Press play to listen to this article By LILI BAYER with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH PRESENTED BY CEFIC Send tips here | Tweet | Listen to today’s Playbook and view in your browser Think European politics feels like reality TV these days? Check out this video of a 20-year-old Matteo Salvini competing on Italy’s “Lunch is Served” quiz show (h/t Gianmaria Sisti). Keep those pics of young polis coming! Rookie error: Ahead of the Bavarian state election in October, the local branch of the Social Democrats nabbed the domain name for the campaign slogan of State Premier Markus Söder (“Söder macht’s,” or Söder does it/can do it). They’re using the site to list criticisms of Söder, including accusing him of “putting the national government at risk in order to stand out in the campaign.” Good Wednesday morning. I’m Lili Bayer, POLITICO’s budget reporter and one of the newsroom’s resident Central … [Read more...] about POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by CEFIC: View from the East — Politics is a game show — Trump’s dumpster-fire day
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A year after Charlottesville, why can’t big tech delete white supremacists?
The purge came too late for Heather Heyer. Last August, amid the fallout from the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, the major technology platforms on which the “alt-right” had arisen, recruited members and organized its violent event decided to clean house. Facebook and the video game chat application Discord moved to delete the groups and chatrooms affiliated with the violent white supremacist groups present at Charlottesville, where 32-year-old Heyer was killed and dozens were injured when a car plowed into anti-racist counter-protesters. The neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer was forced to move to the dark web after it lost its domain name registration and ability to fend off DDOS attacks. The horse may have bolted, but the stables were looking decidedly more clean. But a year later, as the remnants of the alt-right prepare for an anniversary rally in Washington DC and, pending a court case, Charlottesville, many of the players involved in the first … [Read more...] about A year after Charlottesville, why can’t big tech delete white supremacists?
The men behind NZ’s most unhinged conspiracy website
By Joel MacManus writing for The Spinoff January 19, 2018 was a day that changed what normal meant in New Zealand's political history. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her pregnancy, and changed perceptions across the world about what it meant to be a working mother. In the underbelly of the internet, gears started grinding. A team of secret writers sprung into action, published an article, and sent an urgent press release to news outlets across the country. It was then promptly ignored by everyone who received it, because, well, it was f**king insane. 'Is Jacinda Ardern a Transvestite Man - Faking Her Pregnancy?' The answer of course, is no. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that. The article's claim was based on the fact that Jacinda looks different now to how she did in high school - darker hair, more pronounced teeth, and a less rounded face. You know, like aging. None of those observations are followed up in anywhere near enough detail to justify the author's bold … [Read more...] about The men behind NZ’s most unhinged conspiracy website
[Analysis] GDPR does not (yet) give right to global oblivion
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EU citizens will see their 'right to be forgotten' online enshrined in EU law on Friday (25 May), but its effectiveness and reach will depend on a case which is still pending in front of the Court of Justice of the EU. The general data protection regulation (GDPR), which will apply as of Friday, gives EU citizens the right to demand from companies or organisations to have their personal data removed, under certain circumstances. Subscribe now for a 30 day free trial. €150 per year or €15 per month Cancel anytime EUobserver is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that publishes daily news reports, analysis, and investigations from Brussels and the EU member states. We are an indispensable news source for anyone who wants to know what is going on in the EU. We are mainly funded by advertising and subscription revenues. As advertising revenues are falling fast, we depend on subscription revenues to support our journalism. For group, corporate or student … [Read more...] about [Analysis] GDPR does not (yet) give right to global oblivion
Meet the pro-Trump PR guy at the center of the Mueller probe — and everything else
Ronn Torossian got his start representing hip pop stars, but now has ties to some of the most scrutinized parts of the Trump orbit. What do the Mueller probe, the Eric Trump Foundation, Sinclair Broadcasting, Girls Gone Wild, Israel, Turkey, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow all have in common? Ronn Torossian. Earlier this month, the hard-charging New York PR man caught Washington’s notice first when he announced in an op-ed that he had testified about his abortive dealings with Paul Manafort to a Washington grand jury convened by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, and then again when he emerged as the face of Sinclair Broadcasting’s caustic PR counteroffensive to charges that it forces affiliates to air pro-Trump propaganda. These were not Ronn Torossian’s first brushes with Trump-era politics, and they won’t be his last. Over the last decade and a half, the 43-year-old Torossian has made himself … [Read more...] about Meet the pro-Trump PR guy at the center of the Mueller probe — and everything else