The Council of the European Union has approved a regulation that harmonises procedural standards for handling cross-border GDPR complaints. The new rules introduce common admissibility criteria, strengthen the rights of complainants and companies, and set binding deadlines to speed up investigations.
During the WSIS+20 virtual stakeholder consultation on Revision 1, the Tech Global Institute called for restoring key commitments removed from the Zero Draft, including language on inclusion, public investment, rights-based safeguards, and explicit protections against mass surveillance. The organisation argued that the revised text weakens the WSIS vision and risks sidelining the Global South in shaping the next generation of digital governance.
In a letter to the European Commission, Greens/EFA MEPs express concern that the upcoming Digital Omnibus could dilute the EU’s existing digital regulatory framework. They argue that proposed changes risk undermining key laws such as the AI Act, GDPR, the Data Act, and Data Governance Act, and could work against Europe’s stated goal of digital sovereignty.
The European Commission is expected to propose delaying implementation of the EU’s high-risk AI rules by at least one year. According to Commission officials, the postponement responds to concerns that technical standards are not ready and follows pressure from the U.S. administration, U.S. tech companies, and lobby groups.
Online platforms have been instructed to conduct comprehensive clean-ups and strengthen oversight mechanisms.
APC has submitted a detailed assessment of Namibia’s digital rights landscape to the 52nd session of the Universal Periodic Review, identifying gaps in connectivity, privacy protections, online expression, and responses to technology-facilitated gender-based violence. The report notes that while Namibia’s internet penetration has grown, rural–urban divides, affordability barriers, and weak legal safeguards continue to limit equitable access.
The Center for Democracy and Technology has issued a new report examining how social media creators have become influential actors in political communication and campaign ecosystems. The study, titled Architects of Online Influence, analyzes the growing role of political influencers, the incentives that shape their work, and the regulatory and platform-policy gaps that surround them. It argues that the creator economy is no longer peripheral to political discourse but is now a structural part of how campaigns, advocacy groups, and even foreign actors attempt to shape public opinion.
As we get closer to the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting dedicated to the 20-year review of the implementation of outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20), a new version of the outcome document has been released. We look at some of the main changes compared to the zero draft.
Freedom House finds that while the challenges are substantial, coordinated action across institutions can still help restore a free, open, and secure global internet.
Argentina’s new trade framework with the United States includes a major digital-policy shift. Buenos Aires has agreed to recognise the U.S. as an “adequate jurisdiction” for cross-border data transfers, allowing personal data to move freely between the two countries without additional legal safeguards.
Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment (CADE) is a project co-funded by the European Union.
