Hi all, The EU Kids Act has landed. Wikimedia projects, as well as not-for-profit educational and scientific projects are out of scope.
Dimi & Michele === Age Verification: EU Kids Act === On 17 September the European Commission unveiled the EU Kids Act <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/proposal-eu-kids-act-eu-keeping-internet-digital-spaces-accountable-and-trustworthy> (technically a full acronym: EU Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy - EU KIDS AcT; but I strongly suggest we stick to lowercase). The proposal sets a single EU-wide age limit of 15 for accessing social media platforms and certain AI services, with no standard social media access for under-13s, and supervised accounts with limited daily use and features for 13–15 year olds. Safe-by-design requirements — no addictive features, no algorithmic recommendations, no infinite scroll — apply up to 18. — The headline for us: Article 2(4) <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/proposal-eu-kids-act-eu-keeping-internet-digital-spaces-accountable-and-trustworthy> explicitly excludes all Wikimedia projects from the scope of the regulation, including Phabricator. The exclusion list covers “non-profit online encyclopedias”, “non-profit educational and scientific repositories”, and “open-source software platforms”. From the opposite perspective, the inclusion list puts "online social networking services" and "video-sharing platform services", but both definitions do not target Wikimedia projects. — This is a clean result, and consistent with the exemptions Wikimedians and Wikimedia organisations have been advocating for in national laws across the EU. It is especially nice to see that not only Wikimedia projects, but also all educational and scientific platforms, will be able to avoid additional barriers to access. Another bonus is that, should it be adopted, many of the national proposals and discussions will become obsolete, as EU-law layers on top of national laws. — The proposal now enters the legislative procedure. In the Council, it will be handled primarily by the Audiovisual and Media Working Party (the same one that also handles age checks in more traditional media). The Irish Presidency has flagged the Kids Act as a priority. In the Parliament, we expect the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committee to take the lead. Perhaps the Civil Liberties (LIBE) committee will co-lead. — Our top priority is to defend Article 2(4) throughout the legislative process. We will however also cover how the age verification system envisaged by the proposal will work in practice. Given that it will effectively check large parts of the internet and the population, this seems like an important infrastructural and societal question. — === Age Verification: National === Denmark is (still) advancing its own national age limit bill <https://dk.wikimedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B8ring/H%C3%B8ring_over_forslag_til_lov_om_aldersgr%C3%A6nse>, which targets under-15s on very large online social networking platforms. Our reading is that Wikimedia projects are not covered by the definition used in the bill. We have been coordinating with Wikimedia Denmark on this and they will submit a consultation response. — In Austria, the draft law has been published <https://www.parlament.gv.at/gegenstand/XXVIII/SNME/6189> and is in consultation. The Austrian approach targets platforms with specific addictive functionalities — algorithmic feeds, endless scrolling — rather than drawing up a platform list. This and the fact that it uses the AVMSD <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiovisual_Media_Services_Directive_2010> and its definitions as a legal basis (for which Wikimedia Commons is not in scope) means Wikimedia projects should in principle be outside scope. Wikimedia Österreich submitted public feedback <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v_PU7KzjSRFvovd3TNvvY43-okvUNQQQ/view?usp=sharing> to the government consultation pointing out some unclarities in the definitions. — In Spain, Wikimedia España has published a blog post <https://wikimedia.es/proteger-a-los-menores-en-internet-y-preservar-el-acceso-libre-al-conocimiento/> on child protection. It is meant to be part of the wider discussions around the Proyecto de Ley Orgánica <https://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L15/CONG/BOCG/A/BOCG-15-A-52-1.PDF>. The article is calling for the protection of minors online to be reconciled with free access to knowledge — and for an explicit exemption along the lines of the French law (which had exemptions similar to the ones in the EU Kids Act). Either way, in the current version of the Spanish proposal Wikimedia projects are also out of scope, as it targets providers of audiovisual media services, as per AVMSD. === CSAM Regulation === A trilogue negotiation (Commission, Council, Parliament) on 29 September was expected to be the make-it-or-break-it moment for the CSA Regulation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_to_Prevent_and_Combat_Child_Sexual_Abuse> (dubbed by critics as Chat Control). It wasn’t. The proposal aims to legally oblige platforms to detect and report child sexual abuse material. — The central unresolved issue remains scanning on personal communication. The position of the Parliament is that this should be allowed only with a judicial order and only when very targeted. The Council has been pressing Parliament to accept detection orders targeting specific "parts of a service". It is an open question how broad “parts of service” can be interpreted, but the Council's own Legal Service has warned in an internal analysis that this approach would likely be found by courts to constitute general and indiscriminate, and therefore unlawful. A leaked Council document circulated ahead of the trilogue showed that member states were still divided on the key questions. The Parliament's stated red line remains the protection of end-to-end encryption. === Denmark: Media Ombudsman Law === A smaller but relevant Danish development: the Danish government has put forward a proposal for a media ombudsman law (lov om medieombudsmanden), with a consultation deadline of 29 September. The law would establish an ombudsman with jurisdiction over so-called "alternative media actors" (alternative medieaktører) under §11. Wikimedia Danmark has drafted a submission <https://dk.wikimedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B8ring/H%C3%B8ring_over_forslag_til_lov_om_medieombudsmanden> to the consultation arguing that Wikipedia and collaborative wikis should not be included in the scope of this category. The argument is that Wikipedia's community governance model and editorial processes are categorically different from the kinds of actors the law is designed to address, and that bringing it within scope would be both disproportionate and counterproductive. === Copyright Reform Incoming === It is with a heavy heart that we need to report this. Both parliament and Commission officials confirmed to us that a targeted, small copyright reform is coming, likely in March, April or May next year. Meanwhile the European Commission launched a targeted consultation <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-seeks-feedback-challenges-and-way-forward-area-effect-technology-copyright> on: 1. The use of copyright-protected content in artificial intelligence 2. The fight against online piracy of content like live events 3. The application of the single equitable remuneration right of music performers and producers 4. Copyright of scientific research Sounds familiar? That’s because there was a “call for evidence” (a fancy synonym for an early consultation) weeks ago on the same questions. Anyway, Wikimedia Europe did respond to the call <https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/18172-Report-on-the-review-of-the-2019-EU-rules-on-copyright-and-related-rights-in-the-digital-single-market/F33504239_en> and we will also participate in the consultation. Top of mind will be the strain AI systems put on community-led, open, and not-for-profit models, as well as scientific research exceptions. ===END=== -- Wikimedia Europe ivzw
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