Media and internet

COVID-19 and disinformation: The infodemic is as virulent as the pandemic

From genocide accusations to alleged cures, the coronavirus pandemic is accompanied by a swathe of conspiracy theories. These are perpetrated not only by clickbait websites but also authoritarian regimes who exploit the crisis for political purposes and try to shift the blame from their inadequate responses. An international survey and a detailed case study.

1 April 2020 – Eurozine (Vienna)

European democracy in a digital era: Trust in the media, and regulation for the platforms

Democratic debates require trusted information, less economic pressure on media, and more policy pressure on platforms. Supporting citizens’ choices, three concepts will help the von der Leyen Commission: ‘co-regulation’, ‘trust indicators’, ‘systemic publishing platforms’.

23 January 2020 – EurActiv (Brussels)

Berners-Lee’s “Web Contract”: We will not save the Web by colluding with its enemies

Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web’s inventor, has written a “contract for the Web” which aims to save the network from the abuses threatening it. But his effort is supported by the same big tech firms that are already hard at work undermining all the document’s founding principles.

10 December 2019 – VoxEurop

Smart cities and 5G networks: Massive data circulation challenges privacy and individual liberties

The 5G networks that are being deployed all around Europe can provide urban citizens with sustainable living, reduced traffic and stringent security but the technology can also be a slippery slope towards mass surveillance

15 October 2019 – VoxEurop

Fake news: Over 5,000 Russian disinformation items in four years and a half

In election campaigns, Russian officials responsible for spreading misinformation are tireless. But even if there is no election, they do not rest.

30 July 2019 – EUrologus (Budapest)

Facebook: Political advertising on Facebook in South-East Europe

Data on political ads posted in the months leading up to the European elections highlights the differences between the political contexts in various member states. In Romania, it’s the national parties who spend the most, in Greece it’s individual candidates, and in Slovenia it’s the European Parliament.

21 June 2019 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)

Political advertising in Sweden: Facebook’s problem with transparency

J++ and other media have examined the election ads ahead of the EU elections, but the data is lacking on several accounts.

14 June 2019 – VoxEurop

Facebook and the European elections: Parties spent millions on trying to influence public opinion

Climate, the economy and immigration. The candidates and parties who stood in the European elections spent millions of euros on election advertising on Facebook. We have checked the contents of around 35,000 adverts from five different countries.

3 June 2019 – Addendum (Vienna)

VoxEurop, the news media for Europeans: Our manifesto for a European journalism

An online media outlet created by journalists from the four corners of Europe, VoxEurop is born of one conviction: it is no longer possible to address the challenges of the present era at the level of the individual nation.

14 May 2019 – VoxEurop

Social media and the European elections: How Facebook new rules on political ads are damaging civil society

Civil society is rebelling against the new Facebook rules on political advertising.

12 May 2019 – The Good Lobby (Brussels)

European elections and internet: Supporters of the freedom of the web weigh in

The row over the EU copyright reform has triggered a wave of protest in Germany. Young Internet users in particular want to settle scores in the EU elections and are calling on voters to boycott the CDU/CSU and the SPD. In the Czech Republic too, the issue has emotions running high.

27 April 2019 – euro|topics (Berlin)

Brexit as a podcast: Cutting through the fog in the Channel

In his weekly podcast "Fog in the Channel", European journalist Stefan de Vries looks at how the Continent will survive isolation as the UK sets sail.

19 January 2019 – VoxEurop

Press freedom: RSF condemn the “erosion of the European model”

On the 25th of April, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published their World Press Freedom Index for 2018. Europe hasn’t escaped the global trend of “growing animosity towards journalists”, condemned by the Paris-based NGO.

27 April 2018 – VoxEurop

Personal-data privacy: New EU rules are ‘a giant step, given the current situation’

For the researcher Olivier Ertzscheid, author of the New Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace, the forthcoming European General Data Protection Regulation is an important step forward for internet users.

24 April 2018 – VoxEurop

Social media: Facebook’s expanding lobbying in Brussels

Facebook has been intensifying its lobbying efforts within European institutions since 2013.

13 April 2018 – VoxEurop

Net neutrality: Defending an open and free internet

Recent legislation in the United States has restricted the country’s so-called “net neutrality”, allowing internet service providers to privilege customers who can afford to pay for faster data traffic. Will this decision affect net neutrality in the EU and the Balkans?

11 April 2018 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)

Charlie Hebdo vs. Mediapart: French Left divided over Islam and secularism

The satirical weekly and the investigative journalism website are at daggers drawn on how French society should handle secularism and Islam's place in it. It is a controversy that reflects the hardening confrontation within the French Left — to which they both belong.

23 November 2017 – VoxEurop

Data journalism: Why and how we created the European Data Journalism Network

How a group of media outlets joined forces to set up a collaborative platform to cover European affairs in the era of post-truth and alternative facts.

7 November 2017 – VoxEurop

Freedom of the press: Europe is not so safe for journalists

Although journalists work in a relatively safe environment in Europe, and especially in EU countries, they sometimes pay the highest price for doing their job, as the recent murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia showed.

24 October 2017 – VoxEurop The European Data Journalism Network

Tallinn digital summit: Europe still digitally divided

Europeans are more and more connected to the internet, but there still are huge gaps between regions and countries.

29 September 2017 – VoxEurop

Data journalism: A new tool for understanding Europe

Starting from today we are publishing stories within the European data journalism network, the data-driven journalism platform that has been set up by a consortium […]

25 August 2017 – VoxEurop

EU news coverage: Can an Erasmus for journalists improve reporting on Europe?

One of the EU’s most successful initiatives, the Erasmus student exchange programme can be replicated for young and talented journalists and communications experts. It would foster innovation sharing and, ultimately, a better coverage of European affairs, says its initiator, Euractiv’s founder Christophe Leclercq.

20 June 2017 – VoxEurop Notebook

Right to information: Whistleblowers need protection

They put in danger their private and professional lives to reveal the embezzlement and irregularities they discover in their workplaces, yet whistleblowers do not enjoy the protection they deserve. But now things in Europe are starting to shift.

19 June 2017 – VoxEurop

Swaying elections through the internet: A few lessons for Germany from the Macron campaign hack

The methods used by Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaign team to defend itself against hackers may provide useful lessons for other political parties in Europe, notably during Germany’s general election in September.

15 May 2017 – EUobserver.com (Brussels)

Media freedom: Even Europe is no comfort place for journalists

The Council of Europe published on 21 April the results of the first large-scale survey of journalists across Europe. More than two-thirds of the 940 […]

27 April 2017 – VoxEurop Notebook

Russia and the French presidential election: The Kremlin interference

By flooding French social media with fake news and openly supporting far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the Kremlin is weighing in for the most anti-EU candidate in the 23 April runoff.

21 April 2017 – EUobserver.com (Brussels)

The EU and the media: Does Europe really need a broadcasting service?

Is the goal of a European public sphere best served by the creation of a supranational public service broadcaster, as has recently been proposed? Roman Léandre Schmidt and Carl Henrik Fredriksson are sceptical: rather than creating an artificial flagship, the EU must provide incentives for existing outlets to Europeanize their operations.

9 April 2017 – Eurozine (Vienna)

Elections in France and Germany: Fake news debunkers get ready for the vote

Anti-fake news projects have sprouted up in France and Germany, but who checks the fact-checkers and what can they really achieve?

5 April 2017 – EUobserver.com (Brussels)

AEJ debate on the future of Europe: Voices from the European parliament on Brexit and beyond

A chorus of discordant voices rang out in the European Parliament in Brussels as AEJ journalists met with MEPs from all parts of Europe and all the political groups for two days of lively debates in the run-up to the UK’s delivery of its ‘Brexit letter’, on 29 March. The event took place as the EU sailed into unknown territory beyond its 60th birthday and the UK prepares its own lifeboat to disembark from the mother ship.

3 April 2017 – VoxEurop Notebook

Data journalism: A new network for European data-driven news

We are pleased to announce a new data-driven endeavour that will support European journalists. In October 2017, the European Data Journalism Network – EDJNet will […]

31 March 2017 – VoxEurop Notebook

The EU and hate speech: Targeting Russian TV channels

The tensions between the European Union and Russia are changing the ways in which the EU defines and combats hate-speech. Attention is growing on the role of Russian television in Eastern Europe.

14 March 2017 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)

Media, fake news and propaganda: It’s time for a European Broadcasting Service

As propaganda gets more attention on social media than real news and politics go more and more post-factual, the EU should get its own broadcasting channel to counter fake news and lies, draw Europe together and defend democracy.

24 February 2017 – Der Spiegel (Hamburg)

Brexit and the media: A newspaper for the 48 percent

In just ten days, a weekly newspaper for the anti-Brexit voters has been launched in the United Kingdom. It aims at providing them "in-depth analysis of the Brexit process, its implications and progress as well as a celebration of European life and culture".

8 July 2016 – VoxEurop Notebook

Bulgaria and Migrants: Dinko, the inglorious super-hero

One of the main TV stations in Bulgaria glorifies a man who hunts migrants and wants them 'dead'.

20 March 2016 – Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento)

UK referendum: Brexit – Also a challenge for Europe’s media

2016 will be marked by debates around what would follow a British exit from the EU, after the referendum announced by David Cameron. It is a discussion that does not simply affect British voters, but all Europeans, argues the head of the Euranet Plus news agency.

2 February 2016 – VoxEurop

You recommend: Advertising the EU

The cover of the latest issue of the German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche pays tribute to the European Union. The magazine asked nine important German advertising […]

23 May 2015 – VoxEurop

Immigration in the UK: ‘The Romanians are coming’ sparks debate

A British documentary series on Romanians seeking work in the United Kingdom has sparked debate about how its subjects are depicted. Although the series’ directors […]

24 February 2015 – VoxEurop Notebook

Attack against Charlie Hebdo: ‘All is forgiven’

One week after a group of jihadists killed twelve people at its Paris office, including a number of its staff, satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo is […]

14 January 2015 – VoxEurop Charlie Hebdo

Turkish media crackdown: ‘Dark day for democracy’

“Thirty-one people – mostly high-ranked media personnel, directors and producers of popular television serials and police officers – were taken into custody by the police” […]

15 December 2014 – VoxEurop Zaman

Estonia: The digital republic where everyone’s invited

A pioneer in electronic government, Estonia has introduced e-residency, giving foreigners access to a vast range of online services from anywhere in the world.

5 December 2014 – VoxEurop Eesti Päevaleht, The New York Times

Espionage: Investigation into EU cyberattack leads to US and UK intelligence agencies

British and US intelligence agencies are suspected of being behind cyberattacks on the European Union and a Belgian telecom company, writes The Intercept. The site explains […]

27 November 2014 – VoxEurop The Intercept, De Volkskrant

Internet: Hacker College

In Budapest, the “School of Hackers”, one of the branches of Kürt Academy – Hungary’s information security leader – trains “friendly pirates”, writes French daily […]

29 October 2014 – VoxEurop Libération

Hungary: ‘Zero tolerance is announced’

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Budapest on 28 October against plans for a new internet tax proposed at the beginning of the week […]

29 October 2014 – VoxEurop Népszabadság

European Commission: ‘Brussels gets its teeth into Google’

“The administrative changes in Brussels – a new Parliament and soon a new European Commission – don’t augur well for Google”, writes Het Financieele Dagblad. […]

6 October 2014 – VoxEurop Het Financieele Dagblad

Crisis in Ukraine: ‘Vladimir Putin advances his pawns in Ukraine’

Russian President Vladimir Putin ramped up his references to World War Two on 1 September to “justify his strategy against Kiev”, writes La Croix. For the […]

2 September 2014 – VoxEurop La Croix

Telecommunications: ‘Cheaper mobiles on holiday’

Roaming rates are to be lowered across the continent on 1 July for the third time since 2012 as a result of European Commission regulation, […]

1 July 2014 – VoxEurop Rzeczpospolita

Google vs. the EU: Un-writing history: The ‘right’ to be forgotten

Google has announced it has taken steps to comply with the EU’s freshly minted 'right to be forgotten’. Is this a cause for celebration or […]

10 June 2014 – VoxEurop Notebook

Anti-trust: ‘Facebook asks Europe to “like” deal’

In an attempt to avoid a potential anti-trust review in Europe, “Facebook has asked European Union antitrust regulators to examine its $19 billion [€13,9 billion] […]

29 May 2014 – VoxEurop The Wall Street Journal Europe