News from Across the Sea #3
News from Across the Sea 3: The final installment of 2024 is as packed as ever. The leadership transition at the European Commission has been confirmed, and the results of a presidential election led to an investiture...
News from Across the Sea #3:
The final installment of 2024 is as packed as ever. The leadership transition at the European Commission was confirmed, the results of a presidential election prompted an investigation into TikTok, and risk reports from major platforms were published. Amid all this news, CELE traveled to Brussels to present its work.
New European Commissioners, New Responsibilities
As we previewed in the last installment, Ursula von der Leyen had already appointed the new members of the College of Commissioners who would serve alongside her during her second term as President of the European Commission. Henna Virkkunen of Finland was confirmed as Commissioner for Digital Technologies and Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy. She will be responsible for implementing the DSA following the failed experience of former Commissioner Breton. Following her confirmation hearing (transcript here), the Parliament approved his appointment. Another key figure will be Irishman Michael McGrath, the new Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection. In this role, he will be responsible for enforcing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and advancing the Digital Fairness Act, which will address unethical business practices such as those related to dark patterns, influencer marketing on social media, and addictive design of digital products, among others. During his confirmation hearing, McGrath emphasized the need for consistency in the enforcement of the DSA, the DMA (Digital Markets Act), and the AI Act (Artificial Intelligence Act) to ensure a uniform approach to human rights and freedom of expression.
The first round of risk reports under the DSA was submitted
Everyone is talking about the risk analysis and mitigation reports submitted by VLOPs and VLOSEs (very large online platforms and very large online search engines, respectively), published in accordance with Article 42 of the DSA. But **what do these reports contain, and why all the fuss? ** Article 34 of the DSA requires VLOPs and VLOSEs to detect, analyze, and assess the systemic risks arising from the design, use, or operation of their services on an annual basis (including the dissemination of illegal content, risks to the enjoyment of human rights, negative effects on security, civic discourse, and democracy, gender-based violence, public safety, health, and the protection of minors). For its part, Article 35 requires these providers to implement measures to mitigate these risks that are “reasonable, proportionate, and effective.” The platforms must submit reports on the risks and the mitigation measures adopted, which must be evaluated by independent auditors, who in turn produce a report with recommendations. Finally, the platforms must produce a third report detailing the implementation of the measures suggested by the auditors. These reports were published for the first time in late November: CELE is working, in collaboration with other organizations, to review and analyze these reports. In the meantime, you can view them here.
Elections in Romania: The Investigation into TikTok
On December 4, 2024, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the first round of the presidential election in that country, following the declassification of intelligence reports which, according to the Court, revealed, among other things, evidence of violations of campaign finance laws, cyberattacks, and other violations of election laws—including possible Russian interference—via the TikTok platform. For this reason, the European Commission initiated proceeding against TikTok on the grounds that the platform allegedly violated the DSA by failing to sufficiently mitigate the risks posed by the use of its services to the integrity of elections. The investigation focuses on the platform’s recommendation systems—as these may have been vulnerable to coordinated manipulation efforts—and on its policies regarding election advertising, since the general ban on such content appears to have been circumvented. The details of the proceeding remain confidential, and the Commission has not set a specific deadline for issuing its decision.
CELE in Europe
On December 4, 2024, CELE, in collaboration with the Center for IT & IP (CiTiP) at the Catholic University of Leuven, organized an in-person roundtable discussion at that university to discuss with academics and members of civil society a work-in-progress titled “Are Risks the New Rights?: the perils of risk-based approaches to speech regulation,” which we will publish early next year and which offers a critical, human rights-centered analysis of the risk-based approach outlined in Articles 34 and 35 of the DSA. In addition, CELE organized, in collaboration with FTI Consulting, a roundtable discussion titled “Building bridges - Strengthening freedom of expression to enable European tech leadership regulation”. The roundtable, which included representatives from the European Commission and civil society, fostered discussion on the gap between the regulations adopted and promoted by the European Union—such as the DSA and the Digital Markets Act (DMA)— and the challenges regarding freedom of expression in the Global South, where the state often still poses the greatest risk to human rights in general and to freedom of expression in particular.
CELE’s Contribution to the European Commission’s Consultation Process on Data Access for Researchers
As we mentioned in the previous post, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the draft delegated regulation regarding access to data from online platforms for verified researchers. You can find our contribution, written jointly with our colleagues at InternetLab, at this link.
What Are We Reading?
This paper from Interface on the potential and prospects of codes of conduct for online advertising. This blog post by Sally Broughton Micova on risk reports and audits. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading News Across the Sea. We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best. We’ll see you again soon. See you next year!