Hello!
Things in Brussels are slowing down. The co-leiglsators are formally adopting the last reforms, while the Belgian Presidency is making one last attempt to get the regulation combatting CSA material over the finish line. Meanwhile the European Commission is offering a grant to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works.
Dimi & Michele
=== CSAM ===
The Child Sexual Abuse Material Regulation https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2022/0155(COD)&l=en is solidly stuck and unlikely to make it to the finish line, as we have written before. Nonetheless the Belgian Presidency of the Council made yet another attempt to get things moving. The latest compromise proposal includes clearer safeguards to protect end-to-end encryption. It also tries to introduce a risk-based model, whereas services deemed to be high-risk would face more obligations.
—
The fundamental issues of the proposal remain though and it looks unlikely that the European Parliament (which wants to protect end-to-end encryption) and the Council (where some countries would really like to poke a hole in end-to-end encryption) can find much common ground.
==== EMFA====
On 13 March 2024, the European Parliament voted on the final text of the European Media Freedom Act https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240308IPR19014/media-freedom-act-a-new-bill-to-protect-eu-journalists-and-press-freedom, a new piece of legislation that aims at promoting media freedom and pluralism within the EU. The Council has formally adopted the text https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/03/26/european-media-freedom-act-council-adopts-new-rules-to-protect-journalists-and-media-providers/on the 26 of March, which now only needs to be formally signed and published in the Official Journal - after twenty days it will enter into force.
=== Transparency & Targeting of Political Advertising===
On the 11th of March 2024, the Council of the EU adopted the agreed text of the Regulation https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/03/11/eu-introduces-new-rules-on-transparency-and-targeting-of-political-advertising/. The new rules have been already published in the Official Journal https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202400900 and thus will enter into force on the 9th of April. Some rules will apply immediately - i.e. Article 3 containing definitions and Article 5 introducing restrictions on third-country sponsors, whilst others from October 2025.
=== Anti-SLAPPs Directive ===
The Council of the EU https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/03/19/anti-slapp-final-green-light-for-eu-law-protecting-journalists-and-human-rights-defenders/ formally adopted the final text of the anti-SLAPPs directive. The text will now be signed by the Presidents of both the European Parliament and the Council and published in the Official Journal. Following twenty days from its publication, it will enter into force.
=== AI Act ===
The European Parliament formally adopted https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0138_EN.html the Artificial Intelligence Act.
=== French SREN Bill ===
On the 13th of March 2024, the Commission formally sent to the French Government its detailed opinion https://europa.eu/webtools/rest/html2m/output/html2m-1711446140-zxjvi.pdf on the SREN bill, following its formal notification.
The EC highlighted how the new rules need to be in line with the e-Commerce Directive, particularly the country of origin principle therein established and its Article 3(4) and (5) for possible deviations from this principle, and cannot be in contrast with or merely replicating DSA rules. Furthermore, the EC pointed out that measures concerning the protection of minors should be developed at EU level, as the DSA, among other things, aims at addressing the issue.
French Authorities need now to take into account all these remarks before approving the text if they want to avoid the opening of an infringement procedure according to Article 258 TFEU. In this sense, the Commission Mixte Paritaire https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_mixte_paritaire (composed of senators and deputies) resumed its work on the 26th of March and under the guidance of the new Secretary of State in charge of digital affairs, Ms Marina Ferrari https://www.gouvernement.fr/personnalite/marina-ferrari?mission=secretaire-detat-aupres-du-ministre-de-leconomie-des-finances-et-de-la-souverainete-industrielle-et-numerique-chargee-du-numerique, will try to address the EC’s concerns.
It is worth noting that, as the bill has not been passed yet, ARCOM has not been formally designated as Digital Service Coordinator - the DSA foresaw the formal designation by the 17th of February 2024.
===EU Repository of Public Domain and Open Licensed Works===
The European Commission is accepting proposals for a pilot project to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/eu-repository-public-domain-and-open-licensed-works. There are 700.000 euro allocated to this. One of the ideas for this is to have a database of already identified free content, so online platforms can avoid their systems blocking or deleting it (as is required by the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive).
===END===
Thanks for these reports, as always!
I noticed that the EU Commission has now published https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_1707 its "guidelines under the DSA for the mitigation of systemic risks online for elections" by VLOPs, "with specific guidance for the upcoming European Parliament elections in June." You noted in the February report https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/UTCHUX3T3ZAEEQQHPJVNFS3K772DGHOC/ that these will apply to Wikipedia too. Any thoughts already on which parts of the final version are most likely to affect the work of editors and the WMF, and how?
Regards, Tilman
On Fri, Mar 29, 2024 at 2:46 AM Dimi Dimitrov dimi@wikimedia.be wrote:
Hello!
Things in Brussels are slowing down. The co-leiglsators are formally adopting the last reforms, while the Belgian Presidency is making one last attempt to get the regulation combatting CSA material over the finish line. Meanwhile the European Commission is offering a grant to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works.
Dimi & Michele
=== CSAM ===
The Child Sexual Abuse Material Regulation https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2022/0155(COD)&l=en is solidly stuck and unlikely to make it to the finish line, as we have written before. Nonetheless the Belgian Presidency of the Council made yet another attempt to get things moving. The latest compromise proposal includes clearer safeguards to protect end-to-end encryption. It also tries to introduce a risk-based model, whereas services deemed to be high-risk would face more obligations.
—
The fundamental issues of the proposal remain though and it looks unlikely that the European Parliament (which wants to protect end-to-end encryption) and the Council (where some countries would really like to poke a hole in end-to-end encryption) can find much common ground.
==== EMFA====
On 13 March 2024, the European Parliament voted on the final text of the European Media Freedom Act https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240308IPR19014/media-freedom-act-a-new-bill-to-protect-eu-journalists-and-press-freedom, a new piece of legislation that aims at promoting media freedom and pluralism within the EU. The Council has formally adopted the text https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/03/26/european-media-freedom-act-council-adopts-new-rules-to-protect-journalists-and-media-providers/on the 26 of March, which now only needs to be formally signed and published in the Official Journal - after twenty days it will enter into force.
=== Transparency & Targeting of Political Advertising===
On the 11th of March 2024, the Council of the EU adopted the agreed text of the Regulation https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/03/11/eu-introduces-new-rules-on-transparency-and-targeting-of-political-advertising/. The new rules have been already published in the Official Journal https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202400900 and thus will enter into force on the 9th of April. Some rules will apply immediately - i.e. Article 3 containing definitions and Article 5 introducing restrictions on third-country sponsors, whilst others from October 2025.
=== Anti-SLAPPs Directive ===
The Council of the EU https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/03/19/anti-slapp-final-green-light-for-eu-law-protecting-journalists-and-human-rights-defenders/ formally adopted the final text of the anti-SLAPPs directive. The text will now be signed by the Presidents of both the European Parliament and the Council and published in the Official Journal. Following twenty days from its publication, it will enter into force.
=== AI Act ===
The European Parliament formally adopted https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0138_EN.html the Artificial Intelligence Act.
=== French SREN Bill ===
On the 13th of March 2024, the Commission formally sent to the French Government its detailed opinion https://europa.eu/webtools/rest/html2m/output/html2m-1711446140-zxjvi.pdf on the SREN bill, following its formal notification.
The EC highlighted how the new rules need to be in line with the e-Commerce Directive, particularly the country of origin principle therein established and its Article 3(4) and (5) for possible deviations from this principle, and cannot be in contrast with or merely replicating DSA rules. Furthermore, the EC pointed out that measures concerning the protection of minors should be developed at EU level, as the DSA, among other things, aims at addressing the issue.
French Authorities need now to take into account all these remarks before approving the text if they want to avoid the opening of an infringement procedure according to Article 258 TFEU. In this sense, the Commission Mixte Paritaire https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_mixte_paritaire (composed of senators and deputies) resumed its work on the 26th of March and under the guidance of the new Secretary of State in charge of digital affairs, Ms Marina Ferrari https://www.gouvernement.fr/personnalite/marina-ferrari?mission=secretaire-detat-aupres-du-ministre-de-leconomie-des-finances-et-de-la-souverainete-industrielle-et-numerique-chargee-du-numerique, will try to address the EC’s concerns.
It is worth noting that, as the bill has not been passed yet, ARCOM has not been formally designated as Digital Service Coordinator - the DSA foresaw the formal designation by the 17th of February 2024.
===EU Repository of Public Domain and Open Licensed Works===
The European Commission is accepting proposals for a pilot project to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/eu-repository-public-domain-and-open-licensed-works. There are 700.000 euro allocated to this. One of the ideas for this is to have a database of already identified free content, so online platforms can avoid their systems blocking or deleting it (as is required by the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive).
===END===
Wikimedia Europe ivzw _______________________________________________ Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
I like that this 700000 euro grant has several thousand euro worth of lawyer-review-time documents attached to it 😆
Do we have any sense who might be applying to this grant?
On Mar 29, 2024 at 3:03 AM -0700, Dimi Dimitrov dimi@wikimedia.be, wrote:
===EU Repository of Public Domain and Open Licensed Works=== The European Commission is accepting proposals for a pilot project to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works. There are 700.000 euro allocated to this. One of the ideas for this is to have a database of already identified free content, so online platforms can avoid their systems blocking or deleting it (as is required by the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive).
Hi all,
@Luis: The whole thing was originally conceptualised in a whitepaper penned by Paul Keller and Felix Reda https://openfuture.pubpub.org/pub/whitepaper-article17-public-domain-repository/release/2. I would strongly assume that they will know more about potential consortiums.
@Tilman: To be fair, I didn't have much time to properly read through the finalised guidelines https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/repository/document/2024-13/C_2024_2121_1_EN_annexe_acte_autonome_cp_part1_v3_tpHHZgYyBGFMF8J5rE0OR1GdOis_103911.pdf before the report went out, so I skipped them. I have now caught up on my reading and to be honest it feels simultaneously overwhelming and underwhelming. A ton of well meant recommendations (as guidelines are non-binding), but it also says that VLOPs are free to come up with other measures to mitigate risks. The recommendations themselves come in several categories:
- *reinforcing internal processes* (e.g. having a dedicated team and people who are aware of local contexts), - *risk mitigation measures for electoral processes* (e.g. pointing users to official election portals, media literacy initiatives, fact-checking labels, demonetisation, recommender systems), - *mitigation measures linked to generative AI* (e.g. watermarks, making an effort to ensure AIs are trained on reliable sources, red-teaming exercises), - *cooperation with national authorities, independent experts and civil society organisations*, - specific recommendations for during the election period (put in place an *internal incident response mechanism*), - and for after the election period (conduct a *post-election review*).
I hope this clarifies your question at least partially!
Cheers, Dimi
Le mer. 3 avr. 2024 à 00:28, Luis Villa luis@lu.is a écrit :
I like that this 700000 euro grant has several thousand euro worth of lawyer-review-time documents attached to it 😆
Do we have any sense who might be applying to this grant?
On Mar 29, 2024 at 3:03 AM -0700, Dimi Dimitrov dimi@wikimedia.be, wrote:
===EU Repository of Public Domain and Open Licensed Works=== The European Commission is accepting proposals for a pilot project to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works. There are 700.000 euro allocated to this. One of the ideas for this is to have a database of already identified free content, so online platforms can avoid their systems blocking or deleting it (as is required by the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive).
Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
There is a public summary from the European Commission of all the consultation responses it received regarding these guidelines, when they were still in draft form. In it, you will some references to some of the feedback that WMF provided: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-services-act-summar...
Unfortunately, it seems there was a significant rush within the European Commission to get this out as soon as possible; just 19 days passed between the end of the consultation, and publication of the final guidelines. So although I see some changes in the final version, that go a little way towards acknowledging the concerns we raised, I would say that overall the released document is fundamentally very similar to the consultation draft.
P.
On Thu, 4 Apr 2024 at 11:16, Dimi Dimitrov dimi@wikimedia.be wrote:
Hi all,
@Luis: The whole thing was originally conceptualised in a whitepaper penned by Paul Keller and Felix Reda https://openfuture.pubpub.org/pub/whitepaper-article17-public-domain-repository/release/2. I would strongly assume that they will know more about potential consortiums.
@Tilman: To be fair, I didn't have much time to properly read through the finalised guidelines https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/repository/document/2024-13/C_2024_2121_1_EN_annexe_acte_autonome_cp_part1_v3_tpHHZgYyBGFMF8J5rE0OR1GdOis_103911.pdf before the report went out, so I skipped them. I have now caught up on my reading and to be honest it feels simultaneously overwhelming and underwhelming. A ton of well meant recommendations (as guidelines are non-binding), but it also says that VLOPs are free to come up with other measures to mitigate risks. The recommendations themselves come in several categories:
- *reinforcing internal processes* (e.g. having a dedicated team and
people who are aware of local contexts),
- *risk mitigation measures for electoral processes* (e.g. pointing users to official election portals, media literacy initiatives, fact-checking labels, demonetisation, recommender systems),
making an effort to ensure AIs are trained on reliable sources, red-teaming exercises),
- *mitigation measures linked to generative AI* (e.g. watermarks,
- *cooperation with national authorities, independent experts and civil society organisations*,
place an *internal incident response mechanism*),
- specific recommendations for during the election period (put in
- and for after the election period (conduct a *post-election review*).
I hope this clarifies your question at least partially!
Cheers, Dimi
Le mer. 3 avr. 2024 à 00:28, Luis Villa luis@lu.is a écrit :
I like that this 700000 euro grant has several thousand euro worth of lawyer-review-time documents attached to it 😆
Do we have any sense who might be applying to this grant?
On Mar 29, 2024 at 3:03 AM -0700, Dimi Dimitrov dimi@wikimedia.be, wrote:
===EU Repository of Public Domain and Open Licensed Works=== The European Commission is accepting proposals for a pilot project to build a repository of public domain and open licensed works. There are 700.000 euro allocated to this. One of the ideas for this is to have a database of already identified free content, so online platforms can avoid their systems blocking or deleting it (as is required by the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive).
Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
-- Dimitar Dimitrov Policy Director Wikimedia Europe
mobile: +32497720374 Rue Belliard 12 Belliardstraat, Brussels https://wikimedia.brussels
Wikimedia Europe ivzw _______________________________________________ Publicpolicy mailing list -- publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe send an email to publicpolicy-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org