Report from Euractiv
In Brief – The Berlin Court of Appeals has ordered social media platform X to give two Germany-based elections researchers access to data related to the reach and engagement with posts related to Hungary’s April 12 election. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since his Fidesz party took power in 2010. The decision is seen as a milestone in implementing the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates how digital platforms deal with objectionable content. The law directs platforms to give researchers access to data to monitor risks including disinformation, hate speech and election manipulation. In response, Elon Musk posted, “We are open sourcing our algorithm. Not sure what more they want.”
Context – Many top conservative populists in the US have built alliances in Europe, with ties to Hungary being especially deep, and see the EU dominated by cultural and policy ecosystems akin to America’s progressive strongholds. Most conservative leaders believe that the top digital companies are products of the Bay Area’s progressive monoculture and discriminated against them as part of a US-Western European policy ecosystem of like-minded think tanks, advocacy groups, academics, researchers, foundations, media outlets, and government agencies. “Researchers” are not seen as neutrals. In January, the US State Department issued visa bans on five Europeans, including from research organizations that press platforms to counter so-called online hate and disinformation. The US Federal Trade Commission is engaged in legal battles with NewsGuard and Media Matters for America over similar activity. Europe, not constrained by the First Amendment, enacted the DSA regulating online content moderation far beyond what is possible in the US, drawing cheers from American progressives and derision from conservatives. The investigations of X are a top bilateral flashpoint. The Commission’s fine over X’s blue checkmark policy and advertiser transparency resulted in full-throated US censorship charges, and that’s not the truly political stuff about algorithms and content moderation still to come.