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🚨 Data protection news alert 🚨 Regulators in charge of Europe’s privacy laws have quietly rejected guidelines that could have pushed thousands of public authorities across Europe – including themselves – to quit their social media accounts, Follow the Money has learned. (Short thread)

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Telling little tidbit from our story on Politico's owner Mathias Döpfner, for those who missed it on the weekend.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Right... Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are. Please read this story by @alexfanta.bsky.social about the bromance between German media mogul Mathias Döpfner (BILT/POLITICO) and Elon Musk: www.ftm.eu/articles/mat...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Could Elon Musk turn off Ukraine’s Starlink access on a whim, to force the country to accept talks with Russia? News stories suggest that. The German government was skeptical and asked to look into alternatives from the start, according to documents we reported months ago. www.ftm.eu/articles/elo...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

Meet German billionaire Mathias Döpfner, CEO of publishing giant Axel Springer - owner of Politico, Die Welt and Bilt. He personally lobbied the European Commission against a law meant to strengthen the editorial independence of European media, according to documents obtained by Follow the Money.

submitted 6 days ago • 9 comments

There's some juicy bits in the story for the Politico crowd

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

German billionaire Mathias Döpfner befriended Elon Musk and ventured into the EU's halls of power. But in Trumpworld, old alliances die fast.. Great read by @alexfanta.bsky.social about the CEO of one of Europe's most powerful media empires (Axel Springer, BILD/Politico) www.ftm.eu/articles/mat...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Friends with Elon Musk and on top of one of Europe's most powerful media empires. Meet German billionaire Mathias Döpfner, CEO of publishing giant Axel Springer. But he too now learns: in Trumpworld, old alliances die fast. www.ftm.eu/articles/mat...

submitted 6 days ago • 2 comments

In case you were wondering, this is the result of another one of my complaints. The Commission redacts even the names of very high-profile lobbyists from meeting documents, which makes it very difficult to track things like conflicts of interest. Short 🧵

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

👏 The @ombudsman.europa.eu has opened an inquiry into the job move of the former high-level EU official Banasevic to Microsoft - following a complaint by CEO and @lobbycontrol.bsky.social www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Falls jemand HC Strache bedauern will, der steht gerade in der Kälte vorm Bezirksamt Margareten und keilt Unterstützungserklärungen

submitted 8 days ago • 3 comments

Digitaler Kolonialismus: Morgen erscheint unser Buch über die globalen Macht- und Ausbeutungsverhältnisse hinter der Digitalisierung. In einigen Buchhandlungen und online ist es heute schon zu haben. www.chbeck.de/dachwitz-hil...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

🚨Wow, some big news from @ombudsman.europa.eu Emily O'Reilly in her last days in office. 🚨 Following my complaint, she told the EU Commission that its secrecy regarding disclosures by Elon Musk's X under the Digital Services Act breached EU transparency rules, and was a case of "maladministration".

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Europe's own Elon Musk? Meet David Sainsbury. This supermarket heir bankrolled Blair's Labour party and penetrated EU politics thanks to his wealth. He fought for "better regulation", paving the way for Musk. Though for him, it was not about tech, but biotech 👇 www.ftm.eu/articles/bri...

submitted 10 days ago • 2 comments

🗞️ Mindblowing figures on the office expenses of MEPs + The extent to which Trumps cutting of USAID hurts NGOs active in Brussels 👇 mailing.ftm.nl/index.php?ac... Delivered to you by @peterteffer.bsky.social @salsabilfayed.bsky.social @simonvandorpe.bsky.social & @alexfanta.bsky.social

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

From my side project Tall People News.. erm, ahem, the Follow the Money newsletter, a piece about why the space between plane seats is so goddam short.

submitted 10 days ago • 3 comments

It's telling that over six weeks after the start of new EU transparency rules, which oblige Commissioners and their staff to proactively publish minutes of lobby meetings, von der Leyen her cabinet have yet to disclose a single meeting. Following rules must start from the top.

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

"Your Holiness, there has been a Freedom of Information request about our meeting... it was just a diplomatic formality, so how could we reject it?" [gasps in exasperation] "Well, Martin, just tell them..."

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

Der Rüstungskonzern Rheinmetall gründet ein Joint Venture mit einem Viktor Orbán nahestehenden ungarischen Unternehmen und kauft dort IT-Dienstleistungen, obwohl #Rheinmetall eigentlich das Gegenteil plante - und „alle IT-Dienstleistungen" ins eigene Haus holen wollte www.welt.de/politik/deut...

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

"I asked to see Ursula von der Leyen’s texts to Pfizer’s boss and she went to court to stop me. Why the secrecy?" Make sure you read this piece on accountability and transparency at the European Commission by @alexfanta.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

As Ursula von der Leyen is on her way to become the last leader of the free world, let's not forget to keep the EU honest... Important piece by @alexfanta.bsky.social in @theguardian.com 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... "Who's watching Brussels"?

submitted 18 days ago • 3 comments

The European Commission's strange insistence to never, ever hand over any texts from president Von der Leyen has transformed a routine access request into the #Pfizergate scandal. This culture of secrecy at the heart of the Commission has created a transparency black hole that risks becoming...

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

marina rauchenbacher und ich durften mit alice senarclens de grancy für @diepressecom.bsky.social über unsere comicforschung sprechen. danke für das interesse! www.diepresse.com/19338710/com...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Read the latest issue of Secrecy Tracker! The newsletter from Investigate Europe, @ftm.nl & @euobserver.com exposing how the EU institutions fail to fulfill their duty of transparency. This time, @hsc55.bsky.social reveals how secrecy erodes democratic accountability. bit.ly/4jQmLn0

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Mit ihrer bornierten Geheimhaltungspraxis betreiben die Beamten und politischen Führungskräfte im Rat und der Kommission der EU de facto das Geschäft der Anti-Europäer und Neo-Nationalisten. Dazu der neue "Secrecy Tracker" von Investigate Europe, EU Observer und Follow the Money: shorturl.at/64rr1

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

"Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud" - bombshell story by @joemenn.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment