Mark Scott

<<Checks membership>> Dell, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft...

All those mighty powerhouses of European industry

You misspelled groan

Short answer: they are a big policy nothing-burger.

No one is using them.

*no extraterritorial content moderation outside of the EU (typo.)

As someone who has read all the risk assessments/audits, I find it amusing the DSA is framed as content removal legislation when it's mostly about making transparency the potential online harms associated with illegal content

My bet would be on non extraterritorial content moderation outside the EU, and equally (like you) I don't see the DSA as a means to remove legal content, despite what, ahem, some may think...

I would have to triple check, but no, there are no globally-required provisions, only those that apply within the EU.

Mark Scott Joins Tech Policy Press as Contributing Editor | TechPolicy.Press Scott will help advise on editorial priorities, expand the contributor network, and contribute his analysis on tech policy issues and events.

Tech Policy Press is pleased to announce that Mark Scott (@markscott.bsky.social) will join its masthead as a part-time Contributing Editor. In this role, Scott will help advise on editorial priorities, expand our contributor network, and contribute analysis on tech policy issues and events. More:

Hasn’t helped that most, including most DPAs and Commission have been unwilling to look East in their application of GDPR.

Analysis: Meta's fact-checking pullback will have global consequences The social media company's widespread overhaul of its content moderation polices will have a real-world negative impact, embolden authoritarian regimes, and put its own users at risk

Analysis on Meta’s fact-checking pullback by @markscott.bsky.social

Well no. That was what my newsletter was about.

What social media learned from Jan 6 insurrection Four years after the Capitol Hill violence, tech companies are now unwilling to wade into thorny content moderation decisions on divisive topics.

I see my Bluesky feed is (legitimately) filled with anger about Meta's decision to pull back on moderating content — much of which is divisive and harmful, if not illegal.

I stand by what I wrote on Jan 6: Platforms are now done with content moderation www.digitalpolitics.co/newsletter02...

Yes, as I was referring to them within the context of the 2020 election and their response compared to what other platforms did.

If anything, Meta's decision today confirms my underlying message: platforms are done with content moderation.

What you need to know about digital policymaking for 2025 Everything you need to know about how digital policymaking will be shaped, globally, during the year ahead

Time for me to predict the future: here's what to expect on digital policymaking in 2025.

Social media oversight will become (even more) political; AI lobbying will finally start to pay off; politicians' illiteracy on tech will be felt globally

Happy Festivus! www.digitalpolitics.co/newsletter022/

Key question: who do I bill for the two late-nighters reading all these PDFs? #AskingForAFriend

We don't know what happened in Romania Accusations of foreign interference and covert illegal campaigns have so far been backed up with little evidence. That should concern everyone.

Europe's new social media laws are getting their first real test. And it's coming from Romania.

After the country's Constitutional Court annulled the 1st round of presidential elections, many are calling on the #DigitalServicesAct to figure out what exactly happened.

That would be a mistake, imo

The DSA is not set up for short-term work, especially when it comes to foreign interference.

It's good a systemic-wide transparency via risk assessments and audits (combined with enforcement actions.) It's not good at responding to real-world events like this — that's not what it was designed to do

Possibly. The thing with TikTok’s algorithms is that they behave so what differently to those of other platforms,’in my experience.

I guess my main point is this: we need evidence before we start throwing around claims of voter and electoral interference.

Gnargh. Forgot to include TikTok

Audit: sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com/obj/eden-va2...
Audit implementation: sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com/obj/eden-va2...
2023 risk assessment: sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com/obj/eden-va2...

Am working my way through these DSA audits and risk assessments. But I'm loving all this transparency!

This chart, provided by X on how it handled issues in individual EU languages, was particularly helpful.

I get it. There's anecdotal evidence, although such copy/paste posting is not technically illegal (though some argue it should be.)

I still believe, though, we are skipping a series of steps. Let's find the evidence, first, before we start undermining democratic processes.

I'm not saying Georgescu played by the rules. But I'm also saying there is currently no evidence that he broke them.

I would urge caution about jumping to conclusions without having any evidence of illegal activity.

Maybe. But what is your evidence that he bought ads? Just because an algorithm promotes something doesn't equate to those views being artificially amplified. TikTok's algorithms work in a way that they grasp on what is trending, and then flood the zone with that content.

But sure. Let's blame TikTok. That's just an easier scapegoat than dealing with the underlying root cause.

An algorithm doesn't, on its own, change voters' behavior.

It's merely a symptom of a wider malady — one born out of mass inflation caused by Covid-19 pandemic & war in Ukraine; a failure for politicians to deliver for citizens; and a willingness to blow up the domestic order that is not working

Europe, as a whole, must take a hard look at itself.

Stop blaming social media for your own domestic internal problems.

To suggest TikTok, Facebook and YouTube are causing populist results at the ballot box is to negate voters' choices.

Did TikTok play a role? Yes. But did it skew the outcome? There is no evidence of that.

What almost certainly skewed the outcome was Romanians' growing apathy toward parts of the EU project, a wider aversion against immigration that's spreading across Europe, and a willingness to embrace populism

To do so, in real time and with no actual evidence of harm, does the DSA and the European Union, as a whole, a disservice.

Focus on the facts, and quantify the harm.

Don't use the DSA in a way that can be perceived as silencing voters' legitimate choices — even if you don't agree with the outcome

The DSA is a systemic piece of legislation, aimed at using risk assessment and audits to mitigate platform-wide issues. It's the boring wonkiness that policymaking is good at.

What it should not be used for is to target specific candidates, even if you don't agree with their politics.

There's a perception that TikTok skewed the election for an ultranationalist, pro-Russian politician. I get it, many in Romania are not happy that Georgescu did so well.

But we are entering dangerous territory. The Digital Services Act should not be weaponized like this to target domestic elections