Online platforms fail to assess risks in annual reports, study says
Reports that major online platforms must draw up under EU rules designed to assess risks on their platforms, including features that could influence users' mental health, are falling short, according to a study by the DSA Civil Society Coordination Group (CSCG) published on Monday.
The group, which includes the Center for Democracy and Technology, consumer group BEUC and privacy advocates Mozilla and Access Now among others, said that the reports do not 'adequately assess and address the actual harms and foreseeable negative effects of platform functioning.'
The first batch of annual reports by websites designated very large online platforms (VLOPs) by the European Commission in 2023 under the Digital Services Act (DSA) - including Facebook, TikTok and Google - came out last November.
The CSCG report says that the exercises should focus 'more thoroughly on risks stemming from platform design, in particular recommender systems, which amplify harmful content that contribute to risks such as mental health issues and political polarisation.'
'Design choices, particularly those driven by engagement metrics, can significantly contribute to systemic risks […]. Despite this, many reports focused primarily on content moderation rather than addressing how platform design itself might be a root cause of harm,' the report said.
Besides these exercises, platforms are also required to conduct ad hoc risk assessments before launching new features or products in the EU.
In the case of TikTok, last year, the company decided to withdraw its TikTok Lite rewards program from the EU market, after concerns raised by the Commission about the impact on the mental health of users.
The Commission has opened several investigations under the DSA and sent requests for information to platforms about their recommender systems, including to X and Temu.
Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts.
The four newcomers — representing the U.S., Japan and Russia — will spend the next few days learning the station's ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week, one that has been up there since last year, to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June.
Wilmore and Williams expected that they would be gone for just a week when they took Boeing's first astronaut flight to the ISS. They hit the nine-month mark earlier this month.
The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift.
Wilmore swung open the space station's hatch and then rang the ship's bell as the new arrivals floated in one by one and were greeted with hugs and handshakes.
'It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,' Williams told Mission Control.
Wilmore's and Williams' ride arrived back in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements' brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs. An older capsule took its place, pushing up their return by a couple weeks to mid-March.
Weather permitting, the SpaceX capsule carrying Wilmore, Williams and two other astronauts will undock from the space station no earlier than Wednesday and splash down off Florida's coast.
Until then, there will be 11 aboard the orbiting lab, representing the U.S., Russia and Japan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
20 minutes ago
- Euronews
Referendum in Italy to fail as turnout far below threshold, poll shows
A referendum in Italy on citizenship requirements and job protection is likely to have failed, as turnout was far below the required threshold, polling agency YouTrend said on Monday. Turnout needed to be at least 50% plus one vote to make the referendum results binding, but based on data collected from 60,000 polling stations, turnout was around 30%. The referendum, proposed by trade unions and civic organisations, addresses issues that have generated political debate in Italy in recent years, particularly labour market reform, primarily the 2016 Labour Act, as well as migrant reception and integration policies. The first four questions relate to labour issues and concern the increasing protection of workers, small enterprises and their obligations towards employees, short-term contracts, and the responsibility of clients towards subcontracting parties and employees' safety. The fifth question concerns the period of time necessary for non-EU nationals residing in the country to be eligible for Italian citizenship, proposing to reduce it from 10 to five years. The parties of the ruling coalition, led by Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, opposed the referendum, with some politicians urging citizens not to participate in the vote. According to the advocacy group International Democracy Community, although opposition parties have supported the referendum, it is primarily a citizens' initiative and not a political matter. "The referendum questions were proposed through a bottom-up approach, and did not come from parliament," the International Democracy Community said in a statement. "Members of the Europa+ party launched the initiative on the citizenship question, whilst the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) has been the initiator of the Labour Act ones, with support from the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, and the Green and Left Alliance." According to exit data after polls closed at 3 pm, the "yes" vote for the four labour law questions stood at around 85%, while 60% of voters said yes to the citizenship question. The referendum coincided with local elections in several Italian regions and municipalities.
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
'The EU needs to invest more at home'
The European Union is the world's third-largest economy with one of the highest household saving rates, yet when our companies are scaling up, they often turn to financial markets abroad. Why? Because we export much of our vast savings, supporting innovation elsewhere, while many of our own start-ups struggle to access the necessary funding to grow. The time has come for change and the EU needs to invest more at home. That is why seven European countries representing more than half of the EU economic output teamed up on Thursday, June 5, to channel these savings into investment in our continent's economy. Let's first consider the numbers. In 2024, the EU economy generated €17.9 trillion in output. Wealth and value are therefore evidently created in Europe at a very large scale. Meanwhile, European households are some of the greatest savers in the world, setting aside about 13% of their income every year, five points more than American households. That represents €1 trillion of new private savings every year, much of which sits idle in cash or deposit accounts earning low returns. In total, this has created a pool of capital of €35 trillion over the years. Meanwhile, Europe needs to invest at least 5% of its economy, or up to €800 billion a year, to close its technology and productivity gap with major competitors. Add new defense and security needs and that figure could easily surpass €1 trillion. In this time of rising geopolitical tension and increasing barriers to trade and financial flows around the globe, these savings are a strategic asset for Europe that we must mobilize to help fill that investment shortfall. Accelerating integration Vital work is being done to improve the integration of our capital markets. The European Commission also put forward its strategy for a Savings and Investment Union in March. We want to thank Commissioner for Financial Services Maria Luis Albuquerque for her commitment and we will continue to work closely with her to enhance financial opportunities for EU households and businesses.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
UN urges countries to ratify landmark High Seas Treaty
A landmark international treaty to protect the high seas is on the brink of receiving the 60 ratifications needed to become binding international law, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. In his opening remarks at the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), Macron claimed that the agreement has gained enough support to come into force. He told attendees that 50 countries had now ratified the treaty, and another 15 have "formally committed" to joining them. This "allows us to say that the High Seas Treaty will soon be implemented," Macron added, though he didn't give a specific time frame. Despite the French President's comments, the United Nations website still lists the total at 32 official ratifications - too few for the treaty to come into force. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged world leaders to ratify the treaty, warning that fishing, plastic pollution and rising sea temperatures were destroying ocean ecosystems. 'The ocean is the ultimate shared resource. But we are failing it,' he said. Ahead of UNOC, the EU and six of its member states announced their ratificationof the treaty. Spain and France already did so earlier this year. At the opening of the summit on Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had pledged €40 million in funding for the Global Ocean programme to 'bring the High Seas Treaty to life'. This money will go towards supporting African, Caribbean and Pacific nations in their efforts to ratify and implement the agreement. 'We all know the Treaty is a crucial instrument to protect our Ocean beyond borders,' she said. 'And indeed, we made it – the Treaty was agreed and adopted. And today, we are inches away from the 60 signatures for ratification.' The High Seas Treaty - also referred to as the Biodiversity Beyond National Borders agreement (BBNJ) - will allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters for the first time. These areas cover around two-thirds of the world's oceans but are largely ungoverned. They are managed through a patchwork of regional fisheries agreements, shipping conventions and scattered marine protected areas. The agreement is intended to support the protection of these bodies of water that are outside of international jurisdictions. Officially adopted in 2023 after nearly two decades of negotiations, 60 ratifications are needed for the treaty to become binding international law - something France was hoping would happen before UNOC. The agreement will enter into force 120 days after the 60th ratification. Conservationists are celebrating a proposal from the UK government to ban bottom trawling in dozens more marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs are sections of the ocean that a country aims to protect because they are of particular ecological importance. Bottom trawling - a destructive type of fishing that drags weighted nets across the seafloor - is allowed in many of these sensitive areas. Currently, only four of the UK's 377 MPAs are fully protected from bottom-towed fishing gear - an area covering 18,000 square kilometres. A new proposal announced at the start of the third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC) in Nice would see an additional 30,000km2 protected, with the ban extended to 41 MPAs. Size wise, that's roughly half of English MPAs. 'Bottom trawling is damaging our precious marine wildlife and habitats. Without urgent action, our oceans will be irreversibly destroyed - depriving us, and generations to come, of the sea life on which we all enjoy,' Environment Secretary Steve Reed said in a statement this morning. 'The government is taking decisive action to ban destructive bottom trawling where appropriate.' Its first step is a consultation, launching today (9 June) until 1 September, which will invite marine and fisheries stakeholders to share their views and give evidence about the proposed ban. If adopted, the measures would protect marine habitats ranging from subtidal sandbanks to gravels to muds, and support important marine species such as lobster, clams, soft corals and langoustines, the government says. 'Destructive bottom trawling has no place in marine protected areas. These proposals provide a golden opportunity to safeguard these vital marine sanctuaries from the most damaging fishing practices,' says Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of the ocean advocacy group Oceana UK. 'If these whole-site bans are fully implemented, this could provide an invaluable and urgently needed lifeline for England's seas, which are so crucial for wildlife and climate resilience.' Joan Edwards, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, also emphasises that properly protecting MPAs is 'a win-win for both nature and the climate.' 'Removing this pressure is a great step forward towards protecting not only the wildlife and fish stocks within those sites, but also the carbon stored in the seabed muds beneath,' she says. Still, conservationists are anxious to ensure promising words are backed by action, even after the spotlight of UNOC3 has dimmed. 'The government should now strengthen the ban to cover all parts of our marine protected areas, and other types of destructive industrial fishing like supertrawlers and fly-shooters. Only this will ensure our marine ecosystems are protected in reality - not only on paper,' comments Ariana Densham, Head of Oceans at Greenpeace UK. Clare Brook, CEO of Blue Marine Foundation, calls the announcement 'highly encouraging and very welcome. If delivered (and remember this is a consultation) it will mean that England's offshore MPAs are at last given the protection they claim.' The ocean conservation charity is making waves with the release of its satirical short film featuring Stephen Fry and White Lotus star Theo James. The Bottom Line takes place in a fine dining restaurant, where James's character is presented with the gruesome bycatch behind his 'sustainable' hake order. 'As a keen diver, I've long been captivated by the ocean and been horrified by the impact humans are having on it. Having had a load of bycatch dumped on me, it really drove home just how grotesque and devastating the practice of bottom trawling is,' said James, who is an ambassador for the charity alongside Fry. "Conservation policy is awash with shiny new announcements and impressive sounding targets whereas what is needed is actual delivery,' Jonny Hughes, Senior Policy Manager at Blue Marine Foundation, said of today's news. 'This, at first glance, seems to be about delivering conservation. We need to see the full details but initial reading is positive." France's stance on bottom trawling is also under review. The co-host of UNOC has announced strict protection measures for 4 per cent of its mainland waters (15,000 square kilometres), banning harmful human activities including bottom trawling. But the announcement falls short of implementing a comprehensive ban on bottom trawling across all MPAs, environmental lawyers note. 'This is an important turning point,' ClientEarth CEO Laura Clarke said of the UK and French updates. 'We welcome these pledges at UNOC - and we would like to see more of them. We also need to see these bans effectively enforced.' Last year, Greece became the first European country to announce a ban on bottom trawling in its protected areas, starting with its three national marine parks by 2026. Sweden has gone a step further by promising to ban the damaging practice in all its territorial waters as of next month. The EU's 2023 Marie Action Plan calls on member states to phase out bottom trawling in all MPAs by 2030. But recent research from NGOs Oceana, Seas At Risk and ClientEarth revealed that no EU country currently has a comprehensive plan in place to phase out destructive fishing practices in these protected areas. As momentum builds, environmental organisations are pressuring all European countries to follow suit. ClientEarth, Oceana, Danish NGO Danmarks Naturfredningsforening and the Seas at Risk coalition last week threatened legal action against Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain for allowing widespread bottom trawling in its MPAs.
