About: online platforms
Zuckerberg’s Parliament meeting ‘the right thing’, says EU justice chief
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s meeting on Tuesday afternoon (22 May) with European Parliament leaders is “the right thing for himself” after the company’s recent data collection scandal, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said in an interview.
Zuckerberg to meet European Parliament leaders in private session
After weeks of back-and-forth between the European Parliament and Facebook executives, CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreed on Wednesday (16 May) to meet with political leaders in Brussels over the company’s recent data breach scandal.
A European vision for human-centred digital platform ecosystems
Europe must continue to establish itself as the global regulator of digital technology serving Europeans and respond to growing pressure from online platforms, write Mariya Gabriel and Mounir Mahjoubi.
Online platforms under fire as EU pushes for transparency on search results
Online platforms ranging from ecommerce retailers like Amazon to search engines including Google will be forced to reveal the criteria they use to display search results, under a new European Commission proposal.
Gabriel: Facebook users ‘need to know what happened with their data’
Facebook users “need to know what happened with their data” following reports over a week ago that millions of profiles on the social media platform were secretly used to help political campaigns, EU Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said.
Commission expert group pressures tech platforms to stop ‘fake news’ advertising
An expert group advising the European Commission on so-called fake news wants tech giants to be more transparent about their advertising revenue. Their new report pressures social media firms like Facebook and Twitter to deal with the spread of false information on their platforms.
Commission faces backlash for plan to fast-track tech platforms’ removal of illegal posts
Internet platforms are coming under more and more pressure in Europe, and now face a potential legal threat if they do not remove posts with terrorist content within one hour.
France eyes EU law to crack down on terrorists’ use of social media
France’s top diplomat in charge of technology policy said there could be a need for EU legislation to make sure social media firms remove content promoting terrorism.
Consumer watchdogs want fines against Twitter and Facebook for breaking EU rules
Consumer watchdogs have called for the European Commission to introduce a minimum fine against companies that break EU rules, after Facebook and Twitter failed to reform their user terms.
Facebook tries out charm offensive with four EU Commissioners
Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg attempted to woo a team of four EU Commissioners during closed-door meetings Tuesday (23 January) on tense issues like hate speech and online platform transparency.
Jourova: ‘Never say never’ to EU hate speech law
Tech giants should share the technology they develop to detect hate speech with smaller companies, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said in an interview.
Commission backs away from regulating online platforms over hate speech
The European Commission is backing away from a plan to propose binding EU legislation that would force online platforms to remove posts containing hate speech.
EU scrambles to finish digital single market in 2018
The European Commission has set a tough goal for 2018 of wrapping up legal negotiations on all 25 of the digital single market proposals that it announced since 2015. It will be an uphill battle: there are 13 files still open and fights are simmering over several contentious issues.
Five Commissioners team up to threaten internet platforms with EU legislation
Five EU Commissioners all wanted a piece of the action on Tuesday (9 January) at a meeting with CEOs from some of the biggest internet platforms.
Macron targets Russian fake news, moving ahead of Commission plans
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday (3 January) that a law against fake news is in the making in France. The legislation is clearly aimed at Russian propaganda and should be completed by the end of 2018, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux added on Thursday.
Gabriel leading Commission effort against fake news ‘disease’
Fake news is a disease that European society needs to be “vaccinated” against, the EU's Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said as she opened a call for public comments on possible EU responses to the spread of false information on internet platforms.
Death on Facebook: Lawyers push for EU rules on digital inheritance
A group of lawyers are pressuring EU legislators to propose rules that could force internet platforms to hand over data that belongs to another person who had died or is being cared for.
Big member states are dividing the EU on digital agenda
Four countries - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - drafted a paper outlining their priorities ahead of last Friday’s (29 September) digital summit, where heads of state gathered in Estonia. Poland’s Digital Minister Krzysztof Szubert told EURACTIV.com their paper risks dividing EU member states on digital issues.
Tax fight draws divisions at EU digital summit
Supporters of a controversial new push to tax tech giants insist they will overcome fierce opposition from a group of around 10 member states.
Tougher EU hate speech guidelines urge tech giants to prevent ‘digital Wild West’
The European Commission wants internet platforms to take down illegal posts faster, and is considering new legislation as one way to satisfy pressure from countries like Germany and France.
German minister: ‘Platforms have to pay social security in the future’
Thorben Albrecht is responsible for addressing the impact of the digital revolution on the labour sector and preparing Germany workers for the future. The minister presented his Work 4.0 white paper at the Future of Work conference hosted by Estonia’s rotating presidency of the EU.
E-commerce platforms face new VAT liability rules
Online retailers such as Amazon could come under tighter scrutiny and be forced to collect VAT from companies whose items they sell, according to new changes that EU member states made to a draft bill.
Gabriel to start EU expert group on fake news
New EU Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel will set up an expert group this autumn on fake news as one of the first measures she is taking in the job.