#Digital Services Act (DSA)

[tomorrowusa]

Whether he really said he would do it or not, donating sperm for Mars sounds like something Elon Musk would do. It's amazing, as well as cautionary, that the real life mega-rich behave like wannabe James Bond villains.

Elon Musk has denied that he offered up his sperm to help start a colony on Mars. The SpaceX founder, who has previously warned that humanity must colonize Mars if it is to survive, said he had not made a personal contribution to that effort after The New York Times reported he had volunteered his sperm as part of SpaceX's plans to build a city on the red planet. "I have not, for what it's worth, 'volunteered my sperm'" wrote Musk in a post on X. [ ... ] According to the NYT report, which is based on interviews with more than 20 people close to Musk and SpaceX and on internal SpaceX documents, Musk has directed SpaceX employees to investigate the details of how a Mars colony would work, with one team drawing up plans for a series of dome-shaped habitats on the red planet. A SpaceX medical team is also reportedly looking into whether it is possible for humans to have children on Mars, the Times wrote. Two people with knowledge of Musk's comments also told the NYT the Tesla CEO had volunteered his sperm to help grow the colony.

A colony of inbred Martians Muskians on the Red Planet would be a great subject for a comedic dystopian novel or TV series. Perhaps a clone of Musk's hair transplant surgeon would also be present at the colony.

Elon's Martian sperm is not the only news regarding him today.

Elon Musk's X platform in breach of EU rules

Preliminary findings from the European Commission on Friday said tech billionaire Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) social media platform was in breach of EU digital content rules. "Today, the Commission has informed X of its preliminary view that it is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers," the European Commission said in a statement. [ ... ] "Back in the day, BlueChecks used to mean trustworthy sources of information," European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement. "Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users and infringe the DSA." Secondly, the Commission said that X was not in compliance with "required transparency on advertising" and did not provide "a searchable and reliable advertisement repository." In the third preliminary finding, the Commission said that X "fails to provide access to its public data to researchers" which it said need to be in line with the DSA.

[ginnyw-potter-archive]

The European Union is rolling out a law that forces websites like Facebook and Tiktok to give users the choice to switch the algorithm off. This will eventually apply to all websites.

Additionally it has stricter rules on the personalisation of advertisements (restriction on the use of sensitive information) and tries to combat misinformation (though there were concerns about free speech and censorship)

But overall this is pretty good news as it allows us to escape the algorithms and gives some power back to the internet users!

[rosszulorzott]

[childrenofthedigitalage]

Meta's Content Moderation Changes: Why Ireland Must Act Now

Meta’s Content Moderation Changes: Why Ireland Must Act Now The recent decision by Meta to end third-party fact-checking programs on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads has sent shockwaves through online safety circles. For a country like Ireland, home to Meta’s European headquarters, this is more than just a tech policy shift—it’s a wake-up call. It highlights the urgent need for…

[raum-e]

Digitalismus Service Act

[dr-iphone]

X 平台可能違反《DSA 數位服務法》，歐盟將展開調查

自從歐盟法規《DMA 數位市場法》、《DSA數位服務法案》實施後，近來經常調查大型科技公司，包括 Apple 蘋果、Google、Spotify 等都是調查對象。根據外媒最新報導，歐盟最新的調查目標是「X」，而初步調查結果指出 X 平台可能違反了《數位服務法案》（Digital Services Act，簡稱DSA）。 Continue reading X 平台可能違反《DSA 數位服務法》，歐盟將展開調查

[channeledhistory]

[robpegoraro]

Weekly output: EU vs. X, Google Play Store settlement, urban retail's future, Bluesky updates, Mark Vena podcast

Merry almost-Christmas, everyone! I hope your gadget gifts don’t require prolonged firmware-update installations, repeated reboots, or lengthy tech-support interactions–but if they do, please let me know, because there might be a story in that. 12/18/2023: X Lands in the EU’s Crosshairs Over Questionable Policies, Lax Oversight, PCMag Much of the reaction to the European Commission opening an…

[jcmarchi]

EU to Probe Elon Musk's X - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/eu-to-probe-elon-musks-x-technology-org/

EU to Probe Elon Musk's X - Technology Org

The European Union announced that it will initiate a legal probe into the social media company X, former Twitter.

X logo made of solar panels on one of the buildings at SpaceX. Image credit: Steve Jurverson via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 DEED license

This will be its first investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Enforced in November of the previous year, the DSA mandates that very large online platforms and search engines undertake increased efforts to combat illegal content, address risks to public security, and safeguard their services against manipulative practices.

This investigation will center on efforts to counter the dissemination of illicit content within the EU, assessing the efficacy of measures taken to combat information manipulation, particularly in relation to the “community notes” system.

Additionally, the inquiry will scrutinize X’s actions aimed at enhancing platform transparency and investigate suspicions surrounding the user interface’s design, including features like checkmarks associated with subscription products, commonly known as “Blue checks.”

X, which is owned by Elon Musk, is among a group of major tech companies facing heightened scrutiny under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Any company found in breach of these rules may face fines of up to 6% of its global turnover.

In response to their new obligations under the DSA to combat harmful and illegal content, the major digital platforms, including X, promptly outlined the measures they have taken to combat disinformation. However, Elon Musk challenged the EU industry chief Thierry Breton specifically on the disinformation charge.

Notably, X is the only company that received a formal request for information under the DSA and has responded to that request.

The Commission’s preliminary investigation involved analyzing a report submitted by X in September, reviewing X’s transparency report published in November, and assessing X’s responses to a formal request for information regarding illegal content related to Hamas’ attacks against Israel.

Written by Alius Noreika

You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.

[thelawandmore]

Recent Developments in Data Privacy and Their Implications for Business 

Recent Developments in Data Privacy and Their Implications for Business

Data privacy is a hot topic in today’s digital world. Here are nine recent developments that changed the data privacy landscape and what they mean for businesses and consumers.  1. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018, creating a unified data protection framework across the EU and giving individuals more control over their personal data. The EU General…

[changes]

Friday, January 26th, 2024

🌟 New

On web, we added “View previous reblog” to the post meatball menu. Find it by clicking the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner of a post!

We also tidied up some of the other items in the post meatball menu on web, while we were there. The ordering of some items were adjusted, and “Subscribe to conversation” is now called “Follow post”.

On Android, “View previous reblog” is now in the meatball menu of reblogs for all users on the latest version of the app.

To comply with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), you can now mark a post as containing commercial content, which simply adds a “Commercial Content” banner to the post and does not affect your post’s visibility or ranking on Tumblr.

🛠 Fixed

Users can no longer send asks to blogs that have blocked them, or that they have blocked.

On web, the blog selector in the post editor would incorrectly appear on top of the text format bar. This is now fixed.

On web, the settings page for your blog (tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname) used to show the account settings menu in the right-hand sidebar. We updated this area to show the blog sidebar instead (Posts, Drafts, Queue, etc).

We made some tweaks which should fix that specific problem where you see a non-zero unread count on your inbox, and so you click into your inbox only to find nothing there. Let us know if you continue to encounter that issue.

🚧 Ongoing

On Android, a small number of users were unable to access their messages on app version 32.9. This issue will be fixed in the next app version (33.0).

We’re still working to fix an issue in the iOS app that’s preventing folks from editing draft posts.

🌱 Upcoming

We just wrapped up another Hack Week, where we got to build whatever cool feature we wanted! Follow @engineering to see what we made 👀

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

Wanna support Tumblr directly with some money? Check out the new Supporter badge in TumblrMart!

[wip]

I swear a toggle for “contains commercial content” while editing a post. What’s that about?

Answer: Hi, @iguanodonwildman!

We are glad you asked. The answer, in short, is that the toggle is there to comply with the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA). It simply adds a “Commercial Content” banner to the post and does not affect your post’s visibility or ranking on Tumblr.

There is a handy Help Center article with more info, which you can find right here.

Thanks for your question!

[mariacallous]

Big Tech may have found their response to the European Union’s (EU) digital competition and content moderation policies: tariffs. “We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his announcement eliminating the company’s fact-checkers. President Trump, of course, has described himself as a “Tariff Man.”

Europe’s “ever-increasing number of laws, institutionalizing censorship” were number one on the Zuckerberg target list. The only way Meta “can push back on this global trend is with the support of the U.S. government,” he explained, adding, “that’s why it’s been so difficult over the past four years when even the U.S. government has pushed for censorship.”

The semantic conflation of curatorial responsibility and censorship, a familiar domestic political gambit, has been internationalized and weaponized to attack the expectation—at least in Europe—that media platforms like Meta should practice responsible content curation.

Tariffs and truth

Thanks to intensive lobbying by Big Tech, the U.S. Congress has done little to provide meaningful oversight of the digital platform companies. The tech CEOs invited to the Trump inaugural lead companies that dominate the free flow of information, invade personal privacy, and pervert the competitive marketplace. Yet, these companies have been able to avoid meaningful domestic oversight for their entire existence.

The void created by American inaction has been filled by EU regulations despite the companies’ strong objections. Combining claims of censorship with Donald Trump’s affinity for tariffs just might be the leverage Big Tech seeks against the EU’s digital policies. Mark Zuckerberg appears ready to spearhead the effort.

By framing the EU’s actions as “institutionalizing censorship,” and asserting that the EU is “going after American companies and pushing to censor more,” Zuckerberg presses all the right MAGA buttons to provide a rationale for the Trump administration to fight the EU’s decisions. It is not a surprising strategy, and is made even more significant because it reverses previous corporate policy.

After the January 6 insurrection, Facebook along with Twitter suspended Donald Trump’s account. “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing,” President Trump said at the time. Accusing Zuckerberg of plotting against him, Trump wrote in a 2024 book that the Meta CEO could, “spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Meta’s 2025 policy switch, however, has been met with the new president’s approval. Asked if Meta was responding to his earlier threats, Trump replied, “probably,” adding, “I think they have come a long way.” 

What’s the fuss over EU regulation?

The EU has enacted multiple laws to try and provide oversight of the previously unsupervised activities of Big Tech. It started in 2018 with privacy protection under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In 2022, the European Parliament passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to deal with the lack of digital marketplace competition. Twenty-twenty-four saw the AI Act (AI) establishing a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence.

All these actions were aggressively fought by Big Tech. But for social media companies, the EU legislation that is the biggest challenge is the 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA). This law covers a handful of online platform companies deemed pervasive enough to be “gatekeepers” with a new style of regulation.

Instead of the traditional form of regulatory oversight that micromanages how a company operates, the DSA establishes expectations for what the company will deliver.  These expectations include content moderation and transparency. The law does not specify how moderation is achieved, but that it is being done in a meaningful and significant manner. Far from regulatory micromanagement of corporate operations, the companies are required to self-certify that they are delivering on the law’s expectations. If they are not, then there are penalties.

While Meta has eliminated fact-checking in the U.S., it has not done so in the EU. It is hard to certify content moderation, as the DSA requires, when you’ve fired all the moderators. This has created a conflict between the company’s U.S. practices and EU requirements. Even if it represents a legal problem, the decision is good for the company since social media platforms, such as Meta, thrive on engagement-stimulating, unedited rage, and bottom-line profits should increase with the elimination of fact-checking jobs.

Elon Musk and NATO—a signal?

Comments by Vice President Vance during the 2024 campaign hinted at leveraging the power of the federal government to deal with DSA requirements. Asked in an interview whether American support of NATO could hinge on whether the EU regulated Elon Musk’s social media platform X, Vance responded affirmatively.

“So, what America should be saying is, if NATO wants us to continue supporting them and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don’t you respect American values and respect free speech?” Vance said. “It’s insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance isn’t going to be pro-free speech. I think we can do both. But we’ve got to say American power comes with certain strings attached. One of those is respect free speech, especially in our European allies.”

These comments reveal a willingness to link trade and security to digital regulation. A tariff-based response to EU policies seems plausible under such a mindset.

A regulation vs. trade crusade?

On his first day as President of the United States, Donald Trump said “tariff is the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” A few days later, he threatened the EU with tariffs unless they bought more U.S. oil and gas.  

The U.S. has a trade deficit with the EU when it comes to goods such as oil and gas but a favorable trade balance when it comes to services such as those of Big Tech. The challenge, therefore, is not to use tariffs to force the EU to buy more, but, as Zuckerberg told the Joe Rogan podcast, “the United States should be defending its companies.”

Caught between a U.S. Congress that has done little to protect against misinformation and hate, and the world’s second largest trading block which has tried to combine freedom of expression and the expectation of curatorial responsibility, Big Tech faces a dilemma. The combined arguments of censorship and defending American companies is a powerful elixir served to an audience of one man.

Wall Street analysts hail Mark Zuckerberg as “the best CEO of our time” for his ability to align Meta’s self-interest with prevailing political winds. The emerging narrative of “censorship vs. trade” is a powerful, if calculated, political move. Threatening tariffs in response to EU digital regulations could be a strategy that appeals to “Tariff Man.”

Ironically, this push comes at a time when artificial intelligence offers low-cost tools for fact-checking and content moderation. Yet, the political calculus behind the “censorship vs. trade” strategy may overshadow technical realities.

Mark Zuckerberg’s maneuvering is a shrewd effort to redefine the debate about European digital regulation. The question now becomes whether President Trump will add relaxed enforcement of the EU’s digital laws—all of them—to his list of trade demands.

[darkmaga-returns]

It’s as good a time as any to effectively pull out of the EU’s “voluntary anti-disinformation” deal, which social media companies were previously strong-armed into accepting. And Google has now done just that.

The “strengthened” Code of Practice on Disinformation was introduced during the heyday of online censorship and government pressure on social platforms on both sides of the Atlantic – in June 2022, and at one point included 44 signatories.

One of those who in the meanwhile dropped out is X, and this happened shortly after Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk.

Now, as the “voluntary” code is formally becoming part of EU’s censorship law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), Google took the opportunity to notify Brussels it will not comply with the law’s requirement to include fact-checkers’ opinions in the search results, or rely on those to delete or algorithmically rank YouTube content.

[rpallavicini]

Rinfreschiamo la memoria

Rinfreschiamo la memoria. Ecco quali partiti italiani avevano votato a favore del Digital Service Act (DSA), lo strumento attraverso cui l’Unione (Sovietica) Europea mette in pratica la censura sul web.Approvato a ottobre 2022 da Partito Democratico, Movimento 5Stelle, Forza Italia e Fratelli d’Italia (si, anche da FDI ed è ora che qualcuno ci faccia i conti con questo), è poi entrato in vigore…

[falcemartello]

Il nazismo europeo, nuova veste del Dominato tardoimperiale romano, fa un passo avanti.

Il Digital Services Act, provvedimento UE entrato in vigore a novembre del 2022 diventerà vincolante dall’1 gennaio 2024.

Prevede il controllo sistematico dei contenuti degli utenti da parte delle grandi piattaforme con “più di 45 milioni di utenti attivi” in UE (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, TikTok e simili) e impone a queste un controllo poliziesco sui contenuti.

Le sanzioni economiche che possono affibbiare a chi non interviene contro i “contenuti illegali e la disinformazione online”, sono gravi: il 6% delle vendite annuali in caso di infrazioni ripetute. Di fatto l’Ue impone il blocco su articoli on line, post e commenti social.

Una mannaia senza precedenti. Ad esempio oggi sarebbe considerata disinformazione, censurata e cancellata, la notizia vera che USA e alleati europei bombardavano l’Iraq nel 2003 anche senza prove che Saddam Hussein avesse armi di distruzione di massa.

Anche criticare il governo italiano per la gestione psicotica della pandemia, violando anche la Carta Costituzionale e le norme UE contro le discriminazioni, verrebbe considerata disinformazione, censurata e cancellata. E chi più ne ha ne metta.

Orwell scansate proprio...