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Facebook renews calls for EU regulation in ‘fight for the soul of the internet’
An ideological 'fight' is tacking place worldwide between those who want to restrict open access to the internet and those who want to maintain a free and open web within necessary regulatory frameworks, Facebook's VP for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, has said.
EU mulls disinformation regulation but admits alert system has ‘never been triggered’
The case for the EU regulation of online disinformation "will be evaluated" in the coming months ahead of a decision in early 2020, a Commission official revealed on Tuesday (29 October). At the same time, the EU's executive conceded that its disinformation alert system has never been triggered.
Facebook to work with ‘trustworthy’ media after Russian fake news offensive
Facebook said it will enable “trustworthy” news publishers to generate additional revenue on its social media site, following EU accusations of Russian meddling in last month's European election campaign.
Digital Brief: The power of online platforms
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
Digital Brief: ‘No letting down the guard’
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
In the fight against fake news, YouTube has a ‘bias toward keeping content up’
YouTube has a systemic 'bias towards keeping content up,' although the video-sharing platform recently removed more than one million channels for violation of its policies as part of the EU's code of practice against disinformation, EURACTIV has learnt.
EU lawmakers back one-hour deadline to remove online terrorist content
Lawmakers in the European Parliament's Justice Committee have backed measures to clamp down on the spread of online terrorist content, including an obligation for platforms to remove offending content within one hour of reporting or face fines of up to 4% of their global turnover.
Force tech giants to share data rather than break them up: academics
EU antitrust regulators should consider forcing tech giants such as Google and Amazon to share their data with rivals rather than break them up, three academics enlisted by the European Commission said on Thursday (4 April).
‘Regulation will not solve Facebook’s problems,’ Commission says
Better regulation won't divert attention away from Facebook's shortfalls in other areas, European Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová told EURACTIV.com, criticising Mark Zuckerberg's recent call for tighter regulatory frameworks on internet services.
Facebook says political ads fix brings ‘unprecedented levels of accountability’
Facebook has unveiled a raft of measures to prevent foreign campaigns from interfering in national elections. But the plans will also make it more complicated for pan-European parties to advertise in countries where they are not directly represented.
Commission urges platforms to take action on fake accounts before EU elections
Online platforms need to step up their attempts to quell the spread of fake accounts but also provide greater independent access to their content for fact checkers, as part of their wider efforts in compliance with the code of practice against disinformation, the European Commission said on Wednesday (20 March).
Russian disinformation attempts to weaken ‘America’s commitment to Europe,’ US ambassador says
The Russian state is engaging in “subtle and insidious” disinformation campaigns that aim to “weaken America’s commitment to Europe” and “exploit the open market of ideas in our democracy,” the US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland has said.
EU raps Facebook, Twitter and Google for inaction on fake news
Online platforms are failing to make sufficient progress in the fight against disinformation, the European Commission warned on Thursday (28 December). As the European elections draw closer, the EU cybersecurity agency ENISA has called for national legislation in the fight against fake news.
EU Commission hits out at Facebook’s disinformation report
European Commission Security Chief Julian King criticised the "patchy, opaque and self-selecting" reporting provided by Facebook and other tech giants following their bids to comply with the EU's code of practice against disinformation on Tuesday (29 January).
‘Mass hack attack’ against politicians raises eyebrows in Berlin
Hackers posted personal data, including credit card details and mobile phone numbers, of hundreds of German politicians, national media reported on Friday (4 January).
Twitter tumbles on concerns about hacking activity
Twitter shares fell almost 7 percent on Monday after the company said it was investigating unusual traffic that might be from state-sponsored hackers and, in what appeared to be an unrelated issue, a security firm said hackers used the platform to try to steal user data.
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.
Britain to mint coin in honour of Brexit, EU has no such plans
Britain will issue a new 50-pence coin to mark its departure from the European Union next year, the government said on Monday (29 October) in an announcement that was quickly mocked on social media.
Twitter publishes tweet trove from Russia, Iran trolling campaigns
Twitter published a trove of some 10 million tweets that it said are potentially the product of state-backed operations by Russia and Iran, shedding new light on the scale and nature of misinformation campaigns mounted by the two nations.
EU code of practice on fake news: Tech giants sign the dotted line
Tech giants including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla have submitted plans to the European Commission outlining how they will abide by a code of practice against fake news, amid opposition on the proposals from a multistakeholder forum.
Disinformation crackdown: Tech giants commit to EU code of practice
A group of tech giants including Google, Facebook and Mozilla have agreed to abide by landmark new standards set out by the European Commission in the battle against the dissemination of fake news across the EU.
Macron digital tax plan faces EU rebuff
French President Emmanuel Macron's ambitious plans for an EU digital tax targeting US tech giants such as Google or Facebook faced strong headwinds on Saturday (28 April), provoking anger from Paris.
EU plans to pull ‘free’ digital services under consumer protection rules
EXCLUSIVE / Digital services that collect users’ data, like Facebook and Gmail, will be pulled under EU consumer protection rules as part of a European Commission overhaul due next month. Possible sanctions will be raised to up to 4% of a company's turnover.