The proliferation of bad ads, Kaley Glenn speaks and EU revives Chat Control 1.0
Hello and welcome to Everything in Moderation's Week in Review, your need-to-know news and analysis about platform policy, content moderation and internet regulation. It's written by me, Ben Whitelaw and supported by paid members like you.
Breaking news as I was putting the final touches to this week’s newsletter: the European Commission has found Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act for the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook. Following on from the EU’s previous ruling against TikTok and the landmarked California trial in March (EiM #330) and it really does feel like we’re really in the addictive design era of platform regulation.
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Policies
New and emerging internet policy and online speech regulation
In what must be one of the most ding-dong legislative battles in recent EU history, the European Parliament yesterday reintroduced an interim rule that allows platforms to voluntarily scan chats for evidence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after the previous version was allowed to expire in April. In a special vote on what’s known as “Chat Control 1.0”, MEPs failed to reach the majority needed to scrap the rules, meaning it was reintroduced by default.
Former MEP and digital rights campaigner Patrick Breyer condemned the move as an undemocratic return to "mass surveillance", while T&S professionals I’ve spoken to say the extension gives them clarity until 2028, when it is hoped a permanent EU framework will be agreed. The Register has the best account of what happened.