ARTICLE 19 Law and Policy

Ireland: Adopt new, transparent process to appoint Data Protection Commissioner - ARTICLE 19 Data Protection Commissioner has responsibility as lead supervisory authority for many of the world’s largest technology companies.

Seems #Ireland has discovered the best way to regulate Big Tech is to… let #BigTech do it.
It appointed a former Meta lobbyist as Data Protection Commissioner.
With 43 organisations, we wrote to the Gov to reconsider and pick someone with #dataprotection expertise, through a transparent process

Civil Society is the Democracy Shield Europe Can’t Ignore | TechPolicy.Press Barbora Bukovská and Mark Dempsey ask how can Europe build a democratic future when civil society in Europe and beyond is facing an existential moment?

They say #democracy needs a shield and the #EU needs to do more to reclaim its #sovereignty.

But the EU can’t build digital sovereignty without giving real support to the people actually defending democracy!

Check our article for @techpolicypress.bsky.social on this very issue 👇

#FreeSpeech

Digital Markets Act: Apple impedes interoperability and user choice - ARTICLE 19 Apple must fulfil its obligations on interoperability and give users real choice over the apps and app stores they want on their devices.

In case you missed this, we're taking on Apple & challenging its stranglehold on iPhones and iPads.

We'sre asking @ec.europa.eu to stop Apple from ignoring #DMA rules so smaller companies can compete fairly.

And that people can choose which apps and services they want
For more info check 👇

Folks at Tech Policy Press have launched an 'Ideas for Europe’s Future' series! As part of it, they will be publishing perspectives from leading experts who joined out Future of Democracy event
@openmarkets.bsky.social

Read @ramshajahangir.bsky.social's great write up & stay tuned for more

In her talk in the @europarl.europa.eu about future of #dmocracy & #FreeSpeech, @mariaressa.bsky.social reminded us that she found Mark Zuckerberg to be a bigger dictator than Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines.

And rightly so!

#BigTech #Dictatorship #Meta

When talking about #AI, let's stop talking about AI "hallucination".

We are talking about predictive algorithms.

So we should call it what it is. The term to use is ERROR.

#IndustryManipulation #BigTech

Day 2 of our Future of Democracy with
@openmarkets.bsky.social!

Follow along to hear from Nobel Peace Prize winner @mariaressa.bsky.social, @alexandrageese.bsky.social, Mira Milosevic, @dimi.wikimedia.brussels, @courtneyr.bsky.social + ARTICLE 19's Quinn McKew

www.youtube.com/live/vZTwYPS...

Thanks to everyone who followed our event yesterday and huge thanks to Commissioner @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social for coming and his support.

100% agree with this!

Powerful words from Margrethe Vestager, on the role that competition plays in defending and reinforcing democracies and rights.

"We want to stand up to the bully and hold power to account. That is what people understand and that is the story of competition enforcement."

@openmarkets.bsky.social

Barbora speaking in front of a jam jar with a label requiring payment for all mentions of authoritarianism, etc.

The folks at @article19.bsky.social have a kitty for mentions of authoritarianism, and Barbora expects to be bankrupt by the end of her speech.

A piece of warning at this event about future of #democrcacy & #freespeech in age of AI:

We have to stop talking about #AI as if it were destiny.

In hands of unaccountable billionaires, it will be perfect dictatorship. Invisible, frictionless, personalised.

And you may never know you are in it!

Interview with Max Popovych, Senior Legal Officer for Europe at the Article 19 NGO A talk on the state of freedom of speech in the world and what professional journalists can do to defend the freedom of speech in authoritarian regimes

Our colleague Max gave this interview about the state of #freespeech around the world and what professional journalists can do to defend the freedom of speech in authoritarian regimes

Check it up!

soundcloud.com/radioromania...

Real relief in a time when voices like Alaa's are needed outside a cell, not inside one

#FreeSpeech #HumanRIghts #Egypt

Boundaries of Expression podcast: Gender apartheid - ARTICLE 19 Professor Karima Bennoune outlines the campaign to recognise gender apartheid as a crime against humanity and be included in a UN treaty.

Check the latest ARTICLE 19 Boundaries of Expression podcast about the fight to recognise #gender apartheid in #Iran & #Afghanistan as an international crime.

Crucial #FreeSpeech issue where silencing women through systemic oppression denies their voices and rights
www.article19.org/resources/bo...

Google hit with Digital Markets Act complaint over user choice The DMA, which became applicable in 2023, aims to regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies.

Together with partners, we are urging @ec.europa.eu to investigate Google's Android for restricting user choice by hiding or blocking disabling of pre-installed apps.

Such practices violate the #DMA’s promise of fair competition & user control

#DigitalRights
www.euronews.com/next/2025/07...

UK: House of Lords must block Chinese influence and halt foreign media ownership - ARTICLE 19 Plans for a US-based company with links to China to partially own the Telegraph newspaper poses a risk to information integrity in the UK.

🚨 TODAY: The #UK @houseoflords.parliament.uk votes on allowing up to 15% foreign ownership of UK newspapers, including those with links to #China.

We warn this creates risks of foreign influence. It also threatens media pluralism & #freespeech without strong safeguards.

HoL must vote against it

International Impact Report 2024 Our 2024 International Impact Report is out! Learn how ARTICLE 19 worked with partners and communities to demand better and achieve real change, both locally and globally. https://stories.article1...

Last year was one for the books! 🚀
We fought for #freespeech, empowered thousands, pushed for global human rights in AI, and much more.

If you want to see what impact we made together, check our 2024 Impact report 👇

#Impact2024 #PowerOfOurVoices #FreedomOfExpression

We’re no #BigTech cheerleaders.

But we welcome today decision of @echr.coe.int in #Google v #Russia concerning huge fines for refusing to remove political content and restoring monetisation of sanctioned TV channel on #YOutube owned by Russian oligarch

It's win for #FreeSpeech

UK: Full understanding of ‘hate speech’ vital to assess Glastonbury controversy - ARTICLE 19 When assessing 'hate speech' claims, UK authorities must clearly understand international human rights law and restrictions on speech.

After Bob Vylan’s #Glastonbury set sparked a global storm, with police investigation and leaders calling his remarks #HateSpeech, we urge clear understanding of hate speech laws. Not all shocking/offensive speech is illegal.
#FreeSpeech must be protected unless it incites violence or discrimination.

UN: States must support Myanmar media - ARTICLE 19 ARTICLE 19 made this statement calling for support for journalists in Myanmar at the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

It's been over 4 years since #Myanmar & military’s onslaught on #MediaFreedom shows no signs of abating.
At least 60 journalists are in jail.

We call on States to continue condemning all attacks on journalists and support media organisations trying to bring the violations to account
#freespeech

EU: Institutions must take action against spyware abuse - ARTICLE 19 ARTICLE 19 joined other CSOs in calling on EU institutions to take action to respond to the threat that spyware poses to human rights.

🔍👀 Who’s watching you?

#Spyware is often abused to surveil journalists and human rights activists. We say enough is enough!

We call on #EU to take urgent concrete action to respond to this threat.

Protect journalists, activists, and democracy itself!

More 👇
#humanrights #freespeech #StopSpyware

I spent five years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison but when Israel bombed it I felt horror and fear | Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Many held there are opponents of the repressive regime. Who is alive now? Who was killed? Were they just collateral damage, asks former hostage Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe

Brilliant article by former #Iran political prisoner Zaghari-Ratcliffe about what happens when repression meets war.

Read it if you care about the voices that authoritarian regimes try to silence.

Deeply human #MustRead

#PoliticalPrisoners #FreeSpeech #HumanRights #Democracy

IGF 2025: Day 0 Event #255 Update Required: Fixing... View more about this event at IGF 2025

What happens in Norway won’t stay in Norway!

Because when we challenge #BigTech role in conflict at #IGF, the impact will ripple across #Internet!

🌍 So don't miss our colleague Chantal Joris, @chantal137.bsky.social, today at 14:45 CEST, Workshop Room 3

#humanrights #accountability #freespeech

ARTICLE 19 at the Internet Governance Forum 2025 - ARTICLE 19 ARTICLE 19 will be taking part in a number of events, sessions and workshops during this year's Internet Governance Forum in Norway.

🌍Are you at #IGF2025 this week? We're & you can catch us tackling:
🔹 Is a people-centred internet still possible?
🔹 Accountability in digital plumbing
🔹 Real multi-stakeholder governance
🔹 Digital markets, #AI & #HumanRIghts

More details 👇

Please connect. Let’s shape a better #internet, together!

UK Home Office tells parents their children should return to Brazil alone While Ana Luiza Cabral Gouveia and Hugo Barbosa can remain, letter says sons, 11 and eight, must go back to Brazil

Is this what digital transformation and using #AI in public admin looks like?

#UK #HomeOffice told 11 & 8-year-olds to return to #Brazil alone + threatened to take away their driving licences!

Our warning: rights can’t be left to random algorithms. Human decisions need to be based on #humanrights

The Global Expression Report 2025 The Global Expression Report (GxR) is an annual look at the right to free expression and information across the world. Explore the findings and use our data to make the case for positive change.

📢Just launched: ARTICLE 19’s new Global Expression Report.
In a world where #freespeech is under threat, the report gives definitive snapshot of the situation worldwide.

See where your country stands, who’s rising, who’s falling, & why it matters 👇

#GlobalExpressionReport #ARTICLE19 #HumanRights

Common challenges for humanitarian response | UNHCR Information Integrity Toolkit

Glad to see UNHCR Information Integrity Toolkit features our policies and recommendations. Addressing #disinfo & #hatespeech in humanitarian crises means upholding #freespeech, avoiding overbroad restrictions & promoting open, inclusive information ecosystems

#InfoIntegrity #HumanRights

Passionate about fundraising, #HumanRights & #FreeSpeech?

Join ARTICLE 19 as our Business Development Programme Officer to build partnerships & drive fundraising for our global mission!

Help defend voices at risk & make a global impact.

Apply before 17 June via the link👇

#NonprofitJobs #career

Malta: Guilty verdicts in Daphne Caruana Galizia case bring justice a step closer - ARTICLE 19 Guilty verdicts for two gang members who supplied the car bomb which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia is vital in the fight for full justice.

Six years after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, #Malta culture of impunity persists.
We welcome convictions for 2 gang members supplying bomb but those who enabled and ordered her killing remain untouched.

Justice demands accountability at every level

Daphne deserves no less.

#NoMoreImpunity