Telegram’s apology, genAI election analysis and new President for ISOC
Hello and welcome to Everything in Moderation's Week in Review, your in-depth guide to the policies, products, platforms and people shaping the future of online speech and the internet. It's written by me, Ben Whitelaw and supported by members like you.
This week was a win for sovereign states over the platform CEOs. At least that what the politicians would have you think after significant developments in last week’s stories from Brazil and South Korea. But, without understanding the effect on users, we can't say for sure whether that’s a good thing or not.
New subscribers from EFF, Open Forum Europe, Trust and Safety Forum, Bodyguard.ai, Cadence, Canva, TikTok, PartnerHero and elsewhere, thanks for being here. If you missed it, Alice wrote about what she’s learnt from writing T&S Insider — Week in Review’s sister newsletter — for six months. I’m delighted she will continue to write for EiM.
Here's the need-to-know stories about online speech and internet regulation this week — BW
Policies
New and emerging internet policy and online speech regulation
I wrote last week about South Korea upping the anti against “digital sex crimes” and Telegram in particular (EiM #261). The story moved on significantly on Tuesday after the messaging platform took down 25 pieces requested by its media regulator and apologised for its lack of responsiveness. According to local sources, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) also confirmed that Telegram had issued a formal apology and set up a hotline “to resolve the circulation of deepfake sexual exploitation materials and ultimately eradicate digital sex crime content”. Quite the turnaround.
Wide angle: The recent French case (also EiM #261) — which saw CEO Pavel Durov face six preliminary charges for alleged criminality relating to the app — may well have inspired this u-turn but it also bares a strong resemblance to the South Korea stand-off, particularly when it comes to Telegram's lack of responsiveness. Could it hint at where the European saga ends up? Maybe.