alexfanta.bsky.social
Journalist with Follow the Money. All things tech, EU, transparency. FOI curious.
163 posts
4,859 followers
732 following
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Could you elaborate why Marin is so controversial?
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Forcing public bodies off social media could be unpopular, and jeopardise Wiewiórowski’s chances of securing another term.
Wiewiórowski himself was unavailable for comment due to a medical condition, according to a spokesperson.
First published here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/throw-...
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Why did the EU’s chief data watchdog vote against tough guidelines? After six years in office, Wiewiórowski is locked in a tough re-election battle, with the European Parliament and the European Council at odds over whether to re-appoint him.
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A key voice in the decision was Wojciech Wiewiórowski, the European Data Protection Supervisor, who vetoed the draft guidelines alongside regulators from Italy and France. The guidelines have been sent back to the drawing board, and any attempt to redraft them could result in a much weaker version.
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The rejection of the draft guidelines underscores that, nearly a decade after the EU passed its landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), even the authorities responsible for enforcing it are at times hesitant to interpret the rules strictly.
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This seemingly esoteric change would have had huge consequences. Although the guidelines are non-binding, they could have provided legal ammunition to anyone challenging public authorities – or even private companies in similar situations – over their social media use, said @maxschrems.bsky.social.
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According to sources from several agencies, the vetoed draft guidelines stated that public authorities using social media are, in most cases, “joint controllers” of user data, thereby sharing responsibility for any data protection failings of platforms such as X or Facebook.
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The decision was made behind closed doors at the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), a body of data protection agencies from across Europe, at a plenary meeting in early December.
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Polygone, aussi le Royeume Unie et Allemagne
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But still: If someone held high public office, like being a prime minister, their lobbying is no private matter. Lobbyists like that, who trade on their big names for access, should not be allowed to do their work outside of the view of the public.
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The Ombudsman unfortunately did not say that prominent lobbyists should not be shielded from the public. But what it did say is that when the Commission redacts a name of a lobbyist, it should at least ask the person concerned whether it could be revealed voluntarily. This would be a step forward.
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This case concerns Sanna Marin, the former Finnish PM. The Commission argues that, as she no longer holds any elected office, Marin is just a private citizen doing normal private stuff, like trying to get the European Commission do do who-knows-what on Ukraine, Moldova, AI, health or whatnot.
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Find O'Reillys full letter to the Commission, which was just published, here:
www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/corre...
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The Ombudsman has now written to the Commission and asked it clarify how it handles disclosures by the platforms, incl. what consequences platforms face that fail to disclose key information about public safety risks.
Tricky for a Commission that suggests it could slow enforcement to appease Trump
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But thankfully, the Ombudsman called out the Commission for its lack of transparency visavis Big Tech, saying that in her "preliminary view" it was "unreasonable to apply a general presumption of confidentiality to a risk assessment report drawn up in accordance with Article 34 of the DSA."
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... this information a secret. It has even conjured a new special rule, a "general presumption of non-disclosure", to exclude the platform's disclosures from any public access under the EU's transparency laws.
We found this unacceptable, and brought a complaint against this presumption.
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This makes it impossible for journalists, or any user, to understand what risks even the platforms itself admits users are facing. In their risk assessments, the platforms report on issues such as hate speech, child abuse, health misinformation, and so on.
But the Commission helps platforms keep...
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So, what's this about? The Commission has launched investigations into whether several big platforms, including X, are doing their homework in fighting illegal content, deceptive advertising, etc.
But is has denied the public, including us, access to disclosures made by X (and other platforms).
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I'd be interested in whether there is good medical research on that. Could strengthen the argument for regulators
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Well, 999 more subscribers and I'm launching my Substack
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Damn, didn't think of that
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"... a bit about the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. There's nothing in there about confidentiality at all, but it will through them off course."
"Thanks, your holiness. You are truly infallible in FOI matter"
Source material for this #FOIalogue: www.asktheeu.org/request/selm...
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"... that according to Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation 1049/2001, carefully chosen language and the sequence of the different steps may also reveal indirect communication and diplomatic messages that are passed between the counterparts via these instruments."
"And chuck in..."
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... a liability for the rule of law in Europe, and a gift to authoritarians across the continent.
Citizens, and EU governments, must demand more openness from the European Commission.
Why the texts are just the tip of the iceberg - my op-ed for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...