Big Tech isn’t ready for landmark EU rules that take effect tomorrow
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
Who defines "harmful content"? Is it the government?
Am I mistaken in taking this to mean that a government can now say "questioning the efficacy of this medication is harmful" or "saying something mean about this politician is harmful" and force companies to stop discussion about said topics?
If so, is that not an obvious step toward authoritarianism?
Yes.
This doesn't sound like protecting the users and more like protecting the governments. What Harmful means routinely aligns with the powerful políticas and corporations and not people. I'm usually worried about how "protection of people/children" is used to restrict choice.
It also seems rather interesting that the gov wants to stop companies from doing what they increasingly aggressively do (targeting people with tech) but companies are much more tech savvy than gov and policy makers.
Example: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/sign-petition-and-tell...
Lobbying being what it is, it's interesting to see how this battle of regulations actually affects things and for whom.
GDPR has been a mixed bag but an interesting one nonetheless and this will definitely be another.
https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-...
Fundamentally there's always a problem when regulators don't really understand how work is done and that you can't just put artificial barriers everywhere to ensure a perfect world. Pragmatism is key and enforceability is key.
I guess I have a lot to read now.
that is of course what it is. If you say or imply anything that is even one iota against the official narrative you must under all circumstances consume, believe, spread, it will be considered "harmful" at the least.
But dont worry, the blessed politicians, authorities, and talking heads on TV that tell you what to do and think, they will be exempt, so that they can continue to speak the absolute truth one day, and a few weeks later, the current truth (that directly contradicts previous) will both be true!
no. as with many things, the ones who screams "misinformation", "harmful" the loudest, are generally the ones lying, distorting, twisting, and doing misinformation attempts.
"I am from the government and I am here to help (tell you what the absolute truth is) (and if you disagree, we will crush you, unperson you) (and if you, over there, do ANYTHING to help these other guys think otherwise, we will fine you out of the market)"
They hoped to buy their way out until the last moment.
The good thing, however, is that they operate from US, so the EU will turn a blind eye to them, just like they did before.