Human Rights

New EU Rules Spur Facebook Action on Data

January 30, 2018

Reuters reports that tech giant Facebook is responding to the upcoming roll-out of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation by publishing its principles for safeguarding users' information, releasing an educational video training users on managing and deleting data on the platform, and creating a new "privacy center" for managing data settings.
UN Agent Demands EU Response to NGO Rules

January 30, 2018

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Michael Forst has called on EU institutions to respond to tightened restrictions on nongovernmental organizations imposed by some member governments by boosting direct EU funding for civil society within the bloc.
ECJ Permits Facebook Privacy Lawsuit to Proceed

January 29, 2018

AP reports that the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has permitted an Austrian privacy activist to launch a lawsuit against the Irish subsidiary of tech giant Facebook for the company's alleged violation of EU laws governing his privacy rights, though he cannot initiate a class-action lawsuit based on these claims.
ECJ Rejects Psychological Tests of Refugees' Sexual Orientation

January 29, 2018

Reuters reports that the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has held that EU member states are barred from performing psychological tests to determine whether asylum seekers are telling the truth about their sexual orientation.
ECtHR Finds Right to Post Images of Spoiled Ballots

January 29, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Hungarian government violated the right to freedom of expression of a political party by fining it for making available a mobile phone application permitting voters to anonymously upload to a public website images of their invalid ballots cast in a recent national referendum.
EU Leaders Eye Budget as "Weapon" in Rule-of-Law Disputes

January 24, 2018

The Economist reports that a proposal to "weaponise" the EU budget by withholding development funds from member states accused of failing to uphold principles of the rule of law and fundamental rights is gaining traction among Western European leaders as they prepare for formal negotiations of the bloc's "multiannual financial framework."
NGOs Seek EU Penalties for Civil Society Restrictions

January 24, 2018

Open Society Foundations has published an article calling for action at the EU level to protect nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) across the bloc from financial and other pressures, including by developing a new legal framework for monitoring national legislation on NGOs and penalizing countries for passing laws that are restrictive of civil society.
FRA Warns of Widespread "Pressures" on NGOs

January 24, 2018

A recent report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) warns of a variety of increased pressures facing activist nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) throughout the EU, extending to the difficulty of such NGOs in obtaining funding through national budgets and their lack of consultation with public officials prior to the passage of laws.
ECtHR Rejects Complaint on Exemption from Sex Education

January 19, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has rejected a claim from the parents of a seven-year-old student in Switzerland seeking a ruling that the country had violated their rights by refusing to permit them to exempt their child from sex-education lessons at her primary school.
CoE, FIFA Signal Cooperation on Rights Agenda

January 17, 2018

At a recent meeting, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Gianni Infantino and Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland agreed to develop a memorandum of understanding through which FIFA and the CoE would cooperate on "human rights" issues such as doping, match-fixing, and safety at sporting events.