News from Across the Sea #3:

The last edition of 2024 is as packed as ever. The change of leadership in the European Commission was confirmed, the results of a presidential election prompted an investigation into TikTok, and risk reports of major platforms were published. Amidst all these developments, CELE traveled to Brussels to present its work.

New European Commissioners, New Responsibilities

As we mentioned in the last editionUrsula von der Leyen had already appointed the new members of the College of Commissioners who would accompany her in her second term as President of the European Commission.

Finland's Henna Virkkunen has been confirmed as Commissioner for Digital Technologies and Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. She will be in charge of enforcing the DSA following the failed tenure of former Commissioner Breton. After her confirmation hearing (transcript here), the Parliament approved her appointment.
Another key figure will be Ireland's Michael McGrath, the new Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection. From this position, he will be responsible for implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and promoting the Digital Fairness Act, which will address unethical business practices such as dark patterns, influencer marketing on social media, and addictive design of digital products, among others. During his confirmation hearing, McGrath emphasized the need for consistency in the application of the DSA, the DMA (Digital Markets Act) and the AI ​​Act (Artificial Intelligence Act) to ensure a uniform approach to human rights and freedom of expression.

First Round of Risk Reports Under the DSA

Everyone is talking about the risk assessment and mitigation reports submitted by VLOPs and VLOSEs (Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines, respectively), published under Article 42 of the DSA. But What do these reports contain, and why all the fuss? 

Article 34 of the DSA requires VLOPs and VLOSEs to detect, analyze and assess systemic risks arising from the design, use, or operation of their services on an annual basis. These risks include the dissemination of illegal content, threats to human rights, negative effects on security, civic discourse and democracy, gender-based violence, public safety, health and child protection. Article 35, for its part, requires these providers to implement “reasonable, proportionate, and effective” mitigation measures to address these risks. Platforms must submit risk assessment reports and reports on the mitigation measures adopted, which must be evaluated by independent auditors. These auditors, in turn, produce a report with recommendations. Finally, platforms must submit a third report detailing the implementation of the auditors' recommendations. These reports were published for the first time at the end of November, and CELE is working alongside other organizations to review and analyze them. In the meantime, you can consult them here.

Elections in Romania: The Investigation Against TikTok

On December 4, 2024, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the first round of the presidential elections in that country, following the declassification of intelligence reports that, according to the Court, revealed evidence of campaign finance violations, cyberattacks, and other electoral law breaches—including possible Russian interference—through the TikTok platform. As a result, the European Commission has launched proceedings against TikTok on suspicion that the platform violated the DSA by failing to adequately mitigate risks to electoral integrity. The investigation focuses on TikTok’s recommendation systems, as these may have been vulnerable to coordinated manipulation efforts, and its policies on political advertising, as the platform-wide ban on such content appears to have been circumvented. The details of the proceedings remain classified, and the Commission has not set a deadline for its ruling.

CELE in Europe

On December 4, 2024, CELE, in collaboration with the Center for IT & IP (CiTiP) of the KU Leuven, organized an in-person roundtable at that university to discuss with academics members of civil society a work in progress titled “Are the New Rights Risks?: the Perils of Risk-Based Approaches to Speech Regulation.” This report, to be published early next year, offers a critical, human rights-centered perspective on the risk-based approach outlined in Articles 34 and 35 of the DSA.

In addition, CELE, in partnership with FTI Consulting, hosted a discussion titled “Building Bridges—Strengthening Freedom of Expression to Enable European Tech Leadership Regulation.”This discussion, which included representation from the European Commission and civil society, focused on the gap between regulations adopted and promoted by the European Union, such as the DSA and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the challenges to freedom of expression in the Global South, where the state often remains the greatest threat to human rights in general and freedom of expression in particular.

CELE's Contribution to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on Data Access for Researchers

As we mentioned in the previous edition, the European Commission launched a public consultation on a draft delegated regulation concerning access to researcher access to online platform data. You can find our joint contribution, written with our colleagues from InternetLab, at this link.

What Are We Reading?

This paper by Interface on the potential and perspectives of codes of conduct for online advertising.

This blogpost by Sally Broughton Micova on risk reports and audits

If you have made it this far, thank you for reading News from Across the Sea. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the holiday season. See you soon.

Until next year!