Tech Brief: EU pushes for common ICT standards with China, Slovak elections test DSA enforcement on disinformation

 

Tech Brief: EU pushes for common ICT standards with China, Slovak elections test DSA enforcement on disinformation

“EU companies told me they face many obstacles and legal uncertainties in China.” – posted Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, the day of the EU-China Digital Dialogue in Beijing.   Story of the week: For the second high-level digital dialogue between the EU and China, Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová visited Vice-Premier of China Zhang Guoqing in Bejing. Agenda topics ranged from platforms and data regulation, AI research and innovation, and cross-border flows of industrial data to the safety of online products. One of the biggest concerns for the Commission is the standard setting for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), playing a critical role in economic power and potential strategic dependencies. By means of key positions in standards development organisations and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing aims to promote and secure its own technology standards. The EU is particularly concerned that China aims to facilitate state control by amending global internet governance, standards, and protocols in their favour. The bloc “would like to be more self-reliant and resilient and at the same time continue to cooperate with other international partners when it is desired and possible”, commented Dr Iryna Bogdanova, a postdoctoral researcher at the World Trade Institute, University of Berne. Read more. Don’t miss: Next Saturday (30 September), Slovaks will vote for their next Members of Parliament. It will be the first general election of an EU member state since the enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates illegal content online, including disinformation. Yet, according to Katarína Klingová, senior research fellow at GLOBSEC: “It is the domestic political actors who are the main perpetrators and the main spreaders of disinformation [in Slovakia]”. In this context, Euractiv looks at the Slovak context, especially at the responsibilities of political leaders and the content they share, the responsibilities of Big Tech in content moderation, the responsibilities of the EU Commission enforcing the DSA and the importance of digital literacy for citizens in disinformation mechanisms. Read more. Also this week:  German semiconductor industry gets 50% of EU funding Survey reveals EU citizens’ fear of AI and deep fakes manipulating next elections Germany voices disapproval of EU Right to Repair EU-Parliament expert panel analyses disinformation campaigns in the Balkans Before we start: If you just can’t get enough tech analysis, tune in on our weekly podcast. (...)