At a glance.
- In the EU, the algorithm loses some of its power.
- US could look to EU as role model for juvenile cybercrime prevention programs.
In the EU, the algorithm loses some of its power.
As of last Friday, the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) is in effect, giving residents more power over what they see and don’t see on the web. Security Week reports that users on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat can now opt out of automated recommendation algorithms that determine what they see in their feeds, search results, and suggested content. ByteDance, parent company of TikTok and Snapchat, has hired a stable of new moderators and legal specialists to review videos flagged by users, and Facebook’s and Instagram’s content reporting tools have been made more easily accessible to users.
The DSA calls for more transparency from digital platforms regarding content moderation, and a TikTok spokesperson says EU users will get more information “about a broader range of content moderation decisions,” including why particular content was taken down and how users can appeal such decisions. The new law also aims to crack down on the sale of counterfeit merchandise on the web, and mega-retailer Amazon says it has established a new channel for reporting suspected illegal products and sharing information about third-party merchants. The DSA also includes rules regarding digital ads shown to minors, meaning teenage TikTok users in the EU, as well as Britain, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and even the US will no longer be subject to ad tracking based on their activities on the web.
Snapchat and Meta are also instituting similar rules. Some might say these changes are minor, but TechCrunch notes that they’re an important first step in dismantling the unprecedented power these platforms have over digital information. “That kind of public interest visibility atop tech giants is also long overdue. And the information asymmetry that adtech giants, especially, have exploited to fatten their bottom lines at our eyeballs’ expense has always been drastically unfair,” the writer states.
US could look to EU as role model for juvenile cybercrime prevention programs.
Earlier this month the US Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cyber Safety Review Board recommended Congress consider establishing juvenile cybercrime prevention programs. The guidance comes on the heels of the recent Lapsus$ investigation, which revealed that the notorious ransomware group was headed by teenage hackers. Experts say cybercrime has become an attractive activity for minors, especially given that many youngsters are unaware of what is considered illegal online. In a recent survey, nearly half of EU youths between the ages of 16 and 19 said that they engaged in digital criminal activities like money laundering and frequenting illegal online marketplaces between the summers of 2020 and 2021.
The EU has already established several juvenile cybercrime prevention programs that could serve as possible models for the US. Dr. Mary Aiken, a co-author of the EU-funded study and an online safety adviser at Paladin Capital Group, says that while many of these programs focus on hacking, it’s important to tackle “gateway” online behaviors as well. “There's no point in [just] talking about hacking because that may not be the entry point," Aiken told Axios. "The entry point may, in fact, be something as relatively benign, but still criminal, as digital piracy." Aiken recently spoke with officials at the White House about her research, but it’s unclear whether the DHS will act on the Cyber Safety Review Board’s guidance.