Hello, free-knowledge champions!
I am delighted to share an interesting (FREE) event with this group: our upcoming summer legal fellow panel event. The panel is moderated by WMF Lead USA Public Policy Specialist, Kate Ruane, on August 1st, 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern.
This year's virtual event, entitled "Common Carriers: Airlines, Railroads… and Online Platforms? Recent Developments in US Social Media Laws to Regulate User Content Online," explores the potential of recent laws in Texas and Florida to disrupt the First Amendment freedoms of how online platforms regulate user content online.
The star-studded panel includes:
1) Daphne Keller, Director of the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center
2) Chris Lewis, President and CEO at Public Knowledge
3) Gaurav Laroia, FTC Attorney Advisor for Consumer Protection
4) David Greene, EFF Senior Staff Attorney and Civil Liberties Director
Register here [1] - hope to see you there!
Ziski, on behalf of the WMF Global Advocacy Team
___
[1] https://www.eventbrite.com/e/common-carriers-airlines-railroadsand-online-p…
Dear Wikimedians and free knowledge-loving pals,
The WMF Global Advocacy team has released our "Don't Blink" monthly retrospective for the month of June: <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/07/14/dont-blink-public-policy-snapshot-for…>
The blog post covers the actions we’ve taken this past month to advance fundamental rights online. Highlights include:
* A recap of our presence at WikiNusantara in Indonesia
* The letter we sent to the United States government about the draft American Data Privacy and Protection Act
* Our favourite sessions at RightsCon '22
* Launch of our team's monthly conversation hours! Our next calls will be on July 28th <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Public_policy/Conversation_hours_and_Events…>
We hope you enjoy the read! We also welcome any thoughts/comments on how these monthly digests can be improved to suit your interests.
Warmly,
Ziski & The Global Advocacy Team
Hi all
This Guardian article is interesting - I don't know how likely this is to
happen, but it suggests a new PM and Culture Secretary might kill off the
Bill:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/13/no-10-vacuum-has-made-tori…
Best
Lucy
On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 at 09:22, <publicpolicy-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
wrote:
> Send Publicpolicy mailing list submissions to
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: EU Policy Monitoring Report: June 2022 (Phil Bradley-Schmieg)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2022 09:31:33 +0100
> From: Phil Bradley-Schmieg <phil(a)postilo.org>
> Subject: [Publicpolicy] Re: EU Policy Monitoring Report: June 2022
> To: Publicpolicy Group for Wikimedia
> <publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, Alex Stinson
> <astinson(a)wikimedia.org>
> Cc: Matthew Gallagher <matt(a)fairvote.uk>
> Message-ID:
> <165709631752.822.1062563086547934420(a)lists1001.wikimedia.org>
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> boundary="--_com.samsung.android.email_1973371729268130"
>
> Could I be the first to point out that government powers to ban
> disinformation and other "harmful" forms of speech are exactly what led to
> the Wikipedia ban in Turkey, and current threats against Wiki projects in
> Russia?Now look what else they're trying to throw into the UK OSB: breaking
> E2E encryption.
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/06/uk-could-force-messaging…
> extremely careful what you wish for(and worse still, what you campaign
> for), unless the law you're trying to make even stricter excludes
> nonprofits or community-moderated projects. Especially when rights of
> redress under the Human Rights Act are being watered down.Phil
> -------- Original message --------From: Kyle Taylor <kyle(a)fairvote.uk>
> Date: 06/07/2022 09:22 (GMT+00:00) To: Alex Stinson <
> astinson(a)wikimedia.org> Cc: Publicpolicy Group for Wikimedia <
> publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, Matthew Gallagher <matt(a)fairvote.uk>
> Subject: [Publicpolicy] Re: EU Policy Monitoring Report: June 2022 Hi
> Alex!Apologies for my incredibly slow reply. I have Covid yet again and
> it's gotten the best of me this time!In short, the broad view (of course
> not speaking for everyone) is that the bill doesn't go far enough with
> dealing with disinformation largely because of the exemptions, exceptions
> and exclusions but secondarily because of the powers reserved to the
> Secretary of State to largely determine what is disinformation and this
> Committee they're proposing, which doesn't report for EIGHTEEN MONTHS. So
> it doesn't go far enough, I'm afraid. Within UK civil society, Full Fact
> has down great work around this. A few of their pieces:
> https://fullfact.org/blog/2022/mar/online-safety-bill/https://fullfact.org/…
> hope that helps a bit!Best wishes,Kyle---Kyle TaylorFounder and Director+44
> 7745 93 44 33https://www.fairvote.ukOn Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 7:11 PM Alex
> Stinson <astinson(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:The meeting I was in yesterday as
> part of: https://caad.info/who-we-are/ -- highlighted how easy it was for
> misinfo actors to get exemptions from the rules around disinfo: so it's
> likely to be exploitable, and potentially a shelter for disinformation
> actors from outside the UK. I am curious if we have a position on the
> disinformation parts of the law? On Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 8:35 AM Rita
> Jonusaite <rj(a)disinfo.eu> wrote:Hey all, If you have not seen re OSB in
> the UK, the Fair Vote UK is circulatring a Global letter to the UK
> Government on the loopholes in the UK's Online Safety Bill that they would
> like other organisations to sign. The joint letter is nearing 50 signatures
> already including Accountable Tech, Institute for Strategic Dialogue,
> Global Witness and Global Project Against Hate and Extremism etc. I am
> sharing with you their original message below and adding Matt and Kyle who
> are leading the campaign in Cc if you have any questions directly. Deadline
> is COB Friday (but they can go as late as Monday
> to my understanding)!Best, Rita --ORIGINAL ASK--I'm Matt of Fair Vote UK,
> and I'm leading within our organisation on an international coalition
> campaign to voice global opposition to the loopholes currently written into
> the UK's Online Safety Bill. I'm writing to ask for your organisation's
> signature on a global letter to the UK Government, highlighting the
> danger posed by this bill's exemptions, exceptions and exclusions – which
> fundamentally undermine its purpose of making the internet safer. The risks
> are international in scope as these loopholes could effectively allow for
> harmful content and disinformation to be "laundered" in the UK. Please sign
> if possible! Overview of the Letter: The UK’s Online Safety Bill, currently
> making its way through Parliament, aims to make the UK “the safest place in
> the world to go online”. Unfortunately, it falls far short of that
> objective in its current form – to the extent that it could actually make
> adults and children less safe online. The bill contains glaring loopholes
> that could allow some of the actors most responsible for harm online to
> avoid oversight and regulation. Media entities are exempt based on
> incredibly lenient criteria which would allow nefarious actors to launder
> harmful content. The democratic importance exemption would let politicians'
> online speech stay up regardless of its vast reach and potential to cause
> harm. Paid ads are left in scope despite their demonstrable role in
> spreading disinformation and hate. All of this serves to create a
> two-tiered system in which some of the most harmful actors are given
> precedence, prioritising their freedom of speech over the regular user.
> We’re demanding online regulation that protects all of our human
> rights equally. These loopholes have severe implications not just for the
> UK, but for the global community as well. If this new regime does not
> address them, the UK could become the world’s “disinformation
> laundromat”. We’re urging orgs and individuals from anywhere in the world
> concerned with democracy, children’s safety, disinformation, public health,
> climate change or other related causes to sign this letter to the UK
> Government calling on them to close the loopholes and build a more robust
> human rights framework that applies equally. In addition to this letter,
> we’re kicking off a public advocacy campaign on July 4th with significant
> digital spend behind it to further raise awareness about the OSB’s
> dangerous loopholes. You can sign on by adding your name in the format
> shown at the bottom of the document. Please let me know if you have any
> questions or concerns! Many thanks, MattP.S. Please feel free to forward
> this on to additional orgs and individuals you think would consider signing
> with matt(a)fairvote.uk cc'ed. Thank you! On Fri, 1 Jul 2022 at 13:05, Eric
> Luth <eric.luth(a)wikimedia.se> wrote:Hi everyone,Thanks for the summary,
> Dimi. Interesting read on the Digital Commons, happy to see that the
> Swedish government also supported.On Copyright reform, the Swedish
> government has sent its proposal on copyright reform to the council on
> legislation, which is the last step before it goes to parliament. We are
> currently analyzing the proposal, and working with MPs to improve the worst
> parts and safeguard the best.Best Eric LuthProjektledare engagemang och
> påverkan | Project Manager, Involvement and AdvocacyWikimedia
> Sverigeeric.luth(a)wikimedia.se+46 (0) 765 55 50 95Stöd fri kunskap, bli
> medlem i Wikimedia Sverige.Läs mer på blimedlem.wikimedia.seDen tors 30
> juni 2022 kl 17:58 skrev Jan Gerlach <jgerlach(a)wikimedia.org>:Many thanks
> for another great update, Dimi!Alex, the Foundation's Global Advocacy team
> is tracking the UK Online Safety Bill and we have published our first
> impressions on the text here. We're in touch with various allies of our
> movement in the UK and plan to further engage on the bill when
> appropriate.Thanks for your interest!JanOn Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 8:32 AM
> Alex Stinson <astinson(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:Hi Demi and list?Is anyone
> following the UK law at:
> https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-bill-supporting-do… Curious
> if we are watching that in connection with other Disinfo/Content moderation
> laws.Cheers, AlexOn Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 12:16 PM Dimi Dimitrov <
> dimi(a)wikimedia.be> wrote:The French government has vowed to invest money
> in the commons. Rub your eyes, read it again and then continue reading
> below. ====================DIGITAL COMMONS====================It still
> surprises us to be able to put “French government” and “investment in the
> digital commons” together, but here we go: The French Presidency of the
> Council of the EU came up with a plan how the old continent can compete
> with dominant US tech companies. The plan is to have more “digital
> commons”, which can be anything open source, including software, code
> libraries, tools, repositories. The basic thinking is that if fundamental
> tools and libraries are accessible to all players, this will level the
> playing field. [1]—19 EU Member Countries and the Commission presented the
> idea of digital commons at the Digital Assembly in Toulouse. They
> acknowledge that there are many instances of working digital commons, but
> also point out that oftentimes projects lack long-term, structural support.
> The plan envisages financial help and a “one-stop-shop” to find government
> support. [2]—Funds in the ballpark of tens of millions of euros are already
> pledged, but the concrete details are still in the making. Thanks to the
> leadership of Wikimédia France, our movement and a group of partners
> (Europeana, Communia, OpenStreetMap) are part of this conversation from the
> start. We especially want to show that governments can often help by
> removing legal and administrative obstacles, not just by peddling money.
> [3]======CSAM======We wrote about the proposal of the Commission to
> regulate the online moderation of “Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)” in
> last month’s report [4]. While it is a very important issue to tackle, we
> do have great concerns with parts of the text, especially provisions that
> would allow scanning all online chats on a given platform. We are still
> analysing how exactly, if at all, this would impact Wikimedia projects. In
> the meantime, we can offer a short briefing. [5]—On the legislative side,
> the start feels very bumpy: The European Parliament probably won’t refer
> the file to a committee until September or October, while ample criticism
> is pouring in, including from the German government. [6]=========Net
> Neutrality=========The European Commission plans to push out a new
> legislative proposal after the summer that is expected to include
> provisions forcing some service providers to pay for data traffic (think
> Facebook and Netflix paying Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica). While this is
> a classic example of a lobbying battle between very large
> telecommunications companies and very large tech companies, it also would
> violate some basic principles of net neutrality. A group of civil society
> organisations, led by EDRi, sent a letter to the relevant Commissioners
> outlining the main issues. [7]—On the bright side, BEREC, the EU’s body of
> telecoms regulators, has updated its net neutrality guidelines to close
> some loopholes and effectively ban zero rating of data for some
> applications. [8]=============Disinformation=============The European
> Commission has presented an updated Code of Practice on Disinformation. [9]
> Wikimedia had not signed up the original Code, because we deemed it was
> mainly focused on “follow the money”, hence where disinformation is spread
> through advertising and paid reach. The version will allow researchers more
> access to data of large platforms and again focus on advertising.—The Code
> of Practice is a voluntary initiative for online platforms, but taking part
> in it essentially removes some obligations under the newly created Digital
> Services Act. =============Italian Dramas=============The Italian
> government published new draft guidelines about public data (open
> government) and opened a consultation. [10] They basically state that open
> government and open data provisions don’t apply to institutions related to
> culture, which is a very Italian thing. We wonder if this is in line with
> the Public Sector Information Directive and will investigate with Wikimedia
> Italia, which are also participating in the consultation. —The Italian
> government has been on a roll. It also published the draft national
> digitisation plan. It would establish an administrative fee for the
> commercial use of all public domain digitisations of cultural institutions.
> It essentially outlaws CC0 as a relevant license for most GLAMs in the
> country and circumvents the public domain safeguard enshrined in the latest
> copyright directive. There was a public consultation until 15 June which
> Wikimedia Italy and partners participated in. Expect blog posts on Diff and
> on wikimedia.brussels soon.=============Polish & Czech Copyright
> Reforms=============The Czech copyright reform is in parliament. We have a
> Czech language copy. [11] The Polish government published its proposal,
> which will go to parliament very soon. We have a rough English translation.
> [12] If you consider yourself a copyright geek, enjoy reading them. If you
> want to help our national partners advocating on this, get in touch!
> :)====END====[1]
> https://twitter.com/AmbNum/status/1540657835427741699[2]https://www.diploma…
>
>
> Wikimedia Belgium vzwBE 0563.775.480
> - RPR BrusselAntwerpselaan 40 Boulevard d’Anvers 1000
> Brussel/Bruxelleswww.wikimedia.beinfo(a)wikimedia.be_______________________________________________
> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> -- Alex Stinson Lead Program StrategistWikimedia FoundationTwitter:
> @sadadsLearn more about how the communities behind Wikipedia, Wikidata and
> other Wikimedia projects create calls to action to invite new contributors
> through campaigns: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Campaigns
> _______________________________________________
> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> -- Rita JonusaiteAdvocacy Coordinator | EU DisinfoLab +32 488 59 70
> 70 (WhatsApp/Signal) Subscribe here to our newsletterEU DisinfoLab 2022
> Conference (Oct. 25-26): Register now!
> _______________________________________________
> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> -- Alex Stinson Lead Program StrategistWikimedia FoundationTwitter:
> @sadadsLearn more about how the communities behind Wikipedia, Wikidata and
> other Wikimedia projects create calls to action to invite new contributors
> through campaigns: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Campaigns
>
>
The French government has vowed to invest money in the commons. Rub your
eyes, read it again and then continue reading below.
====================
DIGITAL COMMONS
====================
It still surprises us to be able to put “French government” and “investment
in the digital commons” together, but here we go: The French Presidency of
the Council of the EU came up with a plan how the old continent can compete
with dominant US tech companies. The plan is to have more “digital
commons”, which can be anything open source, including software, code
libraries, tools, repositories. The basic thinking is that if fundamental
tools and libraries are accessible to all players, this will level the
playing field. [1]
—
19 EU Member Countries and the Commission presented the idea of digital
commons at the Digital Assembly in Toulouse. They acknowledge that there
are many instances of working digital commons, but also point out that
oftentimes projects lack long-term, structural support. The plan envisages
financial help and a “one-stop-shop” to find government support. [2]
—
Funds in the ballpark of tens of millions of euros are already pledged, but
the concrete details are still in the making. Thanks to the leadership of
Wikimédia France, our movement and a group of partners (Europeana,
Communia, OpenStreetMap) are part of this conversation from the start. We
especially want to show that governments can often help by removing legal
and administrative obstacles, not just by peddling money. [3]
======
CSAM
======
We wrote about the proposal of the Commission to regulate the online
moderation of “Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)” in last month’s report
[4]. While it is a very important issue to tackle, we do have great
concerns with parts of the text, especially provisions that would allow
scanning all online chats on a given platform. We are still analysing how
exactly, if at all, this would impact Wikimedia projects. In the meantime,
we can offer a short briefing. [5]
—
On the legislative side, the start feels very bumpy: The European
Parliament probably won’t refer the file to a committee until September or
October, while ample criticism is pouring in, including from the German
government. [6]
=========
Net Neutrality
=========
The European Commission plans to push out a new legislative proposal after
the summer that is expected to include provisions forcing some service
providers to pay for data traffic (think Facebook and Netflix paying
Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica). While this is a classic example of a
lobbying battle between very large telecommunications companies and very
large tech companies, it also would violate some basic principles of net
neutrality. A group of civil society organisations, led by EDRi, sent a
letter to the relevant Commissioners outlining the main issues. [7]
—
On the bright side, BEREC, the EU’s body of telecoms regulators, has
updated its net neutrality guidelines to close some loopholes and
effectively ban zero rating of data for some applications. [8]
=============
Disinformation
=============
The European Commission has presented an updated Code of Practice on
Disinformation. [9] Wikimedia had not signed up the original Code, because
we deemed it was mainly focused on “follow the money”, hence where
disinformation is spread through advertising and paid reach. The version
will allow researchers more access to data of large platforms and again
focus on advertising.
—
The Code of Practice is a voluntary initiative for online platforms, but
taking part in it essentially removes some obligations under the newly
created Digital Services Act.
=============
Italian Dramas
=============
The Italian government published new draft guidelines about public data
(open government) and opened a consultation. [10] They basically state that
open government and open data provisions don’t apply to institutions
related to culture, which is a very Italian thing. We wonder if this is in
line with the Public Sector Information Directive and will investigate with
Wikimedia Italia, which are also participating in the consultation.
—
The Italian government has been on a roll. It also published the draft
national digitisation plan. It would establish an administrative fee for
the commercial use of all public domain digitisations of cultural
institutions. It essentially outlaws CC0 as a relevant license for most
GLAMs in the country and circumvents the public domain safeguard enshrined
in the latest copyright directive. There was a public consultation until 15
June which Wikimedia Italy and partners participated in. Expect blog posts
on Diff and on wikimedia.brussels soon.
=============
Polish & Czech Copyright Reforms
=============
The Czech copyright reform is in parliament. We have a Czech language copy.
[11] The Polish government published its proposal, which will go to
parliament very soon. We have a rough English translation. [12] If you
consider yourself a copyright geek, enjoy reading them. If you want to help
our national partners advocating on this, get in touch! :)
====
END
====
[1]https://twitter.com/AmbNum/status/1540657835427741699
[2]
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/politique-etrangere-de-la-france/diplomat…
[3]
https://www.wikimedia.fr/pour-un-developpement-des-communs-numeriques-a-lec…
[4]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.or…
[5]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dD5AF8-uk2LFG7mu62AK7S80H4CrF1ftV7lheE6…
[6]
https://www.techdirt.com/2022/06/27/germany-says-hell-no-to-eu-proposal-to-…
[7]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Q4d13xqr5UsPkoSMw7d_3YL-hZnq4cL/view?usp=…
[8]https://fossbytes.com/europe-bans-zero-rating-internet-offers/
[9]https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_3664
[10]
https://www.agid.gov.it/it/agenzia/stampa-e-comunicazione/notizie/2022/06/1…
.
[11]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J7dvl4yEk6ScWIIypdI6Uq_7273T7G5i/edit?u…
[12]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N0ArQkgpZkQQcdpsidS_Yc-bS5liQsl5/view?usp=…
--
Wikimedia Belgium vzw
BE 0563.775.480
- RPR Brussel
Antwerpselaan 40
Boulevard d’Anvers 1000 Brussel/Bruxelles
www.wikimedia.be
<https://www.wikimedia.be/>
info(a)wikimedia.be <mailto:info@wikimedia.be>
Just to add that obviously as the UK chapter we have also been tracking the
progress of the Online Safety Bill and have responded to the various past
consultations as well as liaised with the WMF and allies such as Creative
Commons and Open Rights Group on key angles. Currently planning some joint
advocacy (with UK partners) around the dilution of the media literacy
aspects of the Bill. Happy to pick up on this again next week (it's late on
Friday night here!)
Best
Lucy
On Fri, 1 Jul 2022 at 12:35, <publicpolicy-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
wrote:
> Send Publicpolicy mailing list submissions to
> publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit
>
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/publicpolicy.lists.wikimedia.or…
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> publicpolicy-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Publicpolicy digest..."
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: EU Policy Monitoring Report: June 2022 (Rita Jonusaite)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2022 13:34:34 +0200
> From: Rita Jonusaite <rj(a)disinfo.eu>
> Subject: [Publicpolicy] Re: EU Policy Monitoring Report: June 2022
> To: Publicpolicy Group for Wikimedia
> <publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Cc: Kyle Taylor <kyle(a)fairvote.uk>, Matthew Gallagher
> <matt(a)fairvote.uk>
> Message-ID:
> <CA+A7O8g-gvGgt9=dLUBLSb7CJ_tCVtGi+v5YRkb4=
> XLk+NDVmA(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> boundary="000000000000efbf3105e2bcc5e6"
>
> Hey all,
>
> If you have not seen re OSB in the UK, the Fair Vote UK is circulatring a
> Global letter to the UK Government on the loopholes in the UK's Online
> Safety Bill that they would like other organisations to sign. The joint
> letter is nearing 50 signatures already including Accountable Tech,
> Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Global Witness and Global Project Against
> Hate and Extremism etc. I am sharing with you their original message below
> and adding Matt and Kyle who are leading the campaign in Cc if you have any
> questions directly.
>
> *Deadline is COB Friday (but they can go as late as Monday
> to my understanding)!*
>
> Best,
>
> Rita
> *--ORIGINAL ASK--*
>
> I'm Matt of Fair Vote UK, and I'm leading within our organisation on an
> international coalition campaign to voice global opposition to the
> loopholes currently written into the UK's Online Safety Bill.
>
> *I'm writing to ask for your organisation's signature on a global letter
> <
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tyCCU9ms7AlMdieIl4zEGlBHf7n8snCttyQf4pB…
> >*
> *to the UK Government,* highlighting the danger posed by this bill's
> exemptions, exceptions and exclusions – which fundamentally undermine its
> purpose of making the internet safer. The risks are international in scope
> as these loopholes could effectively allow for harmful content and
> disinformation to be "laundered" in the UK. Please sign if possible!
>
> *Overview of the Letter: *
>
> The UK’s Online Safety Bill, currently making its way through Parliament,
> aims to make the UK “the safest place in the world to go online”.
> Unfortunately, it falls far short of that objective in its current form –
> to the extent that it could actually make adults and children *less safe *
> online*. *
>
>
> The bill contains glaring loopholes that could allow some of the actors
> most responsible for harm online to avoid oversight and regulation. Media
> entities are exempt based on incredibly lenient criteria which would allow
> nefarious actors to launder harmful content. The democratic importance
> exemption would let politicians' online speech stay up regardless of its
> vast reach and potential to cause harm. Paid ads are left in scope despite
> their demonstrable role in spreading disinformation and hate. All of this
> serves to create a two-tiered system in which some of the most harmful
> actors are given precedence, prioritising their freedom of speech over the
> regular user. We’re demanding online regulation that protects all of our
> human rights *equally. *These loopholes have severe implications not just
> for the UK, but for the global community as well. If this new regime does
> not address them, the UK could become the world’s “disinformation
> laundromat”.
>
>
> *We’re urging orgs and individuals from anywhere in the world concerned
> with democracy, children’s safety, disinformation, public health, climate
> change or other related causes to sign this letter to the UK Government
> <
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tyCCU9ms7AlMdieIl4zEGlBHf7n8snCttyQf4pB…
> >
> calling
> on them to close the loopholes and build a more robust human rights
> framework that applies equally. *In addition to this letter, we’re kicking
> off a public advocacy campaign on July 4th with significant digital spend
> behind it to further raise awareness about the OSB’s dangerous loopholes.
>
>
> *You can sign on by adding your name in the format shown at the bottom of
> the document. *
>
>
> Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
>
>
> Many thanks,
>
>
> Matt
>
>
> *P.S. Please feel free to forward this on to additional orgs and
> individuals you think would consider signing with matt(a)fairvote.uk
> <matt(a)fairvote.uk> cc'ed. Thank you! *
>
>
> On Fri, 1 Jul 2022 at 13:05, Eric Luth <eric.luth(a)wikimedia.se> wrote:
>
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > Thanks for the summary, Dimi. Interesting read on the Digital Commons,
> > happy to see that the Swedish government also supported.
> >
> > On Copyright reform, the Swedish government has sent its proposal on
> > copyright reform to the council on legislation, which is the last step
> > before it goes to parliament. We are currently analyzing the proposal,
> and
> > working with MPs to improve the worst parts and safeguard the best.
> >
> > Best
> > *Eric Luth*
> > Projektledare engagemang och påverkan | Project Manager, Involvement and
> > Advocacy
> > Wikimedia Sverige
> > eric.luth(a)wikimedia.se
> > +46 (0) 765 55 50 95
> >
> > Stöd fri kunskap, bli medlem i Wikimedia Sverige.
> > Läs mer på blimedlem.wikimedia.se
> >
> >
> > Den tors 30 juni 2022 kl 17:58 skrev Jan Gerlach <jgerlach(a)wikimedia.org
> >:
> >
> >> Many thanks for another great update, Dimi!
> >>
> >> Alex, the Foundation's Global Advocacy team is tracking the UK Online
> >> Safety Bill and we have published our first impressions on the text here
> >> <
> https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/early-impressions-of-the-uk-online-safe…
> >.
> >> We're in touch with various allies of our movement in the UK and plan to
> >> further engage on the bill when appropriate.
> >>
> >> Thanks for your interest!
> >> Jan
> >>
> >> On Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 8:32 AM Alex Stinson <astinson(a)wikimedia.org>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi Demi and list?
> >>>
> >>> Is anyone following the UK law at:
> >>>
> https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-bill-supporting-do…
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Curious if we are watching that in connection with other
> Disinfo/Content
> >>> moderation laws.
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>>
> >>> Alex
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 12:16 PM Dimi Dimitrov <dimi(a)wikimedia.be>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> The French government has vowed to invest money in the commons. Rub
> >>>> your eyes, read it again and then continue reading below.
> >>>>
> >>>> ====================
> >>>>
> >>>> DIGITAL COMMONS
> >>>>
> >>>> ====================
> >>>>
> >>>> It still surprises us to be able to put “French government” and
> >>>> “investment in the digital commons” together, but here we go: The
> French
> >>>> Presidency of the Council of the EU came up with a plan how the old
> >>>> continent can compete with dominant US tech companies. The plan is to
> have
> >>>> more “digital commons”, which can be anything open source, including
> >>>> software, code libraries, tools, repositories. The basic thinking is
> that
> >>>> if fundamental tools and libraries are accessible to all players,
> this will
> >>>> level the playing field. [1]
> >>>>
> >>>> —
> >>>>
> >>>> 19 EU Member Countries and the Commission presented the idea of
> digital
> >>>> commons at the Digital Assembly in Toulouse. They acknowledge that
> there
> >>>> are many instances of working digital commons, but also point out that
> >>>> oftentimes projects lack long-term, structural support. The plan
> envisages
> >>>> financial help and a “one-stop-shop” to find government support. [2]
> >>>>
> >>>> —
> >>>>
> >>>> Funds in the ballpark of tens of millions of euros are already
> pledged,
> >>>> but the concrete details are still in the making. Thanks to the
> leadership
> >>>> of Wikimédia France, our movement and a group of partners (Europeana,
> >>>> Communia, OpenStreetMap) are part of this conversation from the
> start. We
> >>>> especially want to show that governments can often help by removing
> legal
> >>>> and administrative obstacles, not just by peddling money. [3]
> >>>>
> >>>> ======
> >>>>
> >>>> CSAM
> >>>>
> >>>> ======
> >>>>
> >>>> We wrote about the proposal of the Commission to regulate the online
> >>>> moderation of “Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)” in last month’s
> report
> >>>> [4]. While it is a very important issue to tackle, we do have great
> >>>> concerns with parts of the text, especially provisions that would
> allow
> >>>> scanning all online chats on a given platform. We are still analysing
> how
> >>>> exactly, if at all, this would impact Wikimedia projects. In the
> meantime,
> >>>> we can offer a short briefing. [5]
> >>>>
> >>>> —
> >>>>
> >>>> On the legislative side, the start feels very bumpy: The European
> >>>> Parliament probably won’t refer the file to a committee until
> September or
> >>>> October, while ample criticism is pouring in, including from the
> German
> >>>> government. [6]
> >>>>
> >>>> =========
> >>>>
> >>>> Net Neutrality
> >>>>
> >>>> =========
> >>>>
> >>>> The European Commission plans to push out a new legislative proposal
> >>>> after the summer that is expected to include provisions forcing some
> >>>> service providers to pay for data traffic (think Facebook and Netflix
> >>>> paying Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica). While this is a classic
> example of
> >>>> a lobbying battle between very large telecommunications companies and
> very
> >>>> large tech companies, it also would violate some basic principles of
> net
> >>>> neutrality. A group of civil society organisations, led by EDRi, sent
> a
> >>>> letter to the relevant Commissioners outlining the main issues. [7]
> >>>>
> >>>> —
> >>>>
> >>>> On the bright side, BEREC, the EU’s body of telecoms regulators, has
> >>>> updated its net neutrality guidelines to close some loopholes and
> >>>> effectively ban zero rating of data for some applications. [8]
> >>>>
> >>>> =============
> >>>>
> >>>> Disinformation
> >>>>
> >>>> =============
> >>>>
> >>>> The European Commission has presented an updated Code of Practice on
> >>>> Disinformation. [9] Wikimedia had not signed up the original Code,
> because
> >>>> we deemed it was mainly focused on “follow the money”, hence where
> >>>> disinformation is spread through advertising and paid reach. The
> version
> >>>> will allow researchers more access to data of large platforms and
> again
> >>>> focus on advertising.
> >>>>
> >>>> —
> >>>>
> >>>> The Code of Practice is a voluntary initiative for online platforms,
> >>>> but taking part in it essentially removes some obligations under the
> newly
> >>>> created Digital Services Act.
> >>>>
> >>>> =============
> >>>>
> >>>> Italian Dramas
> >>>>
> >>>> =============
> >>>>
> >>>> The Italian government published new draft guidelines about public
> data
> >>>> (open government) and opened a consultation. [10] They basically
> state that
> >>>> open government and open data provisions don’t apply to institutions
> >>>> related to culture, which is a very Italian thing. We wonder if this
> is in
> >>>> line with the Public Sector Information Directive and will
> investigate with
> >>>> Wikimedia Italia, which are also participating in the consultation.
> >>>>
> >>>> —
> >>>>
> >>>> The Italian government has been on a roll. It also published the draft
> >>>> national digitisation plan. It would establish an administrative fee
> for
> >>>> the commercial use of all public domain digitisations of cultural
> >>>> institutions. It essentially outlaws CC0 as a relevant license for
> most
> >>>> GLAMs in the country and circumvents the public domain safeguard
> enshrined
> >>>> in the latest copyright directive. There was a public consultation
> until 15
> >>>> June which Wikimedia Italy and partners participated in. Expect blog
> posts
> >>>> on Diff and on wikimedia.brussels soon.
> >>>>
> >>>> =============
> >>>>
> >>>> Polish & Czech Copyright Reforms
> >>>>
> >>>> =============
> >>>>
> >>>> The Czech copyright reform is in parliament. We have a Czech language
> >>>> copy. [11] The Polish government published its proposal, which will
> go to
> >>>> parliament very soon. We have a rough English translation. [12] If you
> >>>> consider yourself a copyright geek, enjoy reading them. If you want
> to help
> >>>> our national partners advocating on this, get in touch! :)
> >>>>
> >>>> ====
> >>>>
> >>>> END
> >>>>
> >>>> ====
> >>>>
> >>>> [1]https://twitter.com/AmbNum/status/1540657835427741699
> >>>>
> >>>> [2]
> >>>>
> https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/politique-etrangere-de-la-france/diplomat…
> >>>>
> >>>> [3]
> >>>>
> https://www.wikimedia.fr/pour-un-developpement-des-communs-numeriques-a-lec…
> >>>>
> >>>> [4]
> >>>>
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.or…
> >>>>
> >>>> [5]
> >>>>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dD5AF8-uk2LFG7mu62AK7S80H4CrF1ftV7lheE6…
> >>>>
> >>>> [6]
> >>>>
> https://www.techdirt.com/2022/06/27/germany-says-hell-no-to-eu-proposal-to-…
> >>>>
> >>>> [7]
> >>>>
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Q4d13xqr5UsPkoSMw7d_3YL-hZnq4cL/view?usp=…
> >>>>
> >>>> [8]https://fossbytes.com/europe-bans-zero-rating-internet-offers/
> >>>>
> >>>> [9]https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_3664
> >>>>
> >>>> [10]
> >>>>
> https://www.agid.gov.it/it/agenzia/stampa-e-comunicazione/notizie/2022/06/1…
> >>>> .
> >>>>
> >>>> [11]
> >>>>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J7dvl4yEk6ScWIIypdI6Uq_7273T7G5i/edit?u…
> >>>>
> >>>> [12]
> >>>>
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N0ArQkgpZkQQcdpsidS_Yc-bS5liQsl5/view?usp=…
> >>>>
> >>>> Wikimedia Belgium vzw
> >>>> BE 0563.775.480 - RPR Brussel
> >>>> Antwerpselaan 40 Boulevard d’Anvers 1000 Brussel/Bruxelles
> >>>> www.wikimedia.be
> >>>> info(a)wikimedia.be
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to
> publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Alex Stinson
> >>> Lead Program Strategist
> >>> Wikimedia Foundation
> >>> Twitter: @sadads
> >>>
> >>> Learn more about how the communities behind Wikipedia, Wikidata and
> >>> other Wikimedia projects create calls to action to invite new
> contributors
> >>> through campaigns: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Campaigns
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >>> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >>>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >> To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >
>
>
> --
>
>
> *Rita Jonusaite**Advocacy Coordinator *| EU DisinfoLab
>
> +32 488 59 70 70 (WhatsApp/Signal)
>
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