As the European Commission is preparing the Digital Markets Act, CERRE (Centre on Regulation in Europe) will present its latest contribution to the debate with a book that brings together concrete recommendations to policy makers and regulators, drawn from some of our recent research. Public event will take place online on 18 November 2020,…
Round table “Fake news and validation of information in social networks” On March 12th, the round table “Fake news and validation of information in social networks” was held in Kyiv, Ukraine to present findings of the COMPACT project on approaches and practices of counterfeiting and regulation of social media in EU countries in the…
First comprehensive, international COMPACT symposium on 5G We would like to invite everybody to join the first comprehensive, international COMPACT symposium on 5G that will take place on the 14th of May 2020. The registration for this important event is free of charge and enables you to directly interact with the panelists and…
Standards in the digital society should be responsive to gender equality Standards are key contributors to an inclusive digital society. Products, systems and services must be mutually compatible and interoperable, so that people can communicate with each other through different devices. The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a stage towards full digitization and also relies…
Standardization and coordination (the case of BG) Dr. Bissera Zankova, Media 21 Foundation General observations The primary objective of standardisation is to define voluntary, technical or quality specifications with which current or future products, production processes or services may comply (REGULATION (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of…
Standardisation in the Digital Single Market – before and after 2020 Standardization issues in the new technological environment are of increasing relevance for Europe. “Media 21” Foundation presents excerpts from the latest European documents compiled by the information society expert dipl.eng Anelia Dimova, Bulgaria. The process of European Standardisation The objective that European…
Conference on media security, held in Sofia, Bulgaria Dr. Bissera Zankova, “Media 21” Foundation Nowadays, the topic of debates is no longer whether or not society should digitize – we have already immersed in the digital reality. Companies know they must digitize in order to compete, organizations realize that Internet is the foundation of…
Social media regulation – a proposition for a social media arbitration mechanism Dr. Bissera Zankova, Media 21 Foundation Dr. Valeriy Dimitrov, professor at the Legal Faculty of the University of National and World Economy, Sofia Introduction The issue of how to regulate social media platforms, including social networks, is gaining momentum among stakeholders.…
International community against disinformation in the situation of COVID-19 pandemic While the corona virus crisis is escalating, the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the admonition that the world is not only immersed in a pandemic but is also facing “a dangerous epidemic of misinformation” about COVID-19. He announced a U.N. campaign based on scientific knowledge…
The corona virus crisis and its digital implications The emergence of Corona Virus is related to a number of areas that can be explored to show its multiple consequences. The virus has made people consider its digital implications, among others, and notions such as “digital health” and “digital epidemiology” have come quickly to the fore.…
Corona virus and disinformation These days disinformation is developing as fast as the coronavirus spread. This is a reason for worry: the World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about an “infodemic,” a flood of accurate and inaccurate information about COVID-19. However, it is not currently possible to trace any of the conspiracy narratives it…
The multifarious effects of GDPR The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a milestone in the regulation of data and privacy of individuals residing in the European Union (EU). It is an instrument that establishes the minimum level of personal data protection throughout all 28 EU Member States. In that sense, individuals’ names, photos, posts…
Are European children protected well online? The European Parliament and other stakeholders have put a lot of effort to protect the rights of children in the digital environment. But are minors effectively protected in practice? There is growing evidence of harm to children online – both to their safety and security, as well…
CYBERCRYMINALS: Complex Times Ahead “Dangerous times have come. In the future, we need to be more vigilant about what we can trust on the web. This is a time when we have to rely on reputable news sources we are confident in” Peele concludes speaking through Obama’s image. Deepfake algorithms are likely to be…
Invitation: To all members of the academic community and other interested parties that would like to discuss our dynamic digital presence and challenging future Dear colleagues and friends, Partners of EC Horizon 2020 COMPACT project are organizing two sessions during the upcoming Congress of the Polish Communication Association (PCA). It is our pleasure to…
Fears and speculations in Bulgaria after National Children’s Strategy draft project was introduced In April 2019 it was officially stated that the Bulgarian government decided to put the National Children’s Strategy on halt. Bulgarian media announced that, at the request of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, work on the National Children’s Strategy project would cease due to…
The personal data of millions hacked in Bulgaria What exactly happened? The BBC reported on 17th of July, 2019 that personal data belonging to millions of Bulgarians has been stolen in a cyber-attack on the country’s National Revenue Agency (NRA). The files, sorted into 57 folders, included numerous personal details, amongst which were…
Issues related to the National Revenue Agency personal data leak Was the media and public institutions’ reaction adequate? Ten days after huge arrays of information were stolen from the National Revenue Agency (NRA), Veni Markovski, blogger and journalist, one of Internet pioneers in Bulgaria, comments on the failure in the information system of…
The case of social media used for donations of citizens and potential medical data protection: Example for the potential constructive and destructive use of social media for social good In February 2019, the Commission for Personal Data Protection of Bulgaria issued a statement about the medical documents regulation in social media. The topic…
UK’s ambitious plan for addressing all online harms HM Government: Online Harms, White Paper The UK White Paper puts forward a new regulatory framework for tech companies, moving beyond self-regulation. The framework will be overseen by an independent regulator (Ofcom is seen as a “strong candidate”), which has to set clear safety standards,…
UNESCO, intermediaries and freedom of expression In 2017, UNESCO published its report “Fostering Freedom Online: The Role of Internet Intermediaries”. Its aim was to shed light on how internet intermediaries both foster and restrict freedom of expression across a range of jurisdictions, circumstances, technologies, and business models. The report focused on UN’s…
Transparency of the Internet: Transparency of Internet Service Providers The public`s ability in using the Internet to become informed, to express personal opinions or to pursue a commercial purpose has shaped it into a structure that essentially fulfils a public function, if not a public service. Back in 2007, the Council of Europe…
IGF 2018 Key Messages: Digital Inclusion & Accessibility The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a world platform which involves people from various stakeholder groups in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. The IGF facilitates a common understanding of how to maximize Internet opportunities and address risks and challenges that arise…
IGF 2018 Key Messages: Media&Content The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a world platform that involves people from various stakeholder groups in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. The IGF facilitates a common understanding of how to maximize Internet opportunities and addresses risks and challenges that arise out of the technological…
EuroDIG 2019: Highlights of messages EuroDIG, the European Dialogue on Internet Governance, was established in 2008 as annual event that brings together Internet stakeholders from all over Europe (and beyond). Participants representing government, industry, civil society, academia and the technical community each year develop, in a bottom-up fashion, a dynamic agenda that explores…
Germans place the highest value on privacy compared to the U.S. and Latin American countries. Across countries, people place the highest value on keeping financial and biometric information private —balance and fingerprint data in particular. Germany’s status as the country with highest value for privacy is driven largely by extremely strong preferences for keeping…
On 6 February 2020, the COMPACT project consortium was represented at a Council of Europe exchange with internet companies. European DIGITAL SME Alliance, which is a partner of COMPACT, had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Council of Europe in 2017 to exchange on issues related to human rights and the internet. The exchange…
The emergence of Corona Virus is related to a number of areas that can be explored to show its multiple consequences. The virus has made people consider its digital implications, among others, and notions such as “digital health” and “digital epidemiology” have come quickly to the fore. The worrying news, however, is the disease brings…
Speaker presentations Stakeholder discussions
India’s social media content removal order The conversation, Academic rigour, journalistic flair, November 4th, 2019 In recent weeks India’s High Court of Delhi granted an order requiring Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove certain content globally, based on that content being defamatory under local law in India. This decision issues the trend of internet…
On behalf of the organizing team it is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the upcoming Regional symposium titled: “Disinformation, Media Literacy and Social Media Regulation” The regional COMPACT symposium is taking place at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Social Sciences, Isaiah Berlin auditorium (Lauvas street 4, Riga, Latvia), on 10 December 2019.…
Dortmund Symposium Overview of Global Regulatory Initiatives and Suggestions, Governmental Initiatives, New Regulatory Challenges Please find below the discussion materials: Schedule COMPACT Social Media overview Digital Media Regulation in V4 Global suggestions for social media regulation Recommendations & Findings 2 Recommendations & Findings 3 Minutes
Five part videos below:
On behalf of the organizing team it is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the upcoming Regional symposium titled: “Technology and regulation in a convergent environment. The role of social media and its implications” The regional COMPACT symposium is taking place at the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria…