Not content just ruining their own product, Google Search is now auto-translating all my <site:reddit.com> queries. One of the few remaining use cases for Search and they can't resist screwing with it.

In today's Briefing: I found 114 ads for AI nudifiers on Meta. The copy of the ads included the word "undress," which isn't a sophisticated term to watch out for. As always, I flagged these ads to Meta, which took them down. Google also took down a related app. indicator.media/p/ai-nudifie...

Chuffed to see my new draft paper on platform ownership billed as "hidden gem of the week" over at the Syllabus 👇

🎺🎺 New draft paper 🎺🎺 From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes? osf.io/preprints/os...

So... I'm not saying you should sue any platforms under the DSA. But if you *did* want to do that, you'd definitely want to look at this article from @pjleerssen.bsky.social, Iris Toepoel, Anna van Duin, and @jvh.bsky.social It's basically a tactical guide. dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...

PlatGovNet 2025: Dec 1-2 I'll be counting the days! Very grateful that this is happening again.

Working on platform governance? Join for PlatGovNet 2025 Free online conference Dec 1-2 Extended abstracts (800-1000 words) due Sep 2 Amazing community, opportunity to share work, get feedback, meet others working in this area. Glad to be part of organizing it Details: platgov.net/conferences/...

Coming soon 📣: @yannickvdberg.bsky.social in SPUI25 over het recht gebruiken om mensen minder te laten vliegen ✈️ Meld je aan voor het event op 13 juni https://bit.ly/459lUJw

Yesterday, for the first time, I presented findings from a new empirical project. The question is simple: who owns social media? I'm leaving the AoIR symposium in Bremen more inspired than ever to pursue this topic. Many thanks to the organisers at @zemki.bsky.social!

WAITRESS: please keep your voices down, this is a family restaurant. WALTER: Oh please dear! For your information: the Supreme Court roundly rejected prior restraint! DUDE: C'mon Walter, this is not a First Amendment thing, man.

The folks at @knightgtown.bsky.social are doing cutting-edge research on recommender systems. 👇 In this new commentary for @dsaobservatory.bsky.social l, @alissacooper.bsky.social and Peter Chapman discuss key findings and their relevance to the DSA. dsa-observatory.eu/2025/05/19/m...

👇Join us on Thursday - online or in Amsterdam 👇

📣 Panel Discussion: The Rising Power of Big Tech (New Date!) Thursday, 8 May 2025 | 17:00 | SPUI25. Join @pjleerssen.bsky.social, @tomasdodds.bsky.social and me as we discuss Big Tech’s growing influence on global politics, media and democracy. Register here: spui25.nl/programma/re...

Just published: another victory for @dannymekic.nl over X at the Amsterdam District Court. Enforcing your digital rights shouldn't be this hard, but at least someone's doing the heavy lifting. uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=E...

I'm sorry to say that tonight's event will be POSTPONED until futher notice. My apologies for any inconvenience. Hopefully we'll get a new date scheduled soon. 🙏

At Spui25 later this month: I'll be talking (social) media regulation with IViR colleagues Theresa Seipp and Petros Terzis.

What are some good *open access* journals to submit to in European (private) law?

The 'Instagore' story from last week is absolutely nuts and really flew under the radar. No clear explanation either. Theories I've seen: - deliberate sabotage, e.g. from a disgruntled employee? - coding error, e.g. inverting ranking scores to show lowest first? www.404media.co/instagram-er...

Online gambling is a social crisis in the making, and a ticking time bomb for online content regulation. Growing up in Holland, bookies and sports betting were practically unheard of. Our neoliberal government deregulated online casino's in the early 2020s, and now it's everywhere. Disgusting.

Whither (anti-)imperialism? Very interesting read on geopolitical realignments, first on the left and now on the right, regarding soft-power programmes like USAID. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/u...

Unexpected find of the day: this new study uses the Meta Ad Library to show how online viagra advertising exploits masculine anxieties around sexual performance and dysfunction. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Another postdoc in my department: OSINT and Information Disorder werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

🎶On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... 🎶

Like "buttered toast released in a free fall" is how Akbar Rasulov describes international law: "Although it has more than one side too, the toast, as everyone knows, always lands buttered side down"

I am on strike! For the coming days I'll be laying down my work to demand that the University of Amsterdam protects the right to demonstrate and suspends its ties Israeli institutions. Read more about the strike here: www.fnv.nl/cao-sector/o...

Can't resist sharing: my peer review got a good review :)

Can't beat the classics 🎷

Reminder: we want YOU 🫵 to submit your analysis of the VLOP audit + risk reports to the DSA Observatory. dsa-observatory.eu/blogposts-su...

First DSA risk and audit reports are out 👀👀

Currently reading: Ahmad, Sana, and Maximilian Greb. "Automating social media content moderation: implications for governance and labour discretion." Work in the Global Economy 2.2 (2022): 176-198. bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...

Bluesky's starter packs make for an interesting inversion of the typical social media experience: scrolling through your feed and discovering fresh new accounts to unfollow.

Next week is a big one for DSA land: it's when we expect the first risk + audit reports from VLOP to finally be published. What can we expect from these reports, and what's next? Read our analysis the DSA Observatory, from my new colleague Magdalena Jozwiak: dsa-observatory.eu?p=1910&previ...

What can European lawyers take from US debates about jawboning? And when should we talk about 'lawboning' instead? Just out: my take on platform-state relations in the US and Europe. observatoriolegislativocele.com/jawboning-an...

Deadline has been EXTENDED for the European Commission's public consultation on data access. Old deadline was 26 November, now it's 10 December. Read more here: ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...

Let the record state that I joined Bluesky exactly one day before it was cool.

We have now reached the 'lists of lists' stage in platform switching. Lots of great follows here 👇

Let's see what this platform's good for: Can someone hit me up with a PDF of Hesmondhalgh, The Cultural Industries (Routledge 2019, Fourth Ed.)? DM me for email.

Are you interested in becoming a vetted researcher and getting access to data from VLOP/VLOSEs under Article 40 of the DSA? The European Commission is running a webinar on the draft Delegated Act 🏫 Nov 26th is the deadline for the public consultation 📑 ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/run...