News Feed

11/03/2019

Russia Passes Legislation Banning ‘Disrespect’ of Authorities and ‘Fake News’

Russian lawmakers pushed through a package of bills seeking to punish internet users and journalists for disrespecting the authorities and spreading fake news.
Source: themoscowtimes.com
18/03/2019

Latvia wants to limit cash transactions

Latvia wants to limit cash payments to no more than 3,000 euros. The draft law comes in answer to recommendations from experts at the Council of Europe who had harshly criticised the Latvian authorities' attempts to crack down on money laundering last year as half-hearted. Commentators see the move as tantamount to scrapping cash entirely - and start to panic.
Source: eurotopics.net
18/03/2019

Russia’s plans for its own Internet

To protect the country from external attacks the Russian leadership wants to isolate it digitally. A corresponding law providing for Internet traffic to be cut off from foreign servers in the event of a threat was passed in the first reading in the Duma. Thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against the move. Is this the end of Internet freedom in Russia?
Source: eurotopics.net
18/03/2019

Amnesty report: EU complicit in violence against refugees

In a report released on Wednesday, Amnesty International stated that European governments, by prioritizing border control, are complicit in “the systematic, unlawful and frequently violent pushbacks” against asylum seekers.The report details the abuse asylum seekers face at the hands of Croatian police and the squalid conditions in the refugee camps.
Source: jurist.org
18/03/2019

Wildlife campaigners take legal action against ‘pest’ bird killings

The killing of thousands of “pest” birds each year including crows, rooks, jackdaws, magpies and woodpigeons is to be challenged in court by wildlife campaigners from new group called Wild Justice.
Source: theguardian.com
18/03/2019

Equality commission to investigate BBC over pay discrimination

The BBC is to be formally investigated by the equality watchdog over claims men were consistently paid more than women for doing the same job.
Source: theguardian.com
25/03/2019

Opposition to EU copyright reform growing

Tens of thousands demonstrated in Germany against the EU's planned copyright reform on Saturday. The new directive is due to be passed by the EU Parliament on Tuesday. Critics fear that it will lead to censorship. Article 13, according to which online platforms will no longer be able to direct users to copyrighted content, is the main source of concern.
Source: eurotopics.net
25/03/2019

Roskomnadzor to design a system to monitor search engines and VPN

The General Radio Frequency Centre, subordinated to Russia's Media Watchdog, announced the state tender to develop an automated system to control the blocking of prohibited sites.
Source: meduza.io
25/03/2019

Resistance to killer robots growing

Activists from 35 countries met in Berlin this week to call for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons, ahead of new talks on such weapons in Geneva. They say that if Germany took the lead, other countries would follow.
Source: dw.com