Wer braucht noch Magazinjournalismus, @christinapausackl.bsky.social? ⁩28.05.26 / 18:00 / Fischerstiege 1-7 SEE YOU THERE

News update: As our story published, xAI quietly changed its contact address again, to another office in Estonia. I'm taking bets on whether, this time, their "office" is for real.

PHANTOM OFFICE: Elon Musk’s AI company xAI that runs X chatbot Grok has quietly moved its official European point of contact for users to Estonia – to a building whose owner says it has no contract with the company or its representatives. Gift link: www.ftm.eu/articles/elo...

SNEAKY - on 5 June the Council of the EU is holding a non-public event at its Brussels headquarters to mark the 25th anniversary of the EU’s transparency law, Regulation 1049/2001. Yes, you heard that right – there’s a closed-door event to celebrate transparency.

In der Signal-Chatgruppe der EU-Außenminister*innen werden laut der EU-Außenbeauftragen Kaja Kallas wichtige Dokumente ausgetauscht und hochrangige Treffen vorbereitet. Auf eine IFG-Anfrage hieß es, diese Chats seien keine Nachrichten im Sinne des Gesetzes. /1

Wir suchen juristische Unterstützung bei der Bekämpfung einer mühsamen Entscheidung der Erstinstanz, die selbst jegliche teilweise Informationserteilung bei diesen wichtigen Kaufverträgen ausschließt.

Foreign interference online continues to be an issue for election integrity and it is not clear if social media platforms are better equipped now than they have been in the past. Happy to have contributed some comments for this article by @alexfanta.bsky.social on the upcoming Hungarian elections⬇️

After reports about Russian meddling during the Romanian presidential elections, the EU Commission launched an investigation into TikTok. But more than a year later, and just days from a crucial vote in Hungary, the EU's probe is still open. What's taking so long? www.ftm.eu/articles/bru...

The whole social media ban for kids debate will become so much more fun when the kids realise that gaming platforms such as Roblox are likely classed as social networks (for instance, under the EU's Digital Services Act), and thus banned for them.

Correction: I got this yesterday, unfortunately. The agreement on the procedure is not certain, might even be rejected. Apologies, I made a wrong assumption.

🚨 News alert on the long-stalled battle to pick the EU's next privacy chief, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). Sources tell me the Council and the EP's LIBE committee agreed on breaking the gridlock through a voting procedure also used for picking a seat for the EU Customs Agency.

Die Berichterstattung des Ö1-Morgenjournal zu dem Smartphone-Fasten-Experiment für Jugendliche löste bei mit ungewohnten Optimismus aus. Schön, daran erinnert zu werden, dass gesellschaftliche Probleme mit kollektivem Handeln angegangen werden können. Mehr davon.

Read the defense of EU lawmaker Fulvio Martusciello against his alleged involvement in #Huaweigate in full on @ftm.eu. With @alistairkeepe.bsky.social www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

Könnt mich unter Häresie-Verdacht stellen, aber szenische Einstiege in journalistischen Texten, die keine Reportagen sind, nerven mich zunehmend. Bitte lasst das mit den langen Intros, kommt einfach zu Sache.

Another day, another media outlet getting this wrong. No, the EU has not scrapped the combustion engine ban, at least not yet. It's an ongoing, highly contingent lawmaking process, not a fait accompli. And it's not a detail, either. Why do people not get that?

Ein Hoch auf Kollegen wie @maximilianwerner.at und @alexfanta.bsky.social die sich um die zeitgemäße Umsetzung der Infofreiheit in Ö bemühen. Der Terminkalender des Kanzlers und eine WhatsApp-Gruppe der Außenministerin als griffige Beispiele in den #Ö1 Morgenjournalen. sound.orf.at/radio/oe1/be...

Heute früh hat noch das Ö1-Morgenjournal (@kappachers.bsky.social) berichtet und mich unter anderem zu meinen Beweggründen für die Anfrage befragt – und @alexfanta.bsky.social hat darin schlaue Sachen gesagt!

Ich habe Journalist:innen gefragt, ob sie in ihren Arbeitsverhältnissen schon einmal Machtmissbrauch, unangemessenes Verhalten oder sexuelle Belästigung erlebt haben und ihre Antworten habe ich aufgeschrieben. Es ist noch viel zu tun. www.wienerzeitung.at/a/machtmissb...

Deeply shocking and worrying. We need to stand up for colleagues Stephane, who has done a fantastic job investigating threats to the environment.

Officials have been anonymously briefing about the threat of FOI laws to national security in the FT. I've written a blog on Relight My FOI as to why a crackdown on transparency using the vague excuse of China would be a bad move. relightmyfoia.blog/2026/03/18/p...

Dear @politico.eu @gabrielgavin.bsky.social @maxgriera.bsky.social if you copy @ftm.eu reporting, it'd be nice to mention the original source

"After the raids, Huawei was formally blacklisted from lobbying EU officials and suspended from membership in the tech industry’s flagship association, Digital Europe. Yet other Brussels players, such as the thinktank Bruegel and [CERRE], have kept Huawei on as a paying corporate member."

A year ago, the Huaweigate scandal rocked Brussels. But the prosecution of MEPs allegedly involved has hit a few roadblocks - including an embarrassing mistake by Belgian authorities: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

I increasingly feel that illustrating real research (of any kind) with AI images is a mismatch. If your findings are real, don't show fake pictures with them.

Die Stadthalle hat laut ihrer Umwelterklärung "diverse Radabstellplätze in unmittelbarer Umgebung". Aus Sicht der Stadt Wien handelt es sich dabei aber um eine geheime Info. Denn während das Dokument ungeschwärzt im Internet steht, wurde die Passage in einer Antwort auf meine IFG-Anfrage geschwärzt.

Can MAGA stop Europe’s Big Tech crackdown? Trump allies are ramping up pressure on the EU’s tech laws. The U.S. imposed visa bans on NGO leaders and a former EU commissioner. Congress wants NGOs to hand over documents. If watchdogs are silenced, Europe’s ability to hold Big Tech accountable weakens.

MAGA's war on European civil society is escalating. Visa bans for NGO leaders and former EU officials, plus congressional demands for documents - it's all about undermining the Digital Services Act to protect Big Tech. If Europe doesn't push back hard, "the law is dead." www.ftm.eu/articles/tru...

Who cares if Trump & his allies attack a few European NGOs?, you might ask. You're wrong. We are seeing a campaign that doesn't just hurt a few NGOs. It strikes at the heart of the EU's tech laws, and European sovereignty. Inside MAGAs quiet campaign to undermine the EU: www.ftm.eu/articles/tru...

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀: the EU attends Trump’s Gaza initiative after our reporting on the Tony Blair Institute’s lobbying, four years after Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, the conflict endures – as does our scrutiny – and a Dutch government-backed report challenges EU migration plans.

This is Reuters footage of Tony Blair arriving at this year's Munich Security Conference.

All eyes are on Orbán’s main challenger for Hungary’s premiership, Péter Magyar. What does he stand for? Our research shows his party Tisza maintains an ambiguous voting record on Russia and rule-of-law — the two issues driving disputes between Orbán and the EU.

It’s now official: the EU will attend Trump’s Board of Peace. But what about the lobbying behind it? Yesterday, we revealed via an internal Commission document obtained through FOI that representatives of the Tony Blair Institute urged the EU to join, saying it “should not be shy.”

News update: The EU announced that Commissioner Suica, who Tony Blair wanted to meet according to the document we obtained, has agreed to join the first meeting of the "Board of Peace". No sh*t. Their lobbying actually worked!

Documents reveal Tony Blair lobbied EU to join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ 🔗Full story: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Shilling for Trump in Brussels: A document we obtained shows how Tony Blair and his institute lobbied behind closed doors for the EU to join Trump's "Board of Peace" and put €€€ behind US- and Israeli-led Gaza reconstruction efforts. Published with Democracy for Sale, ht @lighthousereports.com

🔍 Inside the EU's plan to classify (almost) everything 🪟 Court fights to make the EU Commission transparent 📱 Ombudsman probes VDL texts (again) Our Secrecy Tracker newsletter gives you 2026's top transparency stories: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/... 🙌 @ftm.eu @euobserver.com @investigate-europe.eu

Telegram has successfully avoided coming under direct supervision of the European Commission under the EU's Digital Services Act. The "poor man's dark web" remains unregulated, for now. From our latest newsletter: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Im Herbst veröffentlicht die @concordia.at erstmals den "Monitor Journalismusfreiheit". @brodnig.bsky.social @johannes-gress.at @alexfanta.bsky.social @walterstrobl.bsky.social und ich haben heute erörtert, wo und wie Journalist:innen die Arbeit erschwert wird www.derstandard.at/story/300000...

Are you wondering why the legal decision on X's fine was first published by the US House of Representatives rather than by the European Commission? Us too. Especially as we officially requested it to the Commission 3 weeks ago: www.asktheeu.org/request/deci...

Wie stark werden Journalist:innen in Österreich bei ihrer Arbeit eingeschränkt? Darüber spreche ich am Freitag mit @brodnig.bsky.social @patricialierzer.bsky.social @walterstrobl.bsky.social @colettemschmidt.bsky.social & @alexfanta.bsky.social im @concordia.at concordia.at/praesentatio...

Reactions on X to the EU's investigation into Grok are unfunny and disgusting. Why is the Commission still on that platform?

📱🌐 Launched in 2013, Telegram now has more than a billion monthly users. As its reach has grown, so have questions in Brussels: is it really just a messaging service, or should it face the same EU rules as large platforms like YouTube and Meta, after being described as “the dark web in your pocket”?

Telegram’s battle with European regulators could force it to hire thousands of content moderators to tackle illegal content. Documents obtained by Follow the Money show how Telegram is trying to fend off tougher oversight from Brussels. www.ftm.eu/articles/tel...

EU nerds - retweet if you hate the new Court of Justice website

The myth of the "good king", whose actions need not be constrained by law, must be the oldest fallacy in politics

Am I the only one bothered that the Guardian's blind date column never seems to produce any matches? Every couple is, like, 'we'll meet again as friends'. Come on, guys, this is boring. Snog a little.

Harald Mahrer ist nicht mehr WKÖ-Präsident, aber immer noch Ehrenprofessor. Für die Verleihung der Professorenwürde beruft sich das Ministerium auf ein Gutachten, dass es aber nicht herausgeben will. Es sagt aber, dass Mahrer sich den Titel durch seine "publizistische Tätigkeit" verdient habe...

Sitzen zwei Lyriker an der Bar. "Mir geht's so schlecht." "Wieso denn?" "Mein Leser ist gestorben. "

It's Ursula's texts once again. 🤳 The EU's official watchdog is investigating a text message sent by French president Emmanuel Macron to the commission president last year. Guess what, it just... disappeared. Some news that could spell trouble for the commission. 🧵

Tür 17 im Deregulierungs-Adventkalender