Meta partners with Nigerian organisations to combat disinformation ahead of 2023 elections

Meta announced a partnership with the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC), civil society groups, and local radio stations to combat the spread of disinformation and protect the integrity of the Nigerian 2023 general elections. The approach has also been informed by conversations with human rights groups, NGOs, local civil society organisations, regional experts, and local election authorities to make it easier for audiences to distinguish trusted content from dubious claims. For instance, the official Facebook page on the 2023 elections will have a blue tick that confirms the authenticity of the results posted on the INEC official website. Additionally, Meta has quadrupled the size of its global teams working on safety and security to about 40,000 people, including over 15,000 content reviewers in every major timezone. Collectively, these reviewers are able to review content in more than 70 languages, including Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa.

Apple will not scan iCloud photos for CSAM

Apple has announced that it has withdrawn its plans to scan photos on users’ iCloud for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Following criticism from civil society and expert communities, in September 2021 Apple paused the rollout of the relevant feature. Now, the company will focus on its Communication Safety feature announced in August 2021, which allows parents and caregivers to opt into protections on the iCloud. Apple is also developing a new feature to detect nudity in videos sent through Messages and will expand this to its other communication applications.

TikTok sued in a US State for security and safety violations

Indiana’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against TikTok for violation of state consumer protection laws. The lawsuit alleges that the social media company failed to disclose that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, has access to sensitive consumer information. Moreover, another complaint claims that the company exposes children to sexual and substance-related content, while misleading the users with its age rating of 12 plus on App Store and Google Play. Indiana seeks penalties of up to US$5000 per violation and asks the Indiana Superior Court to order the company to stop false and misleading representations to its users.

Russia bans LGBTQ ‘propaganda’, including on social media

A new Russian law bans ‘propaganda’ about ‘nontraditional sexual relations’ in the media, advertising, or on social media. The new law extends the ban on ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations’ among minors, in place since 2013, to adults, with steep fines or suspension of business activities for Russians, and expulsion from the country for foreigners who are found guilty. The law also prohibits the issuance of a rental or streaming certificate for films promoting nontraditional sexual relations and preferences.
The new law imposes fines for ‘propaganda’ of nontraditional sexual relations or preferences to about US$6,400 for citizens and US$80,000 for organisations. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet regulator, is tasked with the enforcement of these rules.

The Federal Election Commission passes new digital ad transparency rule

The US Federal Election Commission passed a new ad transparency rule to enforce ‘paid for by’ disclaimers on the most paid political promotions online. However, the initial proposal was broader in scope and covered ‘communications placed or promoted for a fee on another person’s website, digital device, application, service, or advertising platform’. The proposal was criticised for being ‘burdensome’ and ‘expanding’ the FEC’s regulatory authority over online speech. The revised version is almost identical, whereby ‘or promoted’ is removed from the sentence. The small change in wording significantly reduced the scope of the regulation, exempting those who promote digital political ads from disclosing if they are being paid to do so.

New amendments introduced to UK Online Safety Bill

The UK Government has introduced amendments to the Online Safety Bill, addressing the removal of online content. The new version of the Bill will not define types of objectionable content; rather, it will offer a ‘triple shield’ of protection to users. Online platforms will be required to remove illegal content or content violating their community guidelines and to provide adult users with greater control over the online content. Online platforms will also be expected to be more transparent about online risks to children and to illustrate how they enforce age verification measures. Another set of amendments will protect women and girls online, introducing control or coercive behaviour as a criminal offence under the Bill, and requiring that online platforms be more proactive with such content. The Bill is scheduled to return to the UK Parliament next week, with the first amendments tabled in the Commons for Report Stage on 5 December. Further amendments are expected in the later stages of the legislative process.

Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI open source coding assistant sued for alleged copyright violation

A proposed class action in California challenges Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI for alleged copyright violation around GitHub Copilot, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered open source code generating assistant. The lawsuit alleges that Copilot is trained on public repositories of code extracted from the web, some of which is licensed content. While the case is in the initial stages, and the defendants will argue that their use of code qualifies as fair use under US copyright law, the outcome of this lawsuit may have significant consequences for the future of generative AI.

Meta’s VR headset users will not require a Facebook or Instagram account

Meta reached an amicable solution with Bundeskartellamt, the German national competition regulatory agency, allowing users to access its VR headsets through a separate Meta account. In 2020, Bundeskartellamt initiated a proceeding against Meta, which was found to be a company of paramount importance across markets, concerning its condition to require German users of Oculus VR headsets to access those only via a Facebook or Instagram account. However, the proceedings are still ongoing about whether and how data is processed when different Meta services are combined. Until the proceedings are concluded, data from VR headsets will be kept separately from data collected from other Mets services.

Activists express concerns about climate disinformation on Twitter after Musk’s takeover

Activists have been expressing concerns about climate disinformation on Twitter after Musk’s takeover. Although there has not been an explicit policy change in Twitter’s approach to tackling climate disinformation on the platform, Musk fired Twitter’s sustainability team within a wider cull of staff two days before the start of COP27. Jennie King, the head of civic action and education at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), explained that Twitter was supposed to be the voice of COP27, according to a campaign planned in advance alongside climate advocates. However, she expressed that all the intermediaries in the company were laid off and that, since then, there has been a spike in outright climate denial on the platform.

Digital Services Act came into force

On 16 November 2022, the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force. The DSA applies to digital services connecting consumers to goods, services, or content. Online platforms will have until 17 February 2023 to report the number of active end users.

The European Commission suggests all online platforms notify it regarding these numbers. Then, the Commission will determine if the platform is a large online platform or a search engine. Following this determination, the platform will have four months to comply with the DSA. EU members will have until 17 February 2024 to accredit their Digital Services Coordinators.