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TikTok breached EU advertising transparency laws, commission says

2 days ago
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The European Commission has said TikTok is in breach of EU digital laws that require transparency over who pays for advertising.The commission reached a preliminary verdict on the Chinese-owned short video platform’s advertising policy, having launched an investigation in February 2024.The company could face a fine of 6% of global annual turnover, if the commission upholds this view.The commission said a separate EU inquiry into TikTok’s suspected failure to guarantee election integrity in Romania, which was launched last December, was ongoing and was a priority.The commission’s verdict that TikTok lacks transparency over advertising comes four days before “super Sunday”, when voters go to the polls in Poland, Portugal and Romania.

Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), large internet companies are obliged to publish an advertisement library, detailing ad content, users being targeted and who paid for the publicity.The commission said TikTok did not provide this information, nor allow the public to search for it.The advertisement repository is seen by EU officials as a vital tool enabling researchers to detect scam ads and coordinated campaigns that aim to disrupt elections.Romania was plunged into political chaos last year when the first round of the presidential election was annulled, after the country’s intelligence services alleged that Russia had mounted an online campaign to promote a far-right outsider, who topped the poll.On Sunday, Romanian voters will choose between two candidates in the second round of the rescheduled presidential elections.

The European Commission launched an investigation last December into whether TikTok had failed to tackle risks to the integrity of Romania’s presidential elections.Ursula von der Leyen, the commission’s president, said there were “serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential elections by using TikTok”.TikTok’s alleged failure to provide an advertising library was said to make it harder for EU officials and other researchers to determine whether fake ads were used during election campaigns, including in Romania.But the commission cautioned against assumptions that TikTok would be found to have violated the election integrity obligations of the DSA.Thomas Regnier, a commission spokesperson, said there was no direct link between the December investigation and its preliminary view published on Thursday of a breach of EU law relating to advertising transparency.

“Of course it’s not helping that your ad repository is not working.That’s one fact because it doesn’t help us to assess if there were fake or scam ads being used in the context of elections,” Regnier said.But he added: “The fact that the ad repository is not working in the context of this February investigation of last year is absolutely not prejudging the outcome of the December investigation.”As part of that December investigation, EU officials are studying actions TikTok said it took to prevent election interference in Romania.A TikTok spokesperson said the company was reviewing the commission’s preliminary findings on its ad repository.

“While we support the goals of the regulation [DSA] and continue to improve our ad transparency tools, we disagree with some of the commission’s interpretations and note that guidance is being delivered via preliminary findings rather than clear, public guidelines,” the company said.The company now has the right to examine the commission’s investigation file and mount a defence.If the commission confirms its current view, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its annual global turnover and be obliged to take measures to remedy the issue.The commission said it continued to investigate other suspected offences under EU law, including whether TikTok’s algorithms led users down damaging content “rabbit holes” and had addictive effects.It is also investigating TikTok’s age verification and child safety policies.

These inquiries were launched at the same time as the investigation into the ad repository last February, but remain incomplete.TikTok has previously said that it cooperates with relevant authorities around elections “providing them with dedicated channels through which they can report content they believe may violate either our community guidelines or applicable regulations”.
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Tory MP claims £1,100 for purchase of freely available Who’s Who books

A Tory MP has claimed more than £1,100 in expenses for copies of the Who’s Who reference books for his office — despite it being available for free in parliament.Mark Pritchard’s claim for the index, which lists the biographies of notable people, cost the taxpayer £321.17 in January this year.He has also claimed for three previous years of editions in May 2022, and was granted expenses to cover the 2022 version for £264.54, the 2021 version for £300

1 day ago
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Starmer digs himself into a hole in Tirana while Tories froth about a flag | John Crace

During Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, Keir Starmer said the Conservative party was heading for brain-dead oblivion. The very next day, the Tories screamed: “Hold my beer. You ain’t seen nothing yet.” They seem to look on the prime minister’s description as a challenge. One to which they are determined to rise

1 day ago
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UK asking other countries to host ‘return hubs’ for refused asylum seekers, Starmer confirms – as it happened

Q: [From Christopher Hope from GB News] To Starmer – Which countries are you talking to about hosting ‘return hubs’ about migrants from the UK whose applications for asylum have failed?Starmer says he is interested in using return hubs. He says he is in talks with other countries about this. But he would like to add them to the list of measures being used to tackle this problem. But he says he is not in a position to give more information about this plan yet.Keir Starmer has been accused of overseeing a diplomatic “embarrassment” after arriving in Albania to promote a policy of establishing “return hubs” for refused asylum seekers only for his counterpart to rule it out

1 day ago
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Author denied UK visa unable to attend premiere of play based on his memoir

The author of an award-winning memoir about his life as a refugee has been refused a UK visa to attend a premiere of its adaptation for the London stage by one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights.Ibrahima Balde, who lives in Spain, was told the UK government was not satisfied he would return home after the performance of Little Brother, which begins its run at Jermyn Street theatre next week.Balde’s memoir, Little Brother: An Odyssey to Europe, chronicles his search along the migrant routes of the Sahara for his younger sibling, Alhassane, who ran away from school in Guinea, west Africa, to make money for the family.The book’s critical acclaim led to Balde meeting the late Pope Francis and its adaptation for the stage by Timberlake Wertenbaker, an Olivier award-winner described in the Washington Post as “the doyenne of political theatre of the 1980s and 1990s”.Balde’s visa application to attend the premiere on 20 May during a four-day visit to London had been supported by the Jermyn Street theatre

2 days ago
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MP to launch bill to target superyachts, private jets and fossil fuel producers

Fossil fuel companies and their shareholders and owners of superyachts and private jets should have to pay into a fund for flood defences and home insulation, according to a private member’s bill to be launched on Thursday.The bill is part of a broader movement by campaigners to “make polluters pay”, demanding that oil and gas companies, and those who benefit from fossil fuels, should take on more of the direct responsibility for tackling the climate crisis, rather than funding such measures from general taxation.As well as targeting oil and gas companies, the bill proposes ending subsidies for such businesses, taxing shareholders in receipt of dividends and capital gains on heavily polluting assets and companies whose operations have an impact on nature, and taxing the users and operators of luxury forms of travel including superyachts and private jets.Richard Burgon, the Labour MP who has tabled the bill in parliament, said: “Fossil fuel giants have driven us to the cliff edge of climate catastrophe. They’ve made obscene profits while millions suffer the consequences

2 days ago
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Taxi driver in France charged with stealing from David Lammy and his wife

A taxi driver has been charged by French police with stealing luggage and cash from the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, and his wife, Nicola Green. The driver took the couple more than 600km (370 miles) from the town of Forli in Italy to the French ski resort of Flaine, Haute-Savoie, last month. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Lammy and his spouse were victims in the case and that the driver has been charged with theft after driving off with their luggage. It also denied that the Labour MP for Tottenham had refused to pay the driver. Whitehall sources said no sensitive material was in the pair’s holiday luggage

3 days ago
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Virgin Money mortgage holders cry foul over owner Nationwide’s better deals

about 3 hours ago
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Top winemaker ‘may have to leave its Spanish vineyards due to climate crisis’

about 4 hours ago
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Could a ‘digital diet’ help me fix my bad phone habits?

about 3 hours ago
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Scattered Spider hackers in UK are ‘facilitating’ cyber-attacks, says Google

about 19 hours ago
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Twenty years later: how 2005 Ashes marked end of cricket as we knew it

about 2 hours ago
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Skid marks, swear jars and an early night: welcome to sport’s nanny state | Simon Burnton

about 2 hours ago