 200 and 400 online platforms are currently hosting content that could lead to terrorist radicalisation, the European Commission has said.

‘Small platforms’ are the target of online terrorist content regulation, MEP says

The EU is taking regulatory measures to clamp down on the dissemination of terrorist content online. In the European Parliament, the file is being dealt with by the Civil Liberties Committee, with MEP Daniel Dalton leading the report. EURACTIV sat down with Dalton to discuss the finer details of the plans.

Regulating against radicalisation

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The EU is seeking to regulate against the dissemination of terrorist content online. This special report looks into some of the finer details of the measures, such as the length of the time-limited order, the scope of the regulation, and whether the restrictions could ever lead to a censorship of the web.

‘Digital gangsters’: UK parliament slams Facebook on data protection, disinformation

A UK Parliamentary report has singled out Facebook for failing to effectively protect user data and stem the spread of disinformation across its platform, saying that the tech giant "is unwilling to be accountable to regulators around the world."

Deal struck on copyright reform after ‘intense’ negotiations

The future of online copyright is set to be radically transformed as Parliament and Council negotiators struck an agreement on the controversial Copyright Directive on Wednesday (13 February) evening, over two years after the measures were first introduced by the Commission.

EU countries agree on copyright reforms, deal in sight next week

The European Union’s effort to rewrite two-decade old copyright rules to take into account online platforms such as Alphabet Inc’s Google moved a step forward on Friday (8 February) when a majority of member countries agreed on a common position for talks with lawmakers next week.

Germany to restrict Facebook’s data gathering activities

Facebook has been ordered to curb its data collection practices in Germany after a landmark ruling on Thursday that the world’s largest social network abused its market dominance to gather information about users without their consent.

Copyright: ‘France has completely won the discussion,’ says MEP Reda

Ahead of a crunch meeting between EU ambassadors on Friday (8 February), EURACTIV Slovakia sat down with Green MEP Julia Reda to chew the fat over the controversial copyright directive.

EU needs to ‘double efforts’ in the fight against disinformation, Gabriel says

The EU's Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel has upped the ante in the fight against fake news, saying on Wednesday (23 January) that "new technologies are advancing extremely rapidly" and that as a result, the EU needs to "double its efforts."

Ansip uncovered: Commission Vice-President on disinformation, Huawei, copyright

EURACTIV's Digital Editor, Samuel Stolton, sat down with Vice-President of the European Commission, Andrus Ansip, to speak about his recent decision to stand as an MEP, disinformation, 'those' Huawei comments and the difficulties with the copyright directive.

Copyright directive faces further setback as final trilogue postponed

The controversial EU copyright directive faces a further setback after the final inter-institutional negotiations set to take place on Monday evening (21 January) were cancelled on Friday.

Commission to revoke British .eu domains after Brexit

The European Commission plans to revoke all .eu domain name registrations belonging to British registrars after the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, EURACTIV has learnt.

Right to be forgotten should be limited to EU, top court says in Google case

The EU's "right to be forgotten" ruling should only be limited to the EU, the European Court of Justice said on Thursday (10 December), delivering an opinion on a case brought by France's privacy authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL).

Copyright could force us to pull out of EU, Google News boss says

A specific article in the controversial copyright directive may result in Google withdrawing their news aggregator service from the EU, EURACTIV has learnt. EU ministers are set to discuss the issue and reach an agreement on the file later this week.

MEPs back fair-play rules for platforms and operating systems

MEPs backed rules to force online platforms to be more transparent and fair to business clients on Thursday (6 December), with some members voicing frustration at the fact that operating systems are to be included in the scope of the regulation.

The skewed debate on big tech and the quest for a transatlantic digital pact

‘Techlash’ might be the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year for 2018. The advent of the sharing economy, online apps and social media has improved the lives of millions of people globally. This is a fact. But the unintended consequences are daunting.