Turkey’s troll networks Published: 21 March 2022 Commentary In Turkey, where twenty years of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule has seen the country descend into authoritarianism, mainstream media is almost completely under Erdoğan’s control. Social media remains one of the only outlets for those opposing Erdoğan to voice their discontent. Since the 2013 Gezi protests, the AKP has been trying to control the narratives on social media by employing social media trolls: networks of fake accounts that disseminate propaganda for the AKP and targets the opposition. Studies show that these troll networks are becoming more sophisticated and are changing tactics. Fazıl Alp Akiş explains how. By Fazıl Alp Akiş
The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act: Should some applications of AI be beyond the pale? Published: 12 January 2022 Commentary The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act aims to regulate emerging applications of AI in accordance with “EU values”. But for the most concerning of all such potential applications, the line between regulation and prohibition can be a tricky one to draw. By Alexandre Erler
Gearing up for the Digital Decade? Assessing the enforcement mechanisms of the EU’s platform regulation bills Published: 6 January 2022 Background 2022 is shaping up to be a big year for European digital policymaking. The Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts as well as the Artificial Intelligence Act will reverberate beyond the EU’s borders. For the EU’s comprehensive vision for platform regulation to become reality, it will be crucial to coordinate the enforcement mechanisms of these laws. By Amélie Heldt
Digital violence against women: what needs to be done now Published: 1 December 2021 Event report Every single day, women are abused, threatened or slandered on digital social networks. Yet the operators of these platforms are doing very little to make the digital space a safer place for women. The whistleblower Frances Haugen talked to Spiegel journalist Ann-Katrin Müller and Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, about what needs to be done right now to stop violence on the net. By Ute Czylwik
The platform economy Published: 24 November 2021 Dossier The major platform providers have become decisive players on the internet - not only as critical information infrastructures, but also at content level. They moderate, they curate content, and block accounts based on rules they set themselves. We ask: How do private companies influence the public debate, and how can they be democratically scrutinised?
Hate and digital violence: holding platforms accountable Published: 4 November 2021 Event recording Big communication platforms like Facebook, YouTube and others do little to create safe spaces for users. On the contrary, the platforms make money with hateful and divisive content, which they use to capture their user’s attention and will keep them on the platforms for as long as possible. There is no doubt about this since the latest revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen. Women and girls - like all people affected by digital hate - are defenceless on the platforms. By Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Inside your pocket: the grave threat of disinformation on private messenger apps Published: 4 October 2021 Commentary WhatsApp is huge in Spain. It is on almost every phone and Spaniards spend more time on this platform than in any other digital space. Telegram is also growing massively, yet the fundamental role these private messaging apps play in the dissemination of disinformation has often been overlooked. It is there where most disinformation originates and, at the same time, where it is most difficult to monitor. By Carlos Hernández-Echevarría
Discrimination by moderation: How to address gender and racial bias in content moderation Published: 21 June 2021 Event recording The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Washington, DC offices hosted a transatlantic online discussion that addressed discrimination of LGBTIQA+ and racial groups through content moderation. Amid the EU discussion on the draft Digital Services Act (DSA) and of the US debate on reforming Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, the event presented the e-papers "The state of content moderation for the LGBTIQA+ community and the role of the EU Digital Services Act" by Christina Dinar, and "Algorithmic misogynoir in content moderation practice" by Brandeis Marshall. By Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
Algorithmic misogynoir in content moderation practice Published: 21 June 2021 E-paper "Algorithmic misogynoir in content moderation practice" from Brandeis Marshall, offers an intersectional perspective by exploring the discrimination specifically faced by Black women in the United States. By Brandeis Marshall