Andrej Savin

Data Protection Commission The Irish Data Protection Commission has today announced its final decision following an Inquiry into TikTok Technology Limited (“TikTok”).

Irish Data Protection Commission fines TikTok €530 million and orders corrective measures following Inquiry into transfers of EEA User Data to China.

I wrote a compact article for International In-House Counsel Journal aimed to help companies identify whether the AI Act applies to them. I find both EU and foreign companies generally confused about whether the Act applies to them. This is meant to help.

EU fines Apple €500M and Meta €200M for breaking Europe’s digital rules The highly anticipated penalties are the first to be issued under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

www.politico.eu/article/eu-f...

Google ad antitrust ruling

The US Department of Justice wins its antitrust case against Google. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

Commission sends preliminary findings to Alphabet under the Digital Markets Act Today, the European Commission sent two sets of preliminary findings to Alphabet for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), regarding two services for which it has been designated as a

Google in breach of #DMA: European Commission sends preliminary findings to Alphabet under the Digital Markets Act:
- Google Search treat Alphabet's own services more favourably to rivals
- App developers are prevented from freely steering consumers to other channels
ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Why the internet still needs Section 230 Sen. Ron Wyden on the birth of a foundational speech law.

Senator Ron Wyden explaining how Section 230 came to be. Important reading in light of bipartisan calls to change it.
www.theverge.com/policy/62632...

A refusal by an undertaking in a dominant position to ensure that its platform is interoperable with an app of another undertaking, which thereby becomes more attractive, can be abusive, says #CJEU, killing Bronner line of cases. curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/...

Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US The Thomson Reuters decision has big implications for the battle between generative AI companies and rights holders.

www.wired.com/story/thomso...

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

US VP Vance challenges Europe's 'excessive regulation' of AI Trump's VP on Tuesday warned global leaders and tech industry executives that too much control could cripple the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry in a rebuke to European efforts to cur...

Actually, no. Lack of venture capital, fragmented markets and arcane bankruptcy laws kills the AI. Regulation has almost no effect.

Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying The secret order would give the UK access to encrypted backups belonging to any user — not just Brits.

Do we even need to discuss how idiotic the UK request is?

Stina Teilmann-Lock and I have a working paper out claiming that copyright is not the right tool for solving the problem of massive IP AI violations and that the EU AI Act is. We assert that an outline of "dataset law" already exists in the Act. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

An image of a smartphone surrounded by icons, including a bell, lock, and shield, encircled by yellow stars. The title Digital Services Act with text Additional investigatory measures regarding X is below. The European Commission logo is at the bottom.

We are committed to ensuring that every platform operating in the EU respects our legislation.

Today, we are taking further steps to shed light on the compliance of X's recommender systems with the Digital Services Act.

More info ↓
europa.eu/!dTNymV

US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban law and gives it until January 19 to divest from ByteDance. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

Big tech is picking apart European democracy, but there is a solution: switch off its algorithms

The coming battle between social media and the state Behind the alignment of X and Meta with Trump is a cold business logic — and a position of weakness rather than strength

A good explanation of why Meta and X line up behind Trump and how they expect the coming US administration to help them challenge the EU and other jurisdictions who are beginning to be successful in limiting social media power. on.ft.com/3Pv2NAn

…and another Quick Note on Meta’s Decision to Abandon Fact-Checking and Why This Would not be Compliant with EU’s Digital Services Act

I commented yesterday on how Elon Musk’s many questionable tweets become a problem when X’s algorithmic practices violate the EU Digital Services Act (DSA)’s…

A Quick Note on EU Digital Services Act and Elon Musk’s Possible Interference with Various Political Processes in the EU: What Exactly Must X Do in the EU? Lots of ink is spilled these days commenting Elon Musk’s posts on X on a variety of topics ranging from German elections to Denmark’s governance of Greenland. The question which poses itself is whether EU digital laws can be used to limit Musk’s interventions, which are perceived as being extremely right-wing and harmful to democratic processes in the EU. While EU position on free speech is significantly…

A Quick Note on EU Digital Services Act and Elon Musk’s Possible Interference with Various Political Processes in the EU: What Exactly Must X Do in the EU?

Lots of ink is spilled these days commenting Elon Musk’s posts on X on a variety of topics ranging from German elections to Denmark’s…

US judge finds Pegasus spyware maker liable over WhatsApp hack WhatsApp celebrates victory as judge finds Israeli company NSO Group violated state and federal US hacking laws

Israeli spyware manufacturer NSO Group Technologies unsurprisingly found liable by a court in California for infecting WhatsApp messaging platform with the Pegasus spyware in 2019. The case is straightforward: NSO violated its terms of use with WhatsApp. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Reading the Systemic Risk Assessments for Major Speech Platforms: Notes and Observations | TechPolicy.Press Tim Bernard is reading a selection of the Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) systemic risk assessments released in late November 2024.

For those interested in #DSA VLOP systemic risk reports, here is a good summary for some of the big ones. @timbernard.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/reading-the-...

Apple's response to the @ec.europa.eu findings on #DMA interoperability: products would have less privacy and less safety. developer.apple.com/support/down...

Here are European Commission's preliminary findings and draft recommendation in its #DMA Apple case.

A visual illustration with text: "Proposed measures for Apple to comply with the Digital Markets Act". The centre features a smartphone. Surrounding the smartphone are eight icons representing measures: interoperability for messaging, sideloading apps, digital wallets, a standardized browser engine, app discovery, fair business contracts, user privacy, and third-party repairs.

We sent preliminary findings to Apple under the Digital Markets Act.

Apple should open iOS features like notifications, AirPlay, and AirDrop to third-party devices, enhancing innovation and user choice.

It should also improve transparency and predictability for developers ↓

europa.eu/!YjqxfQ

Getting serious about AI rules: Lack of enforcement capacity puts EU at risk By end of next year, the AI Office Units A2 and A3 should count over 200 staff, Axel Voss writes.

www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Instagram actively helping the spread of self-harm among teenagers, study suggests

How Google Spent 15 Years Concealing Its Internal Conversations Trying to avoid antitrust suits, Google systematically told employees to destroy messages, avoid certain words and copy the lawyers as often as possible.

"Trying to avoid antitrust suits, Google systematically told employees to destroy messages, avoid certain words and copy the lawyers as often as possible."
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/t...

Well done, Bluesky.

Facebook and Instagram to Offer Subscription for No Ads in Europe | Meta We will significantly reduce the price of Subscription for no ads, and offer people in the EU an additional new choice to use Facebook and Instagram for free with less personalized ads.

Meta is reducing EU subscription price and introducing a "less personalized" option. "Despite our concerted efforts to comply with EU regulation, we have continued to receive additional demands from regulators that go beyond what is written in the law.." 🤦🏻Boo F Hoo! 1,40 trillion market cap.

William Lazonick on How The Stock Market Killed Tech Podcast Episode · Better Offline · 13/11/2024 · 54m

Ed Zitron is joined by William Lazonick in a phenomenal talk on how the incentives of shareholder capitalism and stock buybacks are destroying innovation. podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/b...

Commission fines Meta €797.72 million over abusive practices benefitting Facebook Marketplace The European Commission has fined Meta €797.72 million for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook and by i...

Meta has been fined €798m (£664m) for breaking competition law by embedding Facebook Marketplace within its social network. This is the AT.40684 case under Article 102 - not a separate DMA case the Commission is running against it which has not been decided. ec.europa.eu/commission/p...