Hong Kong: Erosion of Rights and Freedoms

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Photo by Manson Yim on Unsplash The EU’s outgoing foreign affairs chief says there has been a “continuous erosion of the rights and freedoms” of people in Hong Kong. Josep Borrell was reacting to the release of the EU’s 2023 annual report on Hong Kong. The former Spanish MEP said the report “illustrates in great detail the continuous…

Protection of Minors

The EU is stepping up its ongoing efforts to protect children from potentially harmful online porn sites. It is asking online platforms to spell out what measures they are taking about the dissemination of “illegal and harmful” content. The sites have until early next month to respond. Failure to do so could render them liable to hefty fines. This comes after the EU Commission said it had sent Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos requests for information under the Digital Services Act. The Commission is asking the companies to provide “more detailed” information on the measures they have taken to “diligently assess and mitigate risks related to the protection of minors online.” They are also asked what they do to prevent the “amplification of illegal content and gender-based violence.” The Commission is also requiring details on “age assurance mechanisms” adopted by “these pornographic platforms” and wants “detailed information” on the internal organisation of the companies to ensure compliance with the DSA. The DSA requires designated very large online platforms to equip themselves with “independent and well-resourced internal teams with sufficient authority and resources.” Under the DSA, compliance officers must ensure that all systemic risks outlined in the regulation are identified and properly reported on. A Commission spokesman said, “Pornhub, Stripchat and Xvideos must provide the requested information by 4 July 2024.” The Commission can impose fines for incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to a request for information. Failure to reply by the deadline could lead to the imposition of penalties. The spokesman added, “Following their designation as Very Large Online Platforms, Pornhub, Stripchat and Xvideos are required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA.” This, he said, includes “the assessment and mitigation of risks related to the dissemination of illegal and harmful content and on the protection of minors.”

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash The EU is stepping up its ongoing efforts to protect children from potentially harmful online porn sites. It is asking online platforms to spell out what measures they are taking about the dissemination of “illegal and harmful” content. The sites have until early next month to respond. Failure to do so could…

Will France Return to the Politics of Hate, Nationalism and Xenophobia?

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Photo by Dawid Małecki on Unsplash The European Parliament elections with their low turn outs, unknown politicians, and use as a protest vote against incumbent governments have exploded into life with the decision of President Macron to dissolve the French Parliament, writes Denis MacShane. In effect he is holding a plebiscite asking the French people and indirectly the…

Restoring an Independent Media Sector in Ukraine

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Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash The restoration of the press must be included in the programmes of economic and social restoration of Ukraine. That is a demand made by the organisation representing media in the war torn country. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) recently held a joint round table at…

Europe’s Declining Influence in Africa

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Photo by Thomas Bennie on Unsplash Europe is retreating from Africa in what seems likely to be the greatest shift of all in the 21st century’s new era of tectonic geo-political change, writes Giles Merritt. It is five hundred years since Henry the Navigator’s explorers set up Portuguese trading posts that eventually led to European colonialism. Africa was…