Stories from Abroad

In a decision that could further embolden European governments to take on large tech platforms, Germany’s top court, the Federal Court of Justice, ruled that Facebook had abused its dominance in social media to illegally harvest data about its users. The authorities said Facebook broke competition laws by combining data it collected about users across its different platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram, as well as from outside websites and third-party apps. In Germany, Facebook now must alter how it processes data about its users.

One of the US government’s strongest forces for internet freedom is in danger, and supporters are calling on the public for help. The Open Technology Fund (OTF), a small US organization devoted to protecting digital speech across the world, has helped support nearly all of the most prominent encryption projects at various points — including Signal, Tails, Qubes, and the Tor Project. But after the abrupt firing of the fund’s entire leadership team, current recipients say their contractually promised funding is now at risk.

For decades, US government-funded foreign broadcasting has distinguished itself from that of undemocratic nations with its commitment to quality journalism and editorial independence.

This report lays out a roadmap in which all stakeholders play a role in advancing a safer, more equitable digital world, one which will lead to a brighter and more prosperous future for all. Based on recommendations from the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel for Digital Cooperation convened from 2018-2019, and further informed by a series of roundtable discussions with key stakeholders the following set of actions are envisaged:

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a new rule ensuring US industry’s ability to more fully contribute to standards-development activities in the telecommunications sector. International standards serve as the critical building blocks for technological development by enabling functionality, interoperability, and safety.

The government must urgently ensure that more than 1 million children have reliable internet access at home or risk irreparable harm to their education, a cross-party group of Members Parliament and former ministers has said.

Billions of people don’t have the option to turn to the web in times of need or normality. A gross digital divide holds back almost half the planet when it most needs the web. This divide is most acutely experienced in developing countries.

The European Commission launched a public consultation on the Digital Services Act, a landmark package announced by President von der Leyen in her political guidelines and in the Commission's Communication “Shaping Europe's Digital Future” of 19 February.

The United Kingdom government is drawing up plans to force a full phase out of Huawei from Britain’s 5G networks within three years. Government officials want to ensure that the UK’s telecoms networks — including 5G mobile phone infrastructure — do not contain equipment from the Chinese company beyond 2023 because they believe this could compromise national security. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Jan granted the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker a limited role in supplying kit for the UK’s 5G networks, while capping Huawei’s market share to 35 percent.

Beijing is accelerating its bid for global leadership in key technologies, planning to pump more than a trillion dollars into the economy through the rollout of everything from wireless networks to artificial intelligence.