Researchers win a legal battle against the platform formerly known as Twitter, securing crucial access to social media data to probe potential election interference.

Summary

A German court ruled that Elon Musk’s X must immediately provide researchers with data on politically related content ahead of Germany’s Feb. 23 election.

The lawsuit, filed by Democracy Reporting International and the Society for Civil Rights, accused X of blocking efforts to track election interference.

The ruling enforces the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), requiring major platforms to grant researcher access. It also orders X to pay legal costs and imposes a €6,000 procedural fine.

The decision sets a legal precedent, but it remains unclear if X will appeal.

  • JasonDJ@lemmy.zipEnglish
    10·
    5 hours ago

    Most governments are designed, intentionally, to move at a snails pace.

    Historically this is a good thing. You don’t want waves of populism leading to super powerful leaders that turn the government on its head their first week in charge.

    But our society is advancing way faster than we did historically. My kids world is a totally different one than mine…my world is totally different than my parents…their world is totally different from their parents. Before that, the world didn’t change that much in a generation or two.

    As a species, we have to figure out a better way to work together than nation-states while also being able to smooth out the wild emotions of the general public. We have real-time information and communication now. We have the entire sum of human knowledge in a pocket-sized device. We need an overhaul…but not like this.