Under the code, online platforms agree to review two-thirds of takedown requests within 24 hours and better transparency over hate speech, the Commission said in a Monday press release. It also sets out a “clear methodology” for “monitoring reporters” – which can be civil society groups or public authorities – to flag problematic material and … Read more
Yet, the far-right effort may stymie a push to rein in Big Tech platforms that’s failed so far to live up to its promise. Vandendriessche said this agenda “is completely outdated in a changing world” as “the U.S. is going in the opposite direction.” “Free speech seems to have become a threat for state censors,” … Read more
The company has no plans to end fact-checking in the EU, the company clarified at POLITICO’s request, and will review its EU content moderation obligations before making changes. The move comes as Meta, and other tech giants, attempt to cozy up to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration in Washington. Meta has also put a … Read more
Flattery from Macron Musk hasn’t yet thrown his endorsement behind Marine Le Pen and the French far right. But President Macron — who, like Scholz in Germany, is politically fragile and facing domestic turbulence — is desperate to get him onside. He has been urging the tech entrepreneur, alongside Trump, to attend a major artificial … Read more
But to what extent this can be blamed on social media is still an open question. “Polarization,” once painted as a global crisis stemming from online platforms, now looks more like a product of the highly idiosyncratic political and media culture in the U.S. One recent study found that polarization stayed the same or decreased … Read more
RSF’s case came as U.K. newspaper The Guardian announced on Wednesday that it was leaving the “toxic” platform, citing Musk’s influence in the U.S. election and because of “often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism.” Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia also quit X, saying Thursday that X … Read more
Virkkunen on Tuesday took a quintessential Brussels approach to the issue, sticking to her script and spelling out the same, legalistic answer all evening: Any company operating in Europe must abide by its rules. She said she wanted to speed up the investigations under the DSA, but the work needed to be “evidence-based.” She stopped … Read more
“There is a suspicion that not enough is done, not in an effective way to really prevent the dissemination of illegal products,” a Commission official said, briefing reporters ahead of the announcement. “We have reasons to believe that Temu didn’t properly analyze the addictive nature” of some of its features, they added. Under the DSA, … Read more
Two sources familiar with the matter earlier told Reuters that more than 700 jobs were slashed in Malaysia. TikTok later clarified that less than 500 employees in the country were affected. The employees, most of whom were involved in the firm’s content-moderation operations, were informed of their dismissal by email late on Wednesday, according to … Read more
Meta may not have sufficiently assessed the risks that underage users can access Facebook and Instagram and see inappropriate content, said the Commission. The company may also not have installed sufficiently efficient strong tools to verify the age of users and block children from accessing its platforms. The probe into Meta’s potentially inadequate protection of … Read more
