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☆ China and EU Hold Talks on AI, Cross-Border Data Flow Amid Renewed Tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the European Union held talks on topics including artificial intelligence and cross-border data flows on Monday in Beijing, amid disputes over an EU probe into China's electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. The meeting comes as tensions between China and the EU are heightened after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an investigation into whether to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs to protect EU producers. The talks on Monday covered key issues including platforms and data regulation, AI, and cross-border flow of industrial data, China and the EU said. The European Commission conveyed concerns about "difficulties faced by EU companies in China to make use of their industrial data, as a result of the application of recent legislation." Both sides agreed to promote an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy, Xinhua said.

Persons: Zhang Guoqing, Vera Jourova, Ursula von der Leyen, Zhang, Ethan Wang, Ryan Woo, Meg Shen, Andrew Heavens Organizations: European Union, EU, China's, European Commission, Values, European, Xinhua Locations: BEIJING, China, Beijing, EU, Europe, Hong Kong

☆ China and EU hold talks on AI, cross-border data flow amid renewed tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Sept 18 (Reuters) - China and the European Union held talks on topics including artificial intelligence and cross-border data flows on Monday in Beijing, amid disputes over an EU probe into China's electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. The meeting comes as tensions between China and the EU are heightened after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an investigation into whether to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs to protect EU producers. The talks on Monday covered key issues including platforms and data regulation, AI, and cross-border flow of industrial data, China and the EU said. The European Commission conveyed concerns about "difficulties faced by EU companies in China to make use of their industrial data, as a result of the application of recent legislation."

Persons: Jason Lee, Zhang Guoqing, Vera Jourova, Ursula von der Leyen, Zhang, Ethan Wang, Ryan Woo, Meg Shen, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, EU, China's, European Commission, Values, European, Xinhua, Thomson Locations: China, EU, Beijing, Rights BEIJING, Europe, Hong Kong

☆ Google launches watermarks for AI-generated images
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —In an effort to help prevent the spread of misinformation, Google on Tuesday unveiled an invisible, permanent watermark on images that will identify them as computer-generated. The technology, called SynthID, embeds the watermark directly into images created by Imagen, one of Google’s latest text-to-image generators. In recent months, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket went viral and AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump getting arrested were widely shared before he was indicted. With the announcement of SynthID, Google joins a growing number of startups and Big Tech companies that are trying to find solutions. The tech company also announced that every AI-generated image created by Google will carry a markup in the original file to “give context” if the image is found on another website or platform.

Persons: Imagen, ”, Google’s, Pope Francis, Donald Trump, Vera Jourova, –, “, Dall, ChatGPT Organizations: New, New York CNN, Google, Vertex, European Commission, Meta, Microsoft, Big Tech, Adobe Locations: New York, EU

☆ Democracy 'not radically worse' in EU than a year ago, says executive
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The assessment came as the EU executive released its latest rule of law report, which includes tips for democratic improvements across EU member states. Last year's snapshot highlighted serious concerns about the rule of law in Poland and Hungary. "This rule of law report shows that there is no radical worsening or backsliding in any member state," said EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova. She noted some improvements to the independence of the judiciary in Hungary, as Budapest sought to unlock access to EU grants. But the report still called on the nation to make improvements in areas including the independence of media and prosecutions of high-level corruption.

Persons: Vera Jourova, Jourova, Gabriela Baczynska, Emma Rumney Organizations: EU, of, Judiciary, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Poland, Hungary, Budapest, Spain, France, North

☆ How tech companies are working to help detect AI-generated images
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In recent months, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket went viral and AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump getting arrested were widely shared, shortly before he was indicted. Some lawmakers are now calling for tech companies to address the problem. Reality Defender and Hive Moderation are working on the former. Other tech companies like Google appear to be pursuing a playbook that pulls a bit from both approaches. “We need everybody to participate.”For now, however, tech companies continue to move forward with pushing more AI tools into the world.

Persons: Jeffrey McGregor, “ We’re, we’re, ”, McGregor, ” McGregor, Pope Francis, Donald Trump, Vera Jourova, –, “, Dall, ChatGPT, ” Hany Farid, ” Farid, Tom Cruise deepfake, ” Ben Colman, Kevin Guo, ” Guo, —, Andy Parsons, Bing, Farid, ” Parsons Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, ” Tech, European, Google, Meta, Big Tech, Reality, University of California, CNN, Realty, “, Coalition, Adobe, CAI, BBC, Intel, Sony Locations: New York, EU, Berkeley

☆ Instagram, Google, and TikTok should warn users about AI-generated content and build safeguards, EU official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tech companies should "clearly label" apps which could spread AI-generated disinformation, Bloomberg reported. That's according to a top EU official, and a voluntary code that Google, Meta, and TikTok have signed up to. TikTok, Meta, and Microsoft have been urged to warn users about AI-generated content, Bloomberg reported. According to Vera Jourova, a European Commission vice president, those companies should now "clearly label" any services which could spread AI-generated disinformation, Bloomberg reported. But last month, Elon Musk officially signed off on Twitter's withdrawal from the voluntary code – which seems to have provoked European officials.

Persons: TikTok, Vera Jourova, Jourova, Microsoft's Bing, Bard –, Elon Musk Organizations: Bloomberg, EU, Meta, Microsoft, European Commission, Digital Services, Google, Twitter

☆ AI generated content should be labelled, EU Commissioner Jourova says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Unveiled late last year, Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI's ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history and set off a race among tech companies to bring generative AI products to market. "Signatories who integrate generative AI into their services like Bingchat for Microsoft, Bard for Google (GOOGL.O) should build in necessary safeguards that these services cannot be used by malicious actors to generate disinformation," Jourova told a press conference. "Signatories who have services with a potential to disseminate AI generated disinformation should in turn put in place technology to recognise such content and clearly label this to users," she said. Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms (META.O) that have signed up to the EU Code of Practice to tackle disinformation should report on safeguards put in place to tackle this in July, Jourova said. "By leaving the Code, Twitter has attracted a lot of attention and its actions and compliance with EU law will be scrutinised vigorously and urgently," Jourova said.

Persons: Bard, Vera Jourova, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Jourova, scrutinised, Foo Yun Chee, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Companies, European Commission, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Twitter, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU

☆ Alphabet CEO to meet EU industry chief Breton, EU deputy chief May 24
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O) Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai will meet European Commission deputy chief Vera Jourova and EU industry chief Thierry Breton in Brussels on May 24, according to the European Commission's agenda on Friday. Breton is in charge of digital rules that will require Alphabet's Google and other tech giants to allow business users to access data generated on its platform, among other obligations. A list of don'ts include a ban on treating their services and products more favourably than rivals. Another set of new EU tech rules requires Google and other tech giants to do more to tackle illegal online content on their platforms. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hungary must bolster judiciary 'very soon' to recover billions from EU, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Hungary must bolster the independence of its judiciary "very soon" to stand a realistic chance of getting any of the 15.4 billion euros envisaged for Budapest from the European Union's COVID recovery stimulus, said a top official in the bloc. Hungary can get some 5.8 billion euros ($6.20 billion) in free grants and another 9.6 billion euros in cheap loans from the EU but the bloc has suspended any payments until Budapest implements reforms to improve judicial independence and tackle corruption. NO TRUSTThe EU Commission has put an end-year deadline on accessing the COVID funds, though several countries have already said they need more time to spend the large emergency aid package. "Those supermilestones for the judiciary have to be done soon" for that to be realistic, said Jourova. The bloc has also long frowned at what international watchdogs say is Orban channelling EU funds to associates to entrench himself in power.

☆ Twitter's efforts against disinformation lagging behind, EU says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The companies on Thursday presented progress reports on compliance with a beefed up European Union (EU) code of practice on disinformation in the last six months. The reports included data on how much advertising revenue the companies had averted from disinformation actors, the number or value of political advertisements accepted or rejected and instances of manipulative behaviours detected. "I am disappointed to see that Twitter's report lags behind others and I expect a more serious commitment to their obligations stemming from the Code," she said in a statement. The EU executive said Twitter's report lacked data and did not contain information on commitments to empower fact checkers. The signatories to the code on Thursday launched a transparency centre allowing EU citizens, researchers and NGOs to access online information about their efforts combating disinformation.

☆ EU 'disappointed' in Twitter report on how the company fights disinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter issued the report, along with other major social media platforms, as part of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation, a set of regulatory standards that 34 companies agreed to follow. "Russia is engaged also in a full-blown disinformation war and the platforms need to live up to their responsibilities," Jourová added. After speaking with Musk, Breton tweeted in November he welcomed the CEO's intent to get Twitter ready for the new regulations. "Huge work ahead still — as Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and tackle disinformation," Breton said at the time. But in a statement Thursday following Twitter's report, Breton struck a somewhat different tone, though he did not name Twitter directly.

☆ Elon Musk pledged transparency at Twitter. But he’s walling off researchers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But Twitter’s changes erecting a paywall for API access may jeopardize all that, Tromble and other researchers said. Undermining the fight against botsMusk has framed Twitter’s API restrictions as part of his wider effort to stamp out spammy, automated accounts. Ironically, however, Musk’s looming changes to the Twitter API might make it harder to study bot behavior on Twitter. API access has provided a critical resource for that work. “The researchers who were signed up to the program have heard nothing from the company in months, since Musk’s acquisition.”Adding to Twitter’s scrutiny by regulatorsBeyond the immediate impact to researchers, Twitter’s transparency issues could land the company in hot water with policymakers.

☆ TikTok CEO, EU's Vestager chatted about data harvesting, spying
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew and the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager discussed on Tuesday "aggressive" data harvesting and surveillance in the United States, the European Commission said. The short-video app, which is owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, last month admitted that some of its employees improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists to try to identify the source of information leaks to the media. "At the meeting the parties also discussed GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and matters of privacy and data transfer obligations with a reference to the recent press reporting on aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the U.S," it said. Chew is scheduled to meet Values and Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson after Vestager. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TikTok CEO Plans to Meet European Union Regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Stu Woo | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to meet with the European Union’s antitrust chief and other officials. TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to meet with European Union officials and regulators in Brussels next week, as the popular app faces heightened scrutiny in Washington over its Chinese ownership. Mr. Chew is scheduled to meet with Margrethe Vestager , the executive vice president of the EU’s executive arm and its top competition regulator, on Tuesday. He also plans to meet Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders , Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova .

☆ TikTok CEO to meet EU antitrust chief Vestager on Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew will meet the European Union's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in Brussels on Jan. 10, a calendar released by the European Commission showed on Friday. Chew will also meet Values and Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova and European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson on the same day, the calendar showed. A spokesman for the European Commission said the meetings could be expected to cover issues such as the protection of personal data by online platforms such as TikTok and the implementation of the EU's Digital Services Act. He declined to comment on further specific details of the meetings or who requested them. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Bart Meijer Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Europe condemns Elon Musk suspending journalists from Twitter, warns of 'red lines'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Musk reinstated the suspended journalists early Saturday after a Twitter poll, but he had already drawn rebukes from the European Union and United Nations. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. officials have also estimated they will add more than 100 full-time staff by 2024 to enforce the Digital Services Act and other new rules on digital competition. “The Digital Services Act is unprepared for this kind of problem, because it’s not designed for that,” said Downing, speaking of Thursday’s suspensions of tech journalists. “There was never a conception that journalists would be banned from Twitter, because that’s not what Twitter does,” he added.

☆ European Union threatens sanctions over Twitter's ban of journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Elon Musk’s decision to suddenly ban prominent tech journalists from Twitter is fanning a fierce backlash in Europe. Germany warned of the impact on press freedom, while a senior EU official said Twitter must comply with the bloc’s rules or face possible sanctions. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. European leaders previously said they were watching how Musk’s takeover of Twitter would affect the platform. Thierry Breton, a top EU official, warned Musk in late November that the social media platform must take significant steps to comply with the bloc’s content moderation laws.

☆ Germany heavily criticizes Elon Musk's Twitter for suspending journalists, saying the free press 'must not be switched on and off at will'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The German Foreign Office has warned Twitter about suspending journalists' accounts. Multiple journalists who reported on Elon Musk have been unable to post on the platform. On Thursday, Twitter suspended the accounts of multiple journalists that reported on the platform's new owner, Elon Musk. Wolfgang Buechner, the country's deputy government spokesperson, said in a separate tweet: "Arbitrary locking of journalists' accounts is unacceptable. On Friday, a top European Union official warned Elon Musk about possible Twitter sanctions, following what it described as the platform's "arbitrary suspension of journalists."

☆ The only victim in Elon's beef with journalists is Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Twitter itself knows news and journalists are major drivers of user engagement on its platform. By barring journalists, Musk is openly demonstrating his resentment towards one of Twitter's most active and important userbases, hurting the platform further. Journalists depend on Twitter, and Twitter depends on them tooBy Twitter's own estimates, journalists count for a lot on its platform. Users "regularly follow news-related Twitter accounts, and around 4 in 5 young journalists rely on the platform for their jobs. Journalists use Twitter more than any other social media platform, according to research from Pew in June, treating it as a real-time source of information.

☆ EU threatens Elon Musk with sanctions after Twitter's suspension of journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

The European Union on Friday threatened tech billionaire Elon Musk with sanctions after Twitter removed several journalists that report on him and the social media company. Vera Jourova, the European Commission's vice president for values and transparency, said in a tweet that news of the "arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying." Late Thursday, Twitter abruptly suspended several high-profile journalists who cover him, including CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan and Ryan Mac, a reporter at The New York Times. He suggested these journalists violated Twitter's policy on "doxxing," or exposing a person's identifiable information. Musk now faces possible sanctions from the EU.

☆ A top European official seemed to threaten Elon Musk with sanctions over his 'arbitrary suspension' of journalists amid the jet-tracking saga
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Věra Jourová, a European Union vice president, criticized Elon Musk's "arbitrary" bans on journalists. She said that Twitter could face sanctions, citing the union's laws on free speech. After Musk's laid off thousands of staff, Twitter closed its Brussels office responsible for complying with EU laws. Věra Jourová, the EU vice president for values and transparency, tweeted on Friday morning: "News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying." Musk was also condemned by the German foreign office for suspending the journalists, while a senior government official threatened to leave the platform.

☆ Musk plans to relaunch Twitter premium service, again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON — Elon Musk said Friday that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts next week, in a fresh move to revamp the service after a previous attempt backfired. Twitter previously suspended the premium service, which under Musk granted blue-check labels to anyone paying $8 a month, because of a wave of imposter accounts. Originally, the blue check was given to government entities, corporations, celebrities and journalists verified by the platform to prevent impersonation. In the latest version, companies will get a gold check, governments will get a gray check, and individuals who pay for the service, whether or not they’re celebrities, will get a blue check, Musk said Friday. It’s also likely to put the company on a crash course with European regulators seeking to clamp down on harmful online content with tough new rules.

☆ Twitter is removing less hate speech and taking longer to review it, fresh data on social media disinformation shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has published its latest data on social media platforms reviewing hate speech. It sent over 3,600 notifications of hate speech to six companies, which also included Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Facebook received the most at 1,558, while Twitter was the only other company to see more than 1,000 hate speech reports. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and the French gaming site Jeuxvideo also reviewed less hate speech reports within 24 hours this year. YouTube was the only platform to improve its removal rate of hate speech this year, going from 58.8% to 90.4%.

☆ The Twitter office responsible for complying with European misinformation laws has been shut down after Elon Musk's layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter has closed down its office in Brussels, the home of the EU, per the Financial Times. Its digital policy chiefs, who had been working to comply with new misinformation laws, left the company last week. The pair worked on Twitter's compliance with landmark Big Tech laws which came into effect in the EU last week. Vera Jourova, the EU vice-president who's in charge of the disinformation code, told the Financial Times she was concerned about the closing of the Brussels office. But now the Brussels office has closed its doors, Twitter's relationship with the EU will be tested.

☆ Cum au ajutat Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Microsoft și Google în lupta împotriva dezinformării legate de Covid și vaccinare
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-01 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +3 min

Sursa foto: twitter.comCum au ajutat Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Microsoft și Google în lupta împotriva dezinformării legate de Covid și vaccinareRapoartele Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Microsoft și Google privind lupta împotriva dezinformării legate de coronavirus arată că se iau în continuare măsuri cu privire la vaccinuri. Potrivit reprezentanților Comisiei Europene, în calitate de semnatari ai Codului de bune practici privind dezinformarea, platformele online trebuie să depună și mai multe eforturi pentru a combate acest fenomen. „Pandemia ne-a reamintit tuturor că informarea adecvată și promptă poate salva vieți și sprijini redresarea. TikTok a colaborat cu ministerul italian al tineretului la o campanie de promovare a vaccinării și a raportat o creștere de zece ori a materialelor video marcate cu taguri privind vaccinurile în întreaga Europă, comparativ cu luna precedentă. Cu toate acestea, sunt necesare date mai detaliate pentru o mai bună înțelegere a impactului măsurilor luate de platforme pentru combaterea dezinformării legate de coronavirus.

Persons: Thierry Breton, TikTok, Microsoft Bing Organizations: Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Europene

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