Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship. That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
Techdirt has always been an indispensible news source for people following tech policy. This year @Mike Masnick has emerged as one of the clearest and most incisive voices explaining our current moment. Please donate. RE:
Bluesky Social
Mike Masnick (@mmasnick.bsky.social)
Hey folks: this morning we're launching a monthlong fundraiser for @techdirt.com. Over the last year, we've been steadfast in not self-censoring, n...
 View quoted note β†’
I'm pretty sure the CJEU in Russmedia just casually dismantled 80% of the DSA with one ill-considered judgment. As I read it, it substitutes in GDPR rules -- not notice and takedown rules -- for any platform where a user is likely to post content about people. 1/ [curia.europa.eu/juris/docume...](
CURIA - Documents
 ) [CURIA - Documents ](
CURIA - Documents
 )
I love β€œWe Can Just Do Things” as a description of what ATProto is enabling so much. RE:
Bluesky Social
Mike Masnick (@mmasnick.bsky.social)
This is super cool, and a real validation of the ecosystem. Forget all the whining about filter bubbles or what not. What's happening here is impor...
 View quoted note β†’
Oh hell yes. This is like in a movie when two giant, comically inept, and heavily armed bad guys face off. [MPA Sends Cease and Desist Let...](
MPA Sends Cease and Desist to Instagram Over PG-13 Rating
MPA sends cease and desist to Instagram and Meta over PG-13 rating in teen accounts.
 )
What if we all just agreed that "VLOP" stands for *both* Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines. If we actually need to distinguish them, we can revert to saying VLOPSEs or VLOPs/SEs any time we need to! But in the meantime we can use simpler language.
Another lesson in real world jawboning. DOJ pressures one company (Apple) into compliance. The next company (Google) also complies with no direct DOJ contact at all. The company whose Maps app tells me where the highway patrol is (thx!) won't let scared and vulnerable people share ICE location. RE:
Bluesky Social
Daphne Keller (@daphnek.bsky.social)
When people first hear about "jawboning" -- meaning government pressure to suppress speech through threats and other extra-legal measures, like wha...
 [Google Calls ICE Agents a Vuln...](
404 Media
Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App β€˜Red Dot’
The move comes as Apple removed ICEBlock after direct pressure from U.S. Department of Justice officials and signals a broader crackdown on ICE-spo...
 ) View quoted note β†’
Alphabet's letter to the House Judiciary Committee is making me physically cringe. Apparently we are now the country where you ritualistically say false things to lawmakers because it is what they want to hear. [judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...](πŸ“„.pdf ) [judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subs...](πŸ“„.pdf )
Lately, I’ve been defending the European Commission against allegations of censorship. I haven’t always done that. In 2017, for example, I accused them of promoting censorship to a dystopian degree. My title was, if I do say so myself, a real banger. 1/ [cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2017/10...](
Stanford CIS
The European Commission, for One, Welcomes Our New Robot Overlords
This is my third and most intemperate blog post about the European Commission’s recent Communication on platforms and illegal content. The first ...
 )
When people first hear about "jawboning" -- meaning government pressure to suppress speech through threats and other extra-legal measures, like what the FCC is doing now -- they always want to talk about "coercion" by the govt. I've always thought this is a red herring. Current events show why. 1/