EU agrees single charger standard, in blow to Apple

Yahoo – AFP, Alex PIGMAN, June 7, 2022

 

European officials on Tuesday agreed the text of a proposed EU law imposing a standard charger for smartphones, tablets and laptops sold in the bloc, in a blow to Apple. 

EU member states and MEPs believe a standard cable for all devices will cut back on electronic waste, but iPhone juggernaut Apple argues a one-size-fits-all charger would slow innovation and create more pollution. 

For most portable devices the requirement for charging via a USB Type-C port will come into effect from late 2024, negotiators said, while laptops will be given more time. 

The USB-C rule will also stretch to digital cameras, headphones, headsets, portable speakers and E-readers, they said. 

Lawmakers agreed on the common charger based on a proposal that was made by the EU executive -- the European Commission -- in September, but came more than a decade after the European Parliament first pushed for it. 

The decision will be formally ratified by European Parliament and among EU member states later this year before entering into effect. 

"We have been able to do it in nine months, that means that we can ... move fast when there is a political will," the EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said. 

"We are able to say to the lobbies, 'sorry, but here it is Europe and we're working for our people'," he said. 

The 27-nation union is home to 450 million people, some of the world's richest consumers, and the imposition of the USB-C as standard could affect the entire global market. 

"This is a rule which will apply to everyone," said MEP Alex Agius Saliba, who led the negotiations for the European Parliament. 

"If Apple ... or anyone wants to market their product, sell their products within our internal market, they have to abide by our rules and their device has to be USB-C," he said. 

The rules will also give shoppers the option to opt out of receiving a new charging cable when purchasing an electronic device. 

'Planning ahead'

And in order to prepare for the future, the law has provisions to set a standard on wireless charging. 

This was "not to end up ... legislating for a technology which is basically dying out, so we are also planning ahead," Saliba said. 

Apple, which already uses USB-C connectors on some of its iPads and laptop computers, has insisted any legislation to force a universal charger for all mobiles in the European Union is unwarranted. 

"The proposal is vastly disproportionate to any perceived problem," the company said in its response to the commission when the law was being drafted. 

Imposing a charger standard, it argued, would stifle innovation and "reduce European consumer choice by removing more affordable older models from the market". 

Consumers currently have to decide between phones served by three main chargers: "Lightning" for Apple handsets, the micro-USB widely used on most other mobile phones and the newer USB-C that is increasingly coming into use. 

That range is already greatly simplified from 2009, when dozens of different types of chargers were bundled with mobile phones, creating piles of electronic garbage when users changed brands.

In making its proposal last year, the EU said the current situation remained wasteful and that European consumers spent approximately 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) annually on standalone chargers they bought separately. 

The European Commission had long defended a voluntary agreement it made with the device industry that was set in place in 2009 and saw a big reduction in cables, but Apple refused to abide by it.

Microsoft pledges to store European cloud data in Europe

Yahoo – AFP, May 6, 2021 

Microsoft's European clients have long been concerned over the legal status
of data they store with US companies in the cloud and the extent to which
they could be scrutinised by US authorities. 

US tech giant Microsoft on Thursday pledged to store all European cloud-based client data in Europe amid unease on the continent over the reach of US legislation on personal data collection. 

Microsoft's European clients have long been concerned over the legal status of data they store with US companies in the cloud and the extent to which they could be scrutinised by US authorities. 

Those worries came to a head last July when the European Court of Justice struck down the EU-US Privacy Shield, a framework allowing firms to transfer personal data to the United States in compliance with Brussels' General Data Protection Regulation. 

The court found the mechanism did not adequately protect EU data from US authorities over which Europe has neither control nor right of redress. 

In a blog post on Thursday, Microsoft president Brad Smith said: "If you are a commercial or public sector customer in the EU, we will go beyond our existing data storage commitments and enable you to process and store all your data in the EU. 

"In other words, we will not need to move your data outside the EU." 

He said the commitment -- dubbed the EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud -- would apply across all of Microsoft's core cloud services -– Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365 and would take effect by the end of next year.

Dutch government invests €20m in Eindhoven photonic chip maker

DutchNews, June 30, 2020

Inside a Smart Photonics lab. Photo: Bart van Overbeeke / Hollandse Hoogte

The Dutch government has invested €20m into Eindhoven company Smart Photonics to make sure the technology stays in the Netherlands, junior economic affairs minister Mona Keijzer has confirmed to MPs. 

The company produces chips which work on the basis of light rather than electricity, which means they can process data more quickly and use less energy. The investment will allow the company to scale up production, the company said in a statement. 

Smart Photonics had been looking for investment since last year and that there was interest from Asia, the Financieele Dagblad reported earlier. 

Keijzer told MPs she had been made aware of the foreign interest at the end of last year and decided to invest directly in the company to make sure it, and its suppliers, remain in the Netherlands. 

The action also fits in with European Commission call on member states to act against ‘undesirable developments’ in certain markets. Phototonic chips are considered a strategic key industry by Brussels. 

In total, Smart Photonic has raised €35m to €40m, some of which has also come from KPN. 

‘There is a need for a new generation of photonic integrated circuits that can transport data faster, be cost-effective and more sustainable, in order to keep up with the immense amount of data generated at a very high speed by advancing technologies like IoT, AI, augmented reality and autonomous driving,’ said Samir Ahmad, head of investment at KPN Ventures.

Dutch tennis association fined €525,000 for selling members’ information

DutchNews, March 3, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The Dutch tennis association KNLTB has been fined €525,000 by the Dutch privacy watchdog Autoriteit Persoonsgevens for infringing on the privacy of its members. 

The complaint dates back to 2018 when dozens of the organisation’s members complained about being emailed and phoned by companies with links to the KNLTB even though they had never agreed that their information should be sold. 

Under EU privacy legislation (GDPR), everyone should have been asked to agree. Nevertheless one sponsor was given the names and addresses of 50,000 members, another at least 300,000, the AP said in its ruling. 

The KNLTB, which says it plans to appeal against the fine, said it is extremely careful about what it does with members’ private information. 

In addition, the organisation says the size of the fine will have a major impact on its finances.

Google, EU bring battle to court

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine KURZAWA with Alex PIGMAN in Brussels, February 12, 2020

.Google and the European Union are to meet in court again in the latest phase
of a legal saga that began a decade ago (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Luxembourg (AFP) - Google and the EU battled in court Wednesday as the search engine giant tried to persuade judges that it was unfairly accused of ill-treating rivals of its Shopping service.

The Silicon Valley juggernaut is appealing a 2.4 billion euro ($2.6 billion) fine from 2017 that was the first in a series of major penalties imposed by the European Commission, the EU's powerful anti-trust regulator.

The court case launches a new phase in the decade-long duel and is a major test of the combative tactics taken by the EU commission against big tech.

The next months will see Google appeal all three decisions that saw Brussels slap a total $9 billion in EU fines, with the giant's Android mobile operating system and ad service also caught out for illegal behaviour.

The tech giant has paid the fines and changed its behaviour, but the company on Wednesday strongly condemned the EU's verdict on shopping in the EU's General Court as ill-founded and unfair.

"If Google would have faced the commission’s decision in 2008, Google would have had no other option but to abandon its innovative technologies and its improved designs," Thomas Graf, a lawyer for Google told the EU's General Court.

Supporting Google, a lawyer for the CCIA tech lobby in Brussels argued that the Commission's demands "would ultimately harm consumers and internet users".

'Colossus'

The Commission's lawyer, Nicholas Khan, deplored the power of the Mountain View, California giant. "Google's status as the colossus of the digital age is unquestioned and until recently unquestionable."

The commission was joined by other plaintiffs, who shot down Google for aggressive business practices.

EU competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, quickly became known for her relentless 

pursuit of US tech giants that drew attention worldwide (AFP Photo/Kenzo 

TRIBOUILLARD)

"Google's behaviour constitutes a serious abuse of dominance which must stop or it will destroy competition in all the markets in which it decides to enter," said Thomas Höppner, a lawyer for three companies fighting the group.

The EU and Google have been locked in battle since 2010 when the commission first looked into accusations that the search engine was squeezing rivals from results in order to promote ads and Google Shopping, its price comparison service.

For several years Brussels and the US giant sought a negotiated settlement, but the EU abruptly reversed course in 2014 after the intervention of member states and the arrival of Margrethe Vestager who took over as EU competition chief.

Vestager, a former Danish finance minister, quickly became known for her relentless pursuit of US tech giants that drew attention worldwide.

Instead of negotiation, she repeatedly fined Google and slapped Apple with a 13 billion euro tax bill that boss Tim Cook dismissed as "political crap".

The appeal hearing is to last three days with a decision possible by June. The case can then go to the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice.

The EU's case mirrors similar litigation against Microsoft, a legal labyrinth that ran throughout most of the 1990s and early 2000s and saw the Windows-maker fined about 1.4 billion euros.

Google was expected to plead that the commission had wrongly applied arguments used successfully against Microsoft and that the company has the right to give advantage to its own services.

The company would also underline that the EU case erroneously failed to account for the spectacular rise of Amazon and eBay in its assessment of Google Shopping.

Players in other sectors are following the case closely, and hoping that Vestager swoops in on other features such as maps, travel and job ads where Google has yet to face push back from regulators.

More than 30 travel firms -- including TripAdvisor and Expedia -- wrote to Vestager on Monday complaining that Google was unfairly trying to enter the vacation rental ad business.

The EU has already said it was looking into Google's similar push into job ads.

Huawei promises 'Made in Europe' 5G for EU

Yahoo – AFP, February 5, 2020

"Huawei is more committed to Europe than ever before," the company's top
executive for Europe Abraham Liu said (AFP Photo/Tolga Akmen)

Brussels (AFP) - Chinese telecom giant Huawei said on Tuesday it would set up manufacturing hubs in Europe, as it tries to fight off US pressure on EU nations to stop it from operating.

"Huawei is more committed to Europe than ever before," said the company's top executive for Europe Abraham Liu during a Chinese New Year reception in Brussels.

"That's why we have decided we want to set up manufacturing bases in Europe -- so that we can truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe."

The announcement comes just days after the EU recommended that member states could ban telecoms operators deemed a security risk from critical parts of 5G infrastructure.

But the EU plan, which closely mirrored rules set out by Britain allowing a limited role for Huawei, stopped short of barring the company from the next-generation communications network designed for near-instantaneous data transfers.

Those guidelines were the fruit of months of agonising within the EU, which has struggled to find a middle way to balance Huawei's huge dominance in the 5G sector with security concerns pressed by Washington.

Liu in his speech acknowledged that the tech world "is increasingly entangled with geopolitical issues, trade negotiations, and diplomatic dialogue between nations".

"Politically motivated suspicion does not address the challenges ahead," he added in a veiled admonishment to Washington.

He also urged Europe, the US and China to "invest more, in political discussion, to talk about collaboration and common rules".

In Europe, a ban on Huawei will now ultimately be up to member states, but the European Commission's middle road recommendations give cover to European capitals to resist pleas from Washington.

Building factories in Europe would also help persuade EU countries to turn away from tough measures against Huawei, with all eyes on Germany which has delayed its decision on a possible ban.

According to the company, it employs over 13,000 staff and runs two regional centres and 23 research centres in 12 EU countries.

Huawei is one of the world's leading network technology suppliers, and one of the few -- along with European telecom companies Nokia and Ericsson -- capable of building 5G networks.

The United States sees the company as a potential threat to cybersecurity and fears it would facilitate cyber espionage by the Chinese government, to which it is said to have close links.

EU announces strict 5G rules, but no Huawei ban

Yahoo – AFP, Damon WAKE, January 29, 2020

The EU commission's middle road 5G recommendations give cover to European
capitals to resist US pressure (AFP Photo/JUSTIN TALLIS)

EU countries could ban telecoms operators deemed a security risk from critical parts of 5G infrastructure under guidelines issued Wednesday, amid US pressure to shut out Chinese giant Huawei.

The EU plan, which closely mirrors rules set out Tuesday by Britain allowing a limited role for Huawei, stops short of barring the company from the next-generation communications network designed for near-instantaneous data transfers.

It leaves member states with the responsibility to ensure the safe rollout of 5G and warns them to screen operators carefully, saying security of the network will be critically important for the entire EU.

The so-called "toolbox" outlined by the European Commission avoids naming Huawei and does not call for an outright ban on any supplier.

But it urges countries to "assess the risk profile of suppliers (and)... apply relevant restrictions for suppliers considered to be high risk" accordingly, including shutting them out of "key assets defined as critical and sensitive".

It also recommends EU states avoid "major dependency on a single supplier" and "dependency on suppliers considered to be high risk".

The guidelines are the fruit of months of agonising within the EU, which has struggled to find a middle way to balance Huawei's dominance in the 5G sector with the security concerns pressed by Washington.

Any bans on Huawei will now ultimately be up to individual member states, but the commission's middle road recommendations give cover to European capitals to resist pleas from Washington.

Huawei welcomed the guidelines, saying they would allow it to continue playing a role in Europe's 5G rollout.

"This non-biased and fact-based approach towards 5G security allows Europe to have a more secure and faster 5G network," the company said in a statement.

"Huawei has been present in Europe for almost 20 years and has a proven track record with regard to security. We will continue to work with European governments and industry to develop common standards to strengthen the security and reliability of the network."

Thierry Breton, the EU commissioner for the single market, said the bloc would not target any company, stressing that the new system was based on "objective criteria".

"We in Europe accept everyone but we have rules -- these rules are clear and exacting," he told reporters.

'No safe option'

London's announcement on Tuesday of a limited role for Huawei infuriated Washington, which says the company cannot be trusted with such important infrastructure because it is too close to the Beijing government.

Britain, like the EU, plans to exclude risky operators from "sensitive" locations such as nuclear sites and military bases, but US officials insist there was "no safe option" for Huawei to control any part of the network.

The US has said the possibility of China using its commercial presence to spy on Britain -- or even shut down the network -- could force Washington to stop sharing intelligence with London.

"Our view of Huawei is putting it in your system creates real risk. This is an extension of the Chinese Communist Party with a legal requirement to hand over information to the Chinese Community Party," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday during a visit to London.

"We'll evaluate what the United Kingdom did.... But our view is we should have Western systems with Western rules and American information should only pass across a trusted network. We'll make sure we do that."

Huawei is widely viewed as providing the most advanced alternative for super-fast data transfers behind technologies such as self-driving cars and remotely operated factory robots.

Along with European telecom companies Nokia and Ericsson, it is one of the few suppliers capable of building 5G networks.

The commission warned that 5G will offer "more potential entry points" for cyber attacks -- a growing threat as more and more critical services such as hospitals and power grids depend on data networks.

"5G will be a ground-breaking technology but it cannot come at the expense of the security of our internal market," commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas said in a statement.

"The toolbox is an important step in what must be a continuous effort in the EU's collective work to better protect our critical infrastructures."

Doubts about Huawei come amid a more general anxiety about Beijing's growing presence in the EU, where a growing number of countries in the east are opening the door to Chinese investment in infrastructure.

With the job of vetting prospective 5G suppliers left to member states, there will be questions about whether all have the capacity or political willingness to carry out the job thoroughly, particularly if it might involve embarrassing a major partner such as China.

Google to stop using ‘double Irish, Dutch sandwich’ tax dodge: Reuters

DutchNews, January 2, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Google parent Alphabet is to stop using an intellectual property licensing loophole, known as the ‘Double Irish, Dutch sandwich’, which allowed it to cut its global tax bill, Reuters reports. 

The strategy involves companies moving money from an Irish subsidiary to a Dutch holding company and then back to an Irish holding company located in Bermuda with licensing rights to Google intellectual property. 

Because Bermuda has no corporate income tax it was lucrative for Google to report income there, effectively delaying tax payment on international earnings to the US for years while paying a lower tax rate in Europe. 

After pressure from the EU and the US Ireland closed the loopholes in 2014 and companies were given until 2020 to comply with new tax regulations. 

Dutch filings at the Chamber of Commerce and seen by Reuters showed that in 2018 Google moved €21.8bn through its Dutch holding company to Bermuda, up from €19.9bn in 2017. 

Reuters said the filing did not give a definite end date but that Google management expected the termination to take place ‘as of 31 December 2019 or during 2020′. 

The scheme was in place for over a decade and allowed the tech giant to cut its tax bill by hundreds of billions of euros, the Guardian estimates. 

The Netherlands does not currently tax royalties, but is planning to change this as part of a package of measures to crack down on tax evasion in 2021. 

Some 10,000 shell, or letter-box, companies are based in the Netherlands and are primarily used to shift corporate earnings and obscure ownership. Google has used its Dutch affiliate to move money since 2004.

Swiss minister says Facebook's Libra has 'failed' in current form

Yahoo – AFP, Julie JAMMOT, December 28, 2019

Swiss president and finance minister Ueli Maurer, pictured September 2019, has
called Facebook's planned Libra cryptocurrency a "failed" project (AFP Photo/
Johannes EISELE)

San Francisco (AFP) - The Swiss president and finance minister has delivered the latest blow to Facebook's planned Libra cryptocurrency, saying it has "failed in its current form," Swiss network SRF reported Friday.

"The central banks are not going to accept the basket of currencies" that Libra is supposed to be based on, Ueli Maurer, who is in his final days in the rotating presidency of the Swiss Confederation, Switzerland's federal council, told SRF.

Libra, a high-profile project of social network giant Facebook, is tentatively scheduled for a 2020 launch but has faced months of severe criticism from some of the world's most influential financial authorities.

In theory, Libra will be managed by a Geneva-based independent association linking several companies and non-profit groups.

But since early October, the online payment companies PayPal and Stripe, as well as Visa, Mastercard and others, have withdrawn from the project amid growing pressure from American and other regulators.

They have cited the potential for illicit uses of the currency and have underscored the battered reputation of California-based Facebook in matters of privacy and data protection.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, pictured October 2019, has expressed 

serious concerns about Facebook's Libra project (AFP Photo/Andrew 

CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

Loss of 'sovereignty'

Countries and central banks -- for now the only entities legally permitted to issue currency -- have also expressed concern about a blow to their sovereignty.

In October, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire bluntly expressed his concerns, saying, "Libra is not welcome on European soil."

"We will take steps with the Italians and Germans, because our sovereignty is at stake," he said, speaking in Washington on the sidelines of the fall meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Earlier this month, a US Federal Reserve official expressed American reservations.

"Without requisite safeguards, stablecoin networks at global scale may put consumers at risk," Fed Governor Lael Brainard said in a speech in Frankfurt.

Cryptocurrencies to date have suffered from "staggering" losses due to fraud and theft, Brainard said.

Facebook chairman Mark Zuckerberg, pictured October 2019, has said the Libra 

cryptocurrency will not be launched until it receives all needed approvals (AFP Photo/

MANDEL NGAN)

'Serious concerns'

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to provide stability -- avoiding the wild swings of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies -- by being pegged to relatively stable assets or currencies.

Libra is designed to make it easy for users of WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging platform, to instantly send funds to friends or family.

The size of Facebook -- 2.2 billion people worldwide connect on at least one of its platforms, which also include Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger -- would give it the potential to disrupt the global financial system, making it far harder for central banks to manage, Fed chairman Jerome Powell told US lawmakers in July. He expressed "serious concerns."

The Libra association declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

But in October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before a congressional committee that Libra would not be launched until it received all necessary authorizations from the authorities.

In response to regulators' resistance, Zuckerberg last month opened the door to scaling back plans for Libra if it cannot win the needed approvals.

Huawei, under US pressure, plans supply base in Europe

Yahoo – AFP, Jürgen HECKER, December 18, 2019

Huawei chairman 'would turn down' any request to spy for Chinese
intelligence (AFP Photo/JOEL SAGET)

Under pressure from US trade restrictions, Huawei plans to open a components plant in Europe, the telecom giant’s chairman told AFP, while insisting it is not in league with Chinese intelligence.

Liang Hua said in an interview that Huawei no longer needed US companies to supply it with crucial components for 5G technology, after President Donald Trump ordered American firms to cease doing business with it.

Here are excerpts from the interview, conducted at AFP's headquarters in Paris.

How are you dealing with a US ban on companies supplying Huawei with 5G components?

"In the area of 5G technology, we are already no longer dependent on the supply of chips and other components from American companies.

"But if the US government were to allow suppliers to deliver to us again, we would be ready to re-establish our cooperation with them.

"We are planning to manufacture our own components at a production site in Europe in the future.

"We are conducting a feasibility study to open a factory in Europe for this. The choice of country will depend on that study.

"We don't yet have an exact idea about the timetable for such a decision, but it could happen very quickly."

Can you guarantee that Chinese intelligence will not use Huawei to spy on other countries? 

"In the past 30 years we have never been the object of such a request. Even if one was made in the future, we would turn down such a request."

Can Huawei handsets remain competitive without Google and Android?

"The future still looks bright for our handsets. We are forecasting a shipping volume of around 245 to 250 million units for this year.

"For the export market, we are banned today from using GMS (Google Mobile Services) and its dedicated apps, and we are therefore working on developing HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) and the apps that go with it.

"We are confident that HMS and its application eco-system will continue to grow."

Will a US-China trade deal help Huawei in the American market?

"This Chinese-American confrontation, this trade war, actually has a very limited impact on Huawei’s business, given that we already had only little activity in the American market. We are more concerned about the US government’s ban on American companies selling us chips and software than about the trade war.

"This is why we are working on ensuring our survival in this context, by which I mean Huawei’s survival in the whole world, beyond the American market where we didn’t have a big presence anyway."

Will the digital world become split, with one half dominated by the US and the other by China?

"People in China will continue to use products by Apple and other tech brands. Don’t forget that there are 1.4 billion tech users in China. Even in the US, I’m certain that consumers will continue to use different systems. I am sure that the digital world of tomorrow will not be a world divided into two separate camps."

Facebook's Marcus says Libra won't be controlled by a single company

Yahoo – AFP, October 20, 2019

Executives involved with Facebook's proposed Libra digital currency say they
will work with regulators to address their concerns (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Washington (AFP) - Facebook executive David Marcus on Sunday tried to calm the fears of officials threatening to block its proposed digital currency, saying Libra won't be controlled by a single company.

The head of Facebook's Libra currency project sought to address the main issue raised by France's Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire: the potential for a company to have the power to undermine a government's control of its currency.

Marcus said it has been "very clear to us from the very beginning that a payment networks such as the Libra network shouldn't be controlled by one company."

Speaking at a forum, hosted by the Group of 30, he repeated the company's commitment to work with regulators to address their concerns.

He added that the Libra Association -- comprised of 21 companies -- will "welcome competition to benefit local access and strive for the lowest cost possible for consumers."

But, he cautioned, "the status quo is not an option any longer."

Central banks and government finance officials have long worried about the challenges posed by digital currencies, and the risk they can be used for money laundering and financing terrorism.

Libra is different from other digital currencies like Bitcoin because it would be a "stablecoin" tied to national currencies.

But Le Maire told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington last week that European governments "will not allow a private company to have the same power, the same monetary power as sovereign states," and will take steps to block Libra from Europe.

Agustin Carstens, former Mexican central banker and longtime skeptic of digital currencies, agreed that technology can help provide access to the financial system to people who have been excluded.

But Carstens, now head of the Bank for International Settlements, said Sunday that the best course would be to "maximize the use of technology with what we've proven that works, that provides stability."

Marcus remained cautiously optimistic.

"We recognize that a change of this magnitude can't be operating without a great sense of responsibility," he said, but he added: "We can actually work together to solve these issues."

Facebook suffers legal blow in EU court over hate speech

Yahoo – AFP, October 3, 2019

The EU's top court has ruled that national courts in Europe can order Facebook and other
online platforms to remove defamatory content worldwide (AFP Photo/DENIS CHARLET) 

Luxembourg (AFP) - Facebook on Wednesday was dealt a major blow in the EU's top court, which ruled that national courts in Europe can order online platforms to remove defamatory content worldwide.

The decision will be seen as a victory for EU regulators, who are ambitious to see US tech giants meet tightened European standards over hate speech and offensive content.

Last week, the same court decided that Google was not legally compelled to apply the EU's strict "right to be forgotten" rules globally, in a victory for the search giant.

In a closely watched judgment, the European Court of Justice said EU law "does not preclude" courts from ordering "the removal of information or to block access worldwide," a statement said.

The latest case was brought originally to an Austrian court by Greens party politician Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, who requested the removal of Facebook posts that the judges found defamed her and could be seen by users of the social network around the world.

The complaint also concerned messages from fictitious accounts, which according to the Greens, had called Glawischnig-Piesczek a "corrupt" person and which the social network refused to delete.

A higher Austrian court referred the case to the EU's top court for an opinion and the judgment, which cannot be appealed, will now be used as a reference Europe-wide.

With the decision, Facebook and similar platforms such as Twitter, face a greater obligation to monitor their content and take down content found to be offensive or hateful, even from fake accounts.

Facebook slammed the EU court's decision, saying "it undermines the long-standing principle that one country does not have the right to impose its laws on speech on another country."

It also deplored the obligation to track down "equivalent" content that duplicates offensives or hateful language.

'Chilling effect'

"In order to get this right, national courts will have to set out very clear definitions on what 'identical' and 'equivalent' means in practice," a Facebook statement said

"We hope the courts take a proportionate and measured approach, to avoid having a chilling effect on freedom of expression," it said.

Glawischnig-Piesczek, the victim of the hate speech, hailed the decision as "a historic success for human rights against web giants".

"It in no way infringes freedom of opinion," Glawischnig-Piesczek told the Austrian news agency APA.

EU-wide rules on hate speech are limited.

So far, online giants including Google's Youtube, have agreed to voluntarily take down hateful or dangerous content, including those linked to terrorism, within 24 hours.

However, the EU is expected to propose tougher Europe-wide measures including fines if Facebook and others fail to comply with orders.

Google wins EU fight against worldwide 'right to be forgotten'

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine KURZAWA, 24 September 2019

Google hailed the ruling, saying it has worked Google has worked "to strike a
sensible balance between people’s rights of access to information and privacy"

Google is not required to apply an EU "right to be forgotten" to its search engine domains outside Europe, the EU's top court ruled Tuesday in a landmark decision.

The European Court of Justice handed victory to Google in the case, seen as crucial in determining whether EU online regulation should apply beyond Europe's borders or not.

The US internet giant had argued that the removal of search results required under EU law should not extend to its google.com domain or its other non-EU sites.

The court ruled that, while a search engine operator such as Google must carry out "de-referencing" of links as demanded by a regulator or court in an EU state to all European versions of its sites, that "right to be forgotten" did not need to go further.

"There is no obligation under EU law" for search engine operators such as Google "to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine," the court said.

But it did stress that de-referencing on EU sites must include measures to "seriously discourage" a European internet user being able to get around the "right to be forgotten" by accessing unrestricted results from a search engine on a non-EU domain.

That demands "geo-blocking", which Google says it already uses effectively in Europe.

Savvy internet users, however, can get around that measure with a VPN that masks the user's location, or by going to some non-Google search engines.

Google hails win

The EU court case, seen as pitting individuals' rights to privacy online against freedom of information, stemmed from a legal battle waged by France since 2014 to have Google apply the "right to be forgotten" to all its search domains.

If France had won, it could have deepened a rift between Europe and the United States, which is home to most of the internet's behemoths and whose President Donald Trump has railed against what he sees as EU meddling in US business.

In the end, though, the court found that EU law on the issue did not seek to have the "right to be forgotten" extend beyond its borders.

Google hailed Tuesday's decision by the EU court.

"It's good to see that the court agreed with our arguments," its lawyer, Peter Fleischer, said in a statement, adding that Google has worked "to strike a sensible balance between people's rights of access to information and privacy".

The US company and other stakeholders had warned that authoritarian countries outside Europe could abuse global de-referencing requests to cover up rights violations.

"It's a balanced decision. You can't impose extraterritorial effects when it comes to de-referencing a person," said Yann Padova, a data privacy lawyer with the Baker McKenzie firm in Paris who was not involved in arguing the case.

"What would we say if China started demanding de-referencing of content accessible to French users?" he asked.

Closely watched case

Google's position was bolstered in January by a non-binding opinion from the EU court's top legal advisor, advocate general Maciej Szpunar, who recommended judges "should limit the scope of the de-referencing that search engine operators are required to carry out, to the EU".

The case had been closely watched, especially as Europe has also already emerged as a global rule-setter in terms of data protection on the internet.

A 2016 General Data Protection Regulation it enacted that covers all EU citizens and residents has forced many sites and companies around the globe to comply with its measures.

In terms of the "right to be forgotten" legal fight, France's data regulator, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL), had argued that, for de-referencing to be effective, it must apply to all domains wherever they are.

In 2016, CNIL fined Google 100,000 euros ($110,000) for non-compliance. Google appealed to France's highest court, which in turn referred to the European Court of Justice, ending up with Tuesday's ruling.