Archive
SPECTRE Project: EU finances technology for undercover investigations
"Police forces from 34 countries have been investigating criminal networks in South Eastern Europe since 2017, money comes from the Internal Security Fund of the European Union. In addition to all kinds of espionage and wiretapping technology, they also pay informers." Read More
European Parliament: Protecting press freedom during the Covid-19 pandemic
"The Covid-19 crisis has hit the media sector hard at a time when it plays a crucial role in providing accurate information and countering disinformation about the pandemic." Read More
French government forced to delay vote on COVID-19 tracking app proposal
"The French government has been forced to delay the debate and vote in the National Assembly regarding its controversial coronavirus contact tracing app, StopCovid, following privacy concerns." Read More
CoE: HANDS OFF PRESS FREEDOM: attacks on media in Europe must not become a new normal
CoE: HANDS OFF PRESS FREEDOM: ATTACKS ON MEDIA IN EUROPE MUST NOT BECOME A NEW NORMAL 2020 Annual Report by the partner organisations to the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism Read More
EU launches judicial freedom case against Poland
"The European Commission launched a new formal procedure against reforms in Poland on Wednesday (29 April), giving Warsaw two months to alleviate concerns about a December law that the EU executive says threaten judicial independence." Read More
Brussels and UK at odds over proposed EU office in Belfast – Clashes expected over plan which Britain says would sow division in Northern Ireland
"Brussels and UK officials will clash over the increasingly fraught question of whether the European Union can open an office in Belfast." Read More
EU financial complicity in Libyan migrant abuses
"The EU is financially supporting Libyan and Italian authorities, who are responsible for grave violations of migrant rights, with some 90 million euros. In a complaint submitted to the European Court of Auditors, GLAN and our partners at ASGI and ARCI demonstrate that this support enables Libyan authorities to intercept and return migrant boats to Libyan territory, contrary to fundamental rules of refugee law; and that it is often funnelled into one of the world’s most notorious detention systems where migrants are held in deplorable conditions and subjected to extreme violence and in some cases, sold into slavery." Read More
UK: Big Brother Watch: Emergency powers and civil liberties report [April 2020]
"The publication of this report marks approximately one month since the Coronavirus Act 2020 was passed into law on 25th March 2020, and since the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 were made by statutory instrument on 26th March. This remarkable legislative change has fundamentally altered the balance of power between citizens and the state and afforded breath-taking powers to Ministers and law enforcement authorities." Read More
Convicted terrorists less likely to reoffend than other criminals – study
"Convicted terrorists are extremely unlikely to reoffend compared with other prisoners, research by academics and security services in Europe has found." Read More
EU: Monitoring being pitched to fight Covid-19 was tested on refugees – The pandemic has given a boost to controversial data-driven initiatives to track population movements
"In Italy, social media monitoring companies have been scouring Instagram to see who's breaking the nationwide lockdown. In Israel, the government has made plans to “sift through geolocation data” collected by the Shin Bet intelligence agency and text people who have been in contact with an infected person. And in the UK, the government has asked mobile operators to share phone users’ aggregate location data to “help to predict broadly how the virus might move”." Read More