The Internet goes VR: The $1B Metaverse is coming

Recent major investments prove that the Internet is not only about protocols and faster telecommunication infrastructures. Soon we are going to experience a totally new paradigm of the internet. Silicon Valley made a strong bet, that the next-generation Internet should be underpinned by Virtual Reality technologies and will be built by the gaming industry. Epic…

Media Convergence & Social Media (pre)standardisation in EU and beyond – REPORT

COMPACT recent report provides an in-depth insight into i) Progress in the implementation of EU standardization policies; ii) Strengths and weaknesses of national, regional and international (pre)standardization organizational setting; iii) European digital industry position in a global context; iv) Distance from ethical universalism principle of equal power share in samples of standardization bodies at all…

REPORT: Social Media and Information Governance Initiatives

In our study, we analyzed a varied range of information governance initiatives covering different issues related to information disorder. The results show that most of the initiatives currently active are of a national type, indicating a serious lack of trans-border collaboration and impact. One important insight is that most of the activities are being performed…

COMPACT SOCIAL MEDIA GENDER REPORT & STANDARDISATION

READ FULL SOCIAL MEDIA AND GENDER REPORT HERE Our recently released report on Gender Aspects and Social Media could be analysed in its stadardisational aspect among others. It cites the Recommendation CM/Rec (2007)17 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on gender equality standards and mechanisms further states that gender equality is not a…

REPORT ON NATIONAL COURTS, SOCIAL MEDIA & CONVERGENCE

Our report examines judicial approaches to social media and convergence. It identifies the jurisprudence of supreme, constitutional and appellate courts in a selected set of European Union (EU) countries. Our findings show that the judicial treatment of social media cases heavily draws on the existing ‘generic’ legal framework. Many of the rules that currently apply…

Report on current social media policies and regulatory frameworks

Our report on current policies and regulatory frameworks for social media and content convergence: information disorder, human rights and regulatory implications, provides a comprehensive insight into regulatory and governance initiatives addressing the human rights concerns related to information disorder in social media and a better understanding of the regulatory and governance implications, including their potential…

MEET 27 EU-FUNDED MEDIA CONVERGENCE PROJECTS

EU-funded (completed) projects on Convergence and Social Media The European Commission funded 27 projects on media convergence and social media (the projects are now completed). Their main focus is the use of intuitive and innovative ways of interacting with networked multimedia devices and with other services and applications. Anytime, anywhere and on any device. The…

REPORT ON MEDIA REGULATORS & CONVERGENCE

For the last couple of years, social media platforms have been facing serious issues related to the propagation of fake news, broadly understood disinformation and manipulation of audiences. Moreover, general advertising, online political campaigns and freedom of speech online policies have been a subject of strong debate. Despite significant efforts made by platforms and policymakers…

REPORT: CONVERGENCE & SOCIAL MEDIA – A Compendium on R&D Programmes, Activities and Issues

We present our compendium on R&D Programmes, Activities and Issues in the area of technological convergence related to AR, VR, MR, Social Media Influencers, Bots, Deep Fakes. Our report presents a comprehensive overview of the situation and feedback from National Authorities on the discussed topics. READ FULL REPORT HERE

REPORT: FUTURE RESEARCH ON CONVERGENCE AND SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION

In the last five years many academics, CEOs´ social media platforms and politicians in the EU have increasingly accepted both the urgency and the necessity of social media regulation. A large combination of the public-journalistic-academic opinions presented in the media started voicing suggestions on how to regulate social media in EU countries and a few…

REPORT: RESEARCH ON CONVERGENCE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

The COMPACT project aims at enhancing awareness about the latest scientific discoveries – state of the art research on social media and convergence – among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. For this purpose, we analysed over 1,200 mostly academic articles dealing with convergence and social media, published in more than…

American court dismisses lack of diversity allegations against Facebook

American court dismisses lack of diversity allegations against Facebook On March 22, 2021, a California federal magistrate judge granted Facebook’s motion to dismiss a shareholder class action arising out of an alleged lack of diversity on Facebook Inc.’s Board and other alleged discriminatory practices. Since July 2020, activist investors have filed a number of lawsuits…

Social Media business goes VR

Social Media business goes VR According to a recent UploadVR article, almost 20% of Facebook employees (around 10 thousand people) work exclusively on VR/AR/XR technologies now. The authors point out that Facebook’s Oculus division responsible for VR significantly increased the company’s non-advertising revenue from $346 in 2019 up to $885 million in the last three…

Immersive VR & Gender

Immersive VR & Gender Immersive Social VR technologies, such as AltspaceVR, VRChat or the upcoming Facebook Horizon introduce new means of synchronous online communication. The next-gen, emergent VR technologies allow significant immersion, sense of presence and expressivity while ensuring strong privacy – you choose ‘what to reveal and what to conceal’. That particular property of…

WSIS Forum 2021 – Opening of the ICTs and Gender Mainstreaming special track

WSIS Forum 2021 | ICTs for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Societies and Economies (WSIS Action Lines for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals) Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are tools through which gender equality and women’s empowerment can be advanced, and are integral to the creation of societies in which both women and men can substantively…

IFJ: Take part in the revision of UNESCO’s Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media

International Federation of  Journalists (IFJ): Take part in the revision of UNESCO’s Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media In 2012, UNESCO published its first Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIM) to “contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in and through media of all forms, irrespective of the technology used”. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is in charge…

Microsoft and Convergent Media Approach – Ignite Day I all-in-Immersive-VR event

Microsoft and Convergent Media Approach – Ignite Day I – all-in-Immersive-VR event Today COMPACT joined the event organised by another tech giant who made an important step toward convergent media. Microsoft followed the example of the Facebook Connect VR conference and organised an event entirely all-in-Immersive-VR on March 2nd, using their AltspaceVR platform. Microsoft CEO…

Clubhouse and Misinformation over voice?

Clubhouse and Misinformation over voice? The new arrival in the social media scene – Clubhouse, iOS-exclusive all-voice app, has been gaining popularity recently. The increased interest is elevated by celebrities and big-tech representatives making apparitions on the platform. The limited availability (only iOS) and invited-only access policy give extra exclusivity to that novel platform. The…

COMPACT Immersive Technologies Symposium: Virtual Reality technology and its impact

COMPACT Immersive Technologies Symposium: Virtual Reality technology and its impact The objective of the COMPACT project (EC, Horizon 2020) is to increase awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal, economic and technical areas) of the latest technological discoveries among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. A fruitful trend in COMPACT three-year research…

COMPACT Horizon 2020 project experience: Virtual Reality communication and its implications

COMPACT Horizon 2020 project experience: Virtual Reality communication and its implications Virtual Reality (VR) is more than just a new communication channel. It is an entirely new paradigm of participation. Major VR affordance is Immersion and Presence. By those terms we understand the specific experience of the individual engaged in conversation or interactive activity where…

COMPACT experience: the convergence of Virtual Reality and Mainstream Media

COMPACT experience: the convergence of Virtual Reality and Mainstream Media As the extended reality technology progresses fast, there is a less and less need for physical presence of the actors and performance in the locations presented to the viewer Also the costs of post-processing such as the efforts required to edit the “Green & Blue”…

Idols and virtual influencers – the future faces of advertising

Idols and virtual influencers – the future faces of advertising New technologies allow versatile advertising and promotional techniques to be used for capturing the attention of bigger audiences.  More and more music industry relies on virtual idols which in some cases can be based on real people. In addition to this, the character of virtual…

Supporting Public Health Experts’ Vaccine Efforts – Facebook

Supporting Public Health Experts’ Vaccine Efforts – Facebook Facebook has announced that it will implement several protocols to support vaccination behaviour around the world. In particular, FB will launch a campaign encouraging Flu vaccination while we are awaiting for COVID-19 vaccine to be available. That move is to support the general health of the population…

Facebook’s Algorithm: A Major Threat to Public Health – AVAAZ

Facebook’s Algorithm: A Major Threat to Public Health – AVAAZ Avaaz uncovers health misinformation spreading networks with an estimated 3.8 billion views in the last year – and shows how to quarantine this infodemic – AVAAZ AVAAZ calls for more transparency for Facebook reporting on COVID-19 disseminated materials. In particular, the report suggests that the…

Disinformation

Assessment of the Code of Practice on Disinformation. Achievements and areas for further improvement, Brussels, 11 September 2020 The Code of Practice on Disinformation provides a framework for a structured dialogue between relevant industry actors, the Commission, and ERGA authorities. The Code sets general policy objectives, identifies relevant requirements for appropriate measures, and enables public…

Digital Education: Public consultation: Digital education during the COVID-19 recovery period and beyond

Digital Education: Public consultation: Digital education during the COVID-19 recovery period and beyond The European Commission has launched an EU-wide public consultation to collect the views of citizens and stakeholders on the future of digital education during the COVID-19 recovery period and beyond. According to Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth…

Mozilla challenges the status quo and embraces openness: the position of the company on the Digital Services Act (DSA)

Mozilla challenges the status quo and embraces openness: the position of the company on the Digital Services Act (DSA) On September 7 th 2020 Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker published an open letter to the European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen, urging her “to seize a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to build a better Internet”. The…

Response to the European Commission’s “Inception Impact Assessment for Deepening the Internal Market and Clarifying Responsibilities for Digital Services”

Response to the European Commission’s “Inception Impact Assessment for Deepening the Internal Market and Clarifying Responsibilities for Digital Services” The options  proposed would take important and needed steps towards addressing illegal online content. The Digital Services Act should clarify the types of platforms and content that fall in scope; set proportionate responsibilities and obligations for…

European Commission consultation on Digital Services Act (DSA): EBF response

European Commission consultation on Digital Services Act (DSA): EBF response KEY MESSAGES: The EBF supports an ex ante regulatory approach to large online platforms, securing fair competition in a digitally transformed market The EBF agrees that the regulatory approach should include clear obligations and prohibited practices for large online platforms The EBF advocates the formulation…

EBU RESPONSE TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT

EBU RESPONSE TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT Platforms mainly have tried to create transparency but have not taken enough action to avoid these problems since their main interest is to commercialise content and user data. Some platforms responded, with moderate and unequal success, to the Commission’s call to take…

FACEBOOK RESPONSE TO EC PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT (DSA)

FACEBOOK RESPONSE TO EC PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT (DSA) While Facebook supports regulation requiring digital platforms to have systems in place to address content that is unlawful, a homogenous one-size-fits-all approach is not a viable solution. Obligations should be proportionate in relation to the nature and characteristics of the service, and include…

GOOGLE: Digital Services Act package: open public Consultation

GOOGLE: Digital Services Act package: open public Consultation Google’s response to the European Commission’s consultation on the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the New Competition Tool (NCT) : We recognise that the evolution of the Internet has prompted the European Commission and EU national governments to consider  updating the regulatory framework governing online services. At…

IBM: How to make Europe’s digital transformation responsible and accountable

How to make Europe’s digital transformation responsible and accountable In its position IBM underlines that governments, and citizens, in particular, are demanding that technology companies take more responsibility for the societal effects their services can have on children, on civic dialogue, on elections, or in facilitating criminal or terrorist activity. With greater digitalisation comes an…

CDTEU Response to the European Commission Consultation on the Digital Services Act

CDTEU Response to the European Commission Consultation on the Digital Services Act The Centre for Democracy and Technology’s EU Office (CDTEU) stresses that the EC consultation involves also a review of the E-Commerce Directive. The importance of maintaining a clear and strong intermediary liability framework at the heart of the DSA is crucial. CDTEU recommends…

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT PACKAGE

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT PACKAGE According to Amnesty International the new package will be a major opportunity to significantly curtail the surveillance-based business model of the dominant online platforms that undermines privacy and other rights of users all around Europe and worldwide on a daily basis.…

Digital Services Act: what we learned about tackling the power of digital platforms

Digital Services Act: what we learned about tackling the power of digital platforms he European Digital Rights (EDRI) requests the European Commission to provide measures that break open the centralised platform economy, introduce strong transparency requirements, and guarantee effective regulatory oversight. The Digital Services Act provides the chance to entrench a digital economy that respects…

DIGITAL SME: The Digital Services Act: SMEs need a more open and competitive internet ecosystem

The Digital Services Act: SMEs need a more open and competitive internet ecosystem The DIGITAL SME position paper calls for targeted measures to empower SMEs. The purpose is to deal effectively with the real concerns related to large platforms, while at the same time to allow smaller businesses to thrive without additional burdens. European policymakers…