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Fighting the dissemination of child sexual abuse material, the EU Commission is considering dangerous measures: the automated search of content on mobile phones and computers. See answers to the key questions regarding „chat control“ in our overview.

The tech giant told Commission officials in a recent closed meeting that developers of Artificial Intelligence tools should not be overburdened with regulation.

Documents reveal the lobbying push by Microsoft, Google and other tech giants to influence secretive trade talks that could change the future of the internet.

A new law will abolish Austria’s official secrecy and give the country its first real freedom of information law. But the government’s proposal has many weaknesses, according to experts of the NGO Access Info.

Axel Springer lobbies key officials in the Commission to bring ancillary copyright into the new EU platform law. Key legislators in the European Parliament fear this could re-open the acrimonious fight over copyright.

Despite recent EU court rulings that curb surveillance powers, a few member states push for new data retention legislation. A document suggests their far-reaching demands could change the Digital Services Act and data protection rules.

Non-binary people and other gender non-conforming minorities are confronted with discrimination and disrespect again and again. Damoun talks about their experiences as a non-binary, queer person who has moved to Germany, and their activism, on- and offline.

We sat down with Yonatan Miller, founder of the Tech Workers Coalition Berlin, to speak about the edit-a-thon the organization is planning. He explains why we need better Wikipedia articles on organizing in the technology sector.

More than 10 years after first announcing a common charger for phones, internal documents reveal the European Commission mulls changes to unify power supply for many appliances

Huawei has 2,400 employees in Düsseldorf. Inside there is a quasi-military esprit de corps, according to ex-employees.

Former employees accuse Huawei of discrimination. How massively the company interferes in their private lives and how it keeps its staff in line is revealed by internal documents and covert audio recordings that netzpolitik.org and the media partners of The Signals Network have analysed.

Competition scholar Dina Srinivasan looks at how Google dominates online ad exchanges. In an interview with netzpolitik.org, she explains why the tech giant has conflicts of interest that need to be managed.

In Russia, the news from the disinformation network serves the Kremlin's political goals.

For years, alleged news portals from Europe have been disseminating Russian propaganda. netzpolitik.org and WELT have now uncovered a network that is supposed to make lies in Russian media more credible. There are connections to the secret service.

The Google News Initiative writes cheques to media around the globe, including pro-regime newspapers in countries under autocratic rule – a move that baffles human rights advocates.

Almost 200 universities and research institutes in Germany currently do not have access to journals published by the largest scientific publisher, Elsevier. Instead of negotiating a switch to Open Access, however, Elsevier prefers to fight shadow libraries that make the contractless situation more bearable for researchers.

TikTok user Lianna Riedel Frank in her room

TikTok says it is for users 13 years and older. But insiders report, the video-sharing-app instructed content moderators not to block children on the platform. Conspicuous videos were escalated to a team in Beijing instead.

An investigation by netzpolitik.org shows the potential for abuse of PimEyes, a free search engine for 900 million faces. Whoever’s photos have been published on the Internet could already be part of their database.

The European Parliament has developed an app called iVote for remote voting during the pandemic. But left-wing MEPs are angry that it only works on Apple devices.

Illustrationen von zwei Menschen am Esstisch, neben ihnen ihre Telefone

Stalkerware is software designed to run on your smartphone, keep tabs on everything you do and report it back to whoever decided to spy on the intimate details of your life. This is a crime in most countries, but the apps are hard to find. Security researchers are working to change that.

Much of the funding of projects for the technical implementation of digital freedoms is threatened by the Trump Government. It is now time for Germany and Europe to step into the breach and provide adequate and sustainable funding for the development ecosystem. A commentary.

The European Commission wants to make Corona-tracing apps work across borders ahead of the summer holidays. But the French app has been excluded.

Peter ThielMonopoly’s fiercest advocate

EU CommissionWhy chat control is so dangerous

AI ethicsGoogle tells EU that users bear responsibility for discrimination

Digital tradeTech industry pushes Europe for WTO data flows deal

Freedom of Information„The Austrian proposal is very retro“

Digital Markets ActMEPs pooh-pooh publisher’s call for Australia-style arbitration rights

"Urgently needed"France, Spain push for new EU data retention law

Non-binary„But you look like a man to me!“

Interview on tech unions and WikipediaDigital unionism generally is quite new

Lightning zapped?After a decade of stalling, a new EU law could force Apple to introduce a universal charger for all devices

"Wolf culture"How Huawei controls its employees in Europe

Online advertising„We just need the market to not be rigged“

Russian disinformationThe network of fake foreign media

Freedom of the PressGoogle funds mouthpiece of Rwandan regime

News from ElsevierNo open access deal, but spyware against shadow libraries?

PimEyesA Polish company is abolishing our anonymity

European ParliamentMEPs blast ‚Apple-only‘ voting app

Stalking via SmartphoneHow security researchers are working to expose stalkerware on your phone

Tools for encryption and anonymityGermany and Europe need to step up to their responsibility

L'App uniqueFrance goes it alone on digital contact tracing