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<span style="font-size:9pt">2</span>
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European Regional Bureau Newsletter: 28 September 2019 – 04 October 2019
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<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Internet Access</span>
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">European Community Networks Summit: ISOC is organising an international conference on community networks</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Internet Society is partnering with the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development in organising a conference called “Community networks: connecting the next billion” on November 14-15 in Tbilisi, Georgia.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Conference will gather participants from all over Europe who will discuss issues related to community networks – a low-cost, community-driven way to bring Internet connections to hard-to-reach areas.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">With half the world’s population remaining unconnected, the conference’s discussion on community networks could provide a new model on improving the access of internet to villages and remote areas.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">For more information, please visit</span> <a href="https://bit.ly/2ASoIuZ"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">https://bit.ly/2ASoIuZ</span></a> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Commission publishes a factsheet on 5G</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The European Commission</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/5g-smart-connectivity-europes-digital-transformation"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">released</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> a factsheet on Friday, explaining the benefits and opportunities that 5G will provide to Europeans.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">5G is expected to create jobs and improve sustainable development, with a profound impact on key industry sectors such as health, energy, and mobility.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The factsheet also touches upon global competition, claiming that “European operators are on equal track with China and the United States in their preparations for the commercial launch of 5G this year.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Liberty Global to accelerate broadband rollouts across Europe</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Telecommunications giant Liberty Global</span> <a href="https://www.libertyglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Liberty-Globals-Gigacity-Broadband-Rollouts-Accelerate.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">published</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> a press release on Monday according to which the company will expand its Gigabit broadband speeds coverage to Switzerland, Belgium, and the UK.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The statement also reveals that additional GigaCities will be launched by the end of 2019 and throughout 2020, providing future users with access to 1 Gigabit broadband speeds.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">It is further mentioned that “the widespread availability of Gigabit speeds are estimated to deliver between €250-660 billion of economic value per year in Europe by 2025.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">UK: Great Britain to boost investments in broadband coverage</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">British Finance Minister Sajid Javid</span> <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-javid/sajid-javid-pledges-infrastructure-spending-on-roads-buses-and-broadband-idUKKBN1WE0UW?il=0&"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">announced</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on Monday that he will introduce a framework on state-funded investments in infrastructure.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">As part of the framework, he will dedicate 5 billion GBP to the improvement of fast broadband access in rural and remotes area of the country.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In a</span> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49881168"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">press release</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> reviewing his speech, Javid states that he is "setting out plans to invest £5bn to support the rollout of full-fibre, 5G and other gigabit-capable networks to the hardest-to-reach 20% of the country.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Trust</span>
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: Global cost of data breaches has climbed significantly</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">A report by Kaspersky, a multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider,</span> <a href="https://media.kasperskydaily.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/92/2019/10/01041217/Kaspersky_Report-IT-Security-Economics_report_2019_NA.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">indicates</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> that the average cost of enterprise data breaches has increased from EUR 1.1 million to EUR 1.3 million since last year.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The worrying statistic has spurred companies to invest heavily in cybersecurity measures: an average of EUR 17.3 million this year compared to EUR 8.1 million in 2018.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">For their research, the company has interviewed about 5,000 people in 23 countries around the world.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: Facebook defends encryption plans despite growing concerns</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Several countries, including the US, the UK, and Australia, have called on Facebook to halt its encryption plans, as they could restrain the fight against terrorism and child exploitation.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Despite the unease, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg</span> <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2019/10/04/mark-zuckerberg-defends-facebook-encryption-plans-despite-child-safety-concerns/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">announced</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> this week that he would defend the company’s decision to encrypt its messages.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In his defence, Zuckerberg revealed that he was aware of child exploitation risks in advance of the plan but admitted that encryption might in fact hinder the battle against terrorism and child molestation.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: Social media have failed to provide advertisement transparency</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On Thursday, Privacy International – a UK-based charity that protects users’ right to privacy across the world –</span> <a href="https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/3244/social-media-companies-have-failed-provide-adequate-advertising-transparency-users"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">published</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> an analysis which states that social media companies have failed to provide political ad transparency to users.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The analysis states that social media companies have used different approaches in different countries, and they have acted based on the level of pressure they have felt from governments and citizens.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Additionally, it is underscored that most users around the globe ”lack meaningful insight into how ads are being targeted through these platforms.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Highest EU Court ruled that Facebook can be forced to remove illegal content</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On Thursday, the European Court of Justice</span> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-alphabet-content/eu-courts-can-order-facebook-to-remove-illegal-comments-worldwide-european-top-court-idUSKBN1WI0QL"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">ruled</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> that US tech giant Facebook can be ordered to remove illegal content globally – should the content be considered to be illegal in one country.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Court indicated that according to EU law, local judges can enforce Facebook to remove such content, and these orders could be applied globally so long as EU Member States comply to international law.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Facebook criticised the Court’s ruling, claiming that it would have “a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Commissioner for innovation maintains the EU has taken all measures to protect itself from cyber threats</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On Monday, then Commissioner-designate for innovation Mariya Gabriel</span> <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/questions/reponses_qe/2019/002215/P9_RE(2019)002215_EN.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">responded</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> to a question by the European Parliament on the risks associated with Huawei’s involvement in the deployment of EU 5G networks.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In her response, Gabriel pointed out that “The Commission has implemented all the required security measures to protect itself and its staff from any cybersecurity risks.”</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Gabriel also mentioned that despite all the EU security measures, it is Member States’ responsibility to implement specific actions on 5G deployment.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Finnish President comments on Huawei-related security risks</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On Wednesday, Finnish President Sauli</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Niinistö</span> <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?464860-1/president-trump-holds-joint-news-conference-finnish-counterpart"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">held</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> a joint press-conference with US President Donald Trump which touched upon national security.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On whether EU Member States installing Huawei equipment would face national security risks, Mr. Niinistö stated that currently the EU “is making a risk assessment” based on which it will decide what actions will be taken next.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In the meantime, EU Security Commissioner Julian King</span> <a href="https://insidecybersecurity.com/daily-news/eu-security-commissioner-says-coming-5g-risk-assessment-won’t-name-specific-countries-or"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">announced</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> that the risk assessment will be performed “without having to cite a particular country or a particular company.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">France: Paris to launch a nationwide facial recognition plan</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">France is about to become the first EU country to use facial recognition technology for securing its citizens’ digital identity.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In an attempt to make the state more efficient, the French Government has plans</span> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-03/french-liberte-tested-by-nationwide-facial-recognition-id-plan"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">to deploy</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> an ID programme, called Alicem, next month, which is in advance of the official Christmas target.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Critics have stated that the move is initiated without citizens’ consent, indicating that there is “little interest in the importance of consent and choice.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">France: Orange and Arcep to reach an agreement</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Tensions between French telecoms regulator Arcep and telecom giant Orange seem to have cooled down.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Orange has decided</span> <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2019/09/27/orange-enterre-la-hache-de-guerre-avec-l-arcep_6013340_3234.html"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">to withdraw</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> its complaint about Arcep’s sanctioning powers and behavior, which was followed by a meeting between Orange CEO Stéphane Richard and Arcep President Sébastien Soriano.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Soriano even announced that Arcep has heard Orange’s concerns and “will be more careful in the future” about how the regulator communicates with telecoms.</span> <p class="header" style="text-align:right" awml:style="header">
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