netzpolitik.org in english: en

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Warfare is becoming digitalized and automated. This is shifting the role of citizens within the Geneva Conventions. We urgently require new solutions and international agreements.

Headphones on Russia flag with audio track, symbolic photo Taurus wiretapping affair

The German Taurus leak shows one thing very clearly: encrypted and secure communication does not work for the few. Instead, it must become the standard for everyone.

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The planned Directive on Platform Work was supposed to be done, but now there are new problems: EU member states did not agree with the trilogue compromise, endangering the whole project.

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A document from the AI Act trilogue shows what member states were hoping to push through: Automated classification of people by race, emotion recognition, biometric analysis of video recordings. In some parts, the outcome is still unclear.

Who we are

netzpolitik.org is a medium concerned with digital rights and freedoms. Most of our work is published in German, but occasionally translated into English. We address issues at the intersection of Internet, society and politics, and show ways in which people can be empowered to advocate for digital rights themselves. We describe how politics is changing the Internet through regulation and how the Internet is changing politics, public sphere, and everything else.

We critically accompany all areas of society in which a process of digitalization is taking place, from big data corporations and state security agencies, to education, media and environment. We aim to put technological change in the service of freedom, solidarity and the common good. We see ourselves as a journalistic website, but we are not neutral. Our stance is: We are committed to digital freedom rights and their political implementation.

Our work has been distinguished with numerous awards.

We are funded by our readers!

We are funded almost entirely by donations from our readers. Support our journalism on digital rights and freedoms with your donation.

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Faces of people with IDs on their faces. An EU map with countries highlighted in color. Screenshot of a table showing advertising segments.

For targeted advertising, data brokers want to know about our bank accounts, children and illnesses. Our data research shows the dimension of this dubious business for the first time in a European country comparison. Experts call it a „catastrophe“.

Portrait of person in black blazer with crossed arms

TikTok is struggling to convince Western politicians it is not a security threat. But governments are right to ban the app from official devices, says China expert Rebecca Arcesati. Still she warns the biggest threat is Europe and the US giving up on their democratic values in dealing with TikTok.

The Internet does not forget? The opposite is the case. Huge mountains of data are lost on the internet every day. That’s why the Archive Team scours the vastness of the WWW and rescues data from extinction – around the clock and on a voluntary basis.

While there is a lot of discussion about new Twitter alternatives and the relevance of journalists and other critical groups of users, the potential of university-based Fediverse instances has hardly been addressed. It is high time for universities to get involved in the Fediverse. This is a call to action.

Computergenerated image of a young woman typing into a smartpohne, surrounded by data and screens

The advertising industry has more than 650,000 labels to target people. Reading through them reveals how even the most sensitive aspects of our life are monitored. EU-based data brokers play a vital role in this system.

Hardly anyone reports on TikTok as much as US journalist Emily Baker-White. In an interview, the Forbes editor tells how TikTok spied on her and what danger she sees in the Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Émile P. Torres, in the background a picture of the Virgo Supercluster

Émile P. Torres calls one of the most influential philosophies of our time an ideology: Longtermism is the central school of thought of tech giants like Elon Musk and Skype founder Jaan Tallinn. In an interview, Torres explains why it is so dangerous.

Giorgi Gobronidze bought one of the world’s most controversial face search engines. In his first in-depth interview the new PimEyes-CEO explains how his company wants to detect stalkers and why PimEyes is available in some authoritarian regimes.

Mikko Hyppönen is a security expert and author. In an excerpt from his new book “If It’s Smart, It’s Vulnerable” he writes about government malware and the techniques of law enforcers. He also reveals how he learnt about German law enforcement malware and how the Chaos Computer Club made sure that everybody could detect it.

They want to join forces and change TikTok. Around 1,000 creators have formed an alliance. One focus is discrimination against marginalized groups. In an interview, project manager Amelia Som tells why she loves TikTok – and where TikTok fails.

How can sexualized violence against minors be quantified? Many misleading figures are circulating – and on the basis of these figures politicians are calling for more surveillance. An analysis of the biggest misunderstandings.

Many young workers delivering food or driving cars are technically not even employed. How can a trade union work to improve their conditions? Tea Jarc, president of Slovenian union Mladi Plus, has worked for years advocating for them. And she has seen enough to be afraid of the platform companies’ lobbying power.

White hand with USA flag taking a shiny raw metall from a small black hand

Although neither smartphones nor many electric cars would work without cobalt, workers mining the precious raw material in Congo live a dangerous life. Some families of deceased workers tried to fight back, but it is hard to hold tech companies like Tesla or Apple accountable. Part 4 in our series on Digital Colonialism.

Unfair tax laws help Facebook, Google and Microsoft save billions in taxes in the global south – enough to employ 1.7 million nurses in 20 countries within three years. Part 3 of our series on Digital Colonialism.

The European Union debates a new law that could force platforms to scan all private messages for signs of child abuse. Its most prominent advocate is the actor Ashton Kutcher.

Western tech firms are outsourcing tasks like data labeling or content moderation to countries in the Global South. They are pitting off poor workers against each other – on a global scale. Part 2 of our series on digital colonialism.

Facebook has entered a deal with India’s largest corporation, Reliance Industries, in a bid to monopolize the entire food supply chain in India. This deal could put the food security of more than 820 million people at risk. Part 1 of our series on digital colonialism.

Crypto’s voracious appetite for electricity is causing alarm in Brussels. Behind closed doors, the European Commission and the German government are talking about countermeasures. We publish documents that show how the EU could ban Bitcoin.

The Meduza team together in one room. The picture is heavily pixelated.

The news website Meduza was among the last independent reporters for Russia. At the beginning of March the website was blocked in Russia. There are also problems with funding. We talked with Katerina Abramova about the work in exile and the future of Meduza.

House in Prague - address of the world's largest porn empire.

The world’s most visited porn site operates in the heart of Europe. Survivors of sexualized violence are raising serious accusations against XVideos. The trail of XVideos leads to the Czech Republic, France – and Germany.

"Artificial Intelligence": Automated Warfare and the Geneva Convention

Taurus leak: When it comes to privacy, it’s all or nothing

Platform Work: Member states torpedo workers‘ rights

AI Act: The Member States‘ Wish List

Who we are

We are funded by our readers!

Contact

Interview: „TikTok’s power to say no is shrinking by the day“

Archive Team: Shutdowns don’t stop during the weekends

Surveillance advertising in Europe: The adtech industry tracks most of what you do on the Internet. This file shows just how much.

Journalist under surveillance: „TikTok was scared and freaked out“

Longtermism: „An odd and peculiar ideology“

PimEyes-CEO: „The user is the stalker, not the search engine“

Mikko Hyppönen: The first time we encountered law enforcement malware

TOCA: TikTok creators unite against opaque rules

NCMEC figures explained: How the spectre of millionfold abuse haunts European policy-makers

Platform work: “Fight for something more than just a Directive”

Series on Digital Colonialism: The bloody footprint of our digital devices

Series on Digital Colonialism: Western tech companies saving billions in taxes in the global south

Dude, where's my privacy?: How a Hollywood star lobbies the EU for more surveillance

Series on Digital Colonialism: Global labor chains of the western AI

Series on Digital Colonialism: How Meta aims to dominate India’s agriculture sector

Climate measures: Behind closed doors, EU officials talk about banning Bitcoin

Russian exile medium Meduza: „Everything has changed dramatically“

XVideos: The porn empire next door