Germany’s digital regulator and the European Commission said on Friday they carried out a simulation exercise with major platforms like X and TikTok to test their capacity to counter disinformation ahead of national elections.

Iraqi atheist Salwan Momika’s provocations had sparked violent protests and prompted Turkey to suspend NATO negotiations with Sweden.

Two of America’s Big Tech companies are opening the door to more “free expression,” even if it means more hateful content. But in Europe, Big Tech companies are voluntarily cracking down.

TikTok users and young people in Germany are significantly less suspicious and have a more favourable view of Moscow and Beijing, according to the study, which flags it as a concern ahead of Germany's upcoming elections.

France, Germany and 10 other European Union countries want the European Commission to use its powers under the Digital Services Act to protect the integrity of European elections from foreign interference,

According to Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, Europe should consider banning the Chinese social media application TikTok, following the example of the United States.

An Ifop poll for Le Journal du Dimanche published last weekend suggested a mere 21 per cent of French voters were happy with his presidency, his lowest approval rating since he first took office seven years ago and the second-lowest in modern French history after Francois Hollande, his Socialist predecessor.

He had in December 2024 announced a year-long ban on the social media platform. Read more at straitstimes.com.

TikTok has essentially warned that it will “go dark” in the U.S., given that service providers underpinning the platform won’t be able to continue doing so lawfully. This might be over soon. TikTok is hopeful,

Project Clover is an initiative that delivers enhanced and innovative data security measures and protections for TikTok’s European users' data.

In the past, the EU has not hesitated to try to apply European law to tech companies. Over the past decade, for example, Google has faced three fines totaling more than $8 billion for breaking antitrust law (though one of these fines was overturned by the EU’s General Court in 2024).

In the days before TikTok went dark, Instagram and Facebook released a flurry of new features and ran advertisements promoting its platforms as a comparable alternative.