Human Rights

Facebook Faces Continued EU Scrutiny

February 19, 2020

According to Politico, in a number of high-profile meetings with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, European Union officials urged Facebook “to clamp down on widespread misinformation on its global platform” and “to take greater responsibility for the role that the social networking giant plays in people’s daily lives.”
Josep Borrell Slammed for ‘Greta syndrome’ Remark

February 11, 2020

Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, came under criticism for calling into question the commitment of young climate activists, including a reference to teenage climate campaigner Greta Thunberg as giving rise to the ‘Greta syndrome.’
Greenpeace Activists Block BP's London Headquarters

February 05, 2020

On the first day of Bernard Looney's tenure as BP's Chief Executive Officer, Greenpeace activists blocked the door to BP's London office, delivering 500 solar panels to the offices at 3 a.m., which authorities prevented them from installing.
Germany Possesses Evidence of Huawei Cooperation with Chinese Intelligence

January 29, 2020

According to a new report, the German government possesses evidence that Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei cooperated with Chinese intelligence, which supports U.S. government efforts to urge its allies to boycott the vendor over national security concerns.
ECJ AG: Bulk Data Collection Violates European Privacy Law

January 21, 2020

According to a non-binding opinion of European Court of Justice Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona, bulk data collection violates European privacy law.
Turkish Constitutional Court Reverses Ban on Wikipedia

December 31, 2019

In a 10-6 decision, the Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that the Turkish government's block on Wikipedia constituted a violation of freedom of expression, paving the way for the immediate lifting of a two-year-old ban.
Politico: EU's Ability to Implement Privacy Law is in Doubt

December 31, 2019

Writing in Politico, Nicholas Vinocur details how, more than 18 months after the European Union began implementing its model General Data Protection Regulation, lack of enforcement actions and weak cooperation on investigations raises doubts about the EU's ability to reign in Big Tech.
European Commission Communicates a European Green Deal

December 16, 2019

The European Commission has set out a European Green Deal for the European Union (EU) and its citizens, which the Commission describes as “a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.”
EU FRA Publishes Guide for Preventing Unlawful Profiling

December 16, 2019

As technological developments have triggered an increased use of profiling in a wide range of contexts by law enforcement and border management officials, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has published a guide that explains what profiling is, the legal frameworks that regulate it, and why conducting profiling lawfully is necessary to comply with fundamental rights.
Venice Commission and ODIHR Lower "Imminent Violence" Standard for Restrictions on Freedom of Assembly to "Real Risk of Violence" Standard

December 10, 2019

Lowering the standard contained in Paragraph 139 of its 2019 Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly recommending that proscribing freedom of assembly on public order grounds must involve "an interest in preventing imminent violent conduct or other conduct creating serious infringements of public order" (a standard comparable to U.S. First Amendment jurisprudence), in Paragraph 78 of a recent joint Opinion, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the "Venice Commission") and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights ("OSCE/ODIHR") opine that "restrictions on content of public assemblies should only occur if there is a real risk of violence or an incitement to violence or other serious threat to public order which cannot be otherwise mitigated and prevented."