EU to Apple: “Let Users Choose Their Software”; Apple: “Nah”

This year, a far-reaching, complex new piece of legislation comes into effect in EU: the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which represents some of the most ambitious tech policy in European history. We don’t love everything in the DMA, but some of its...

Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

The European Union’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a complex, many-legged beast, but at root, it is a regulation that aims to make it easier for the public to control the technology they use and rely on. One DMA rule forces the powerful...

Disinformation and Elections: EFF and ARTICLE 19 Submit Key Recommendations to EU Commission

Global Elections and Platform ResponsibilityThis year is a major one for elections around the world, with pivotal races in the U.S., the UK, the European Union, Russia, and India, to name just a few. Social media platforms play a crucial role in...

European Court of Human Rights Confirms: Weakening Encryption Violates Fundamental Rights

In a milestone judgment - Podchasov v. Russia - the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that weakening of encryption can lead to general and indiscriminate surveillance of the communications of all users and violates the human right...

The Latest EU Media Freedom Act Agreement Is a Bad Deal for Users

The European Parliament and Member States’ representatives last week negotiated a controversial special status for media outlets that are active on large online platforms. The EU Media Freedom Act (EMFA), though well-intended, has significant...

EFF And Other Experts Join in Pointing Out Pitfalls of Proposed EU Cyber-Resilience Act

Today we join a set of 56 experts from organizations such as Google, Panasonic, Citizen Lab, Trend Micro and many others in an open letter calling on the European Commission, European Parliament, and Spain’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and...

EU’s Proposed Cyber Resilience Act Raises Concerns for Open Source and Cybersecurity

The EU is in the middle of the amendments process for its proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), a law intended to bolster Europe’s defenses against cyber-attacks and improve product security. This law targets a broad swath of products brought to...

Here's How Apple Could Open Its App Store Without Really Opening Its App Store

And what we can do about it.With this year’s passage of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), very large online platforms - those with EU revenues of €75 billion or more and at least 45 million EU users - will have to open up their devices to rival...

Digital Services Act: EU Parliament's Key Committee Rejects a Filternet But Concerns Remain

Fix What is Broken vs Break What Works: Oscillating Between Policy ChoicesThe European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) is a big deal. It's the most significant reform of Europe’s internet platform legislation in twenty years and the EU...

Article 17 Copyright Directive: The Court of Justice’s Advocate General Rejects Fundamental Rights Challenge But Defends Users Against Overblocking

The Advocate General (AG) of the EU Court of Justice today missed an opportunity to fully protect internet users from censorship by automated filtering, finding that the disastrous Article 17 of the EU Copyright Directive doesn’t run afoul of...

UK's Draft Online Safety Bill Raises Serious Concerns Around Freedom of Expression

On May 12, the UK government published a draft of its Online Safety Bill, which attempts to tackle illegal and otherwise harmful content online by placing a duty of care on online platforms to protect their users from such content. The move came...

The EU Commission's Refusal to Let Go of Filters

The EU copyright directive has caused controversy than any other proposal in recent EU history - and for good reason. In abandoning traditional legal mechanisms to tackle copyright infringement online, Article 17 (formerly Article 13) of the...