• European elections, European democracy?
• The lead-up to the European elections in Bulgaria: how not to do politics
• A postcard from Malta
• The euro elections in Greece – measuring the temperature in recent days
• Has German politics suddenly got interesting?
• The last chance to create a united Europe?

European elections, European democracy?

by Lotta Tenhunen and Adria Rodriguez

The last time European citizens voted for a European Parliament was in 2009, five years ago. Since then quite a few things have happened, which have changed the European conjuncture widely. The first question we should ask ourselves is whether it’s enough to vote only every five years? A minor question, but one that steers us towards the waters of real democracy: to consider what are the deep political and institutional changes necessary at the European level in order to assure social and economic justice on the continent.

EU Wants a ‘Right to Be Forgotten,’ But the Internet Never Forgets

Mashable! by Lance Ulanoff

A top European Union court ruled on Tuesday that consumers can ask Google to removepotentially damaging content about them, also known as the preposterously-named “right to be forgotten.”

Google Challenged by ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ Ruling in Europe

Is Google responsible for links to old websites that can hurt your reputation? A top court in the European Union says the answer is yes.

MAIN FOCUS: ECJ sets limits for search engines | 14/05/2014
The ECJ has bolstered the “right to be forgotten” on the Internet. According to a ruling delivered on Tuesday search engines must delete links if they violate the privacy rights of individuals mentioned in the corresponding article. Some commentators see the judgement as an important and balanced step towards more data protection on the web. Others warn that it may restrict the right to information.

WHY THE GLOBAL BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE INTERNET CAN’T BE WON

CENSORING REGIMES IN TURKEY, RUSSIA, CHINA, IRAN, AND ELSEWHERE ARE FORCING ACTIVISTS TO FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHT TO INFORMATION, PRIVACY, AND WORLD WIDE FREEDOM. SO IT’S A GOOD TIME TO KNOW YOUR VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS FROM YOUR DEEP PACKET INSPECTIONS.

Game of Thrones Makes History With 200,000 Strong Torrent Swarm

TorrentFreak

Game of Thrones has been the focus of many piracy discussions in recent years, and for good reason.

A global division of microwork

Oxford Internet Institute – Blogs

Information Geographies on 8 May 2014 at 21:59PM

This graphic illustrates the global division of microwork undertaken on the ODesk platform and reveals some of its locally divergent practices.

Digital Shadow: Stalking You to Track, Quantify, and Reveal Your Facebook Life

social media vb by Elaine Rigoli

Digital Shadow uses your Facebook data to guess your location, your income, and your passwords. The resulting array of collected, so-called private information is eerily accurate. “We collectively are being scraped all day every day,” Robert Siciliano, an identity theft expert with McAfee, told ABCNews.com.

Saudi Blogger Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison, 1000 Lashes

Global Voices Online by Afef Abrougui

On 7 May, a criminal court in Jeddah sentenced blogger Raif Badawi to ten years in prison and a thousand lashes for ?insulting Islam?. Badawi was prosecuted for developing ?Saudi Arabian Liberals?, an online forum he launched in 2008 debating the role of religion in the conservative kingdom

How Europe Became Ground Zero in the Battle for the ?Right to be Forgotten?

FP Passport by Jake Scobey-Thal  /  15h  //  keep unread  //  hide
In his 2013 novel, The Circle, Dave Eggers articulates a dystopian vision of a world without privacy. In the book, a Google-esque tech giant consolidates the personal information of the world’s Internet users, using search history and video technology to record every keystroke, every concept, every breathing moment in the Digital Age. This Orwellian commitment to transparency is epitomized in the company’s credo: “ALL THAT HAPPENS MUST BE KNOWN.”