Assistant lawyer Liis Pormeister compiled the material.
Technology
Commission welcomes the integration of the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online into the Digital Services Act
Published: 20 January 2025
The Code of conduct+ was signed by Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com, LinkedIn, Microsoft hosted consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. It will strengthen the way online platforms deal with content that EU and national laws define as illegal hate speech. Following the integration, online platforms who are designated under the DSA can adhere to the Code of conduct+ to demonstrate their compliance with the DSA obligation to mitigate the risk of the dissemination of illegal content on their services.
Commission expands ongoing investigation into X’s recommender system under the Digital Services Act
Published: 17 January 2025
The Commission has addressed three additional technical investigatory measures to X relating to the platform’s recommender system. These fact-finding steps take place within the scope of the formal proceedings opened on 18 December 2023 under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission is requesting the company to provide internal documentation, preserve internal documents and information regarding future changes to the design and functioning of its recommender algorithms, and give access to certain of X’s commercial APIs.
Data protection
EDPB adopts pseudonymisation guidelines and paves the way to improve cooperation with competition authorities
Adopted: 17 January 2025
In its guidelines, the EDPB clarifies the definition and applicability of pseudonymisation and pseudonymised data, and the advantages of pseudonymisation, as used in GDPR. The EDPB also adopted a position paper on the interplay between data protection law and competition law. The paper suggests steps for incorporating market and competition factors into data protection practices and for data protection rules to be considered in competition assessments.
See also: statement on the interplay of competition law and data protection.
Tax
Court of Justice finds tax treatment of Erasmus+ financial support to be incompatible with the right to move and reside freely in the Union
Delivered: 16 January 2025
The Court of Justice found that the amount paid to a student should not be taken into account in calculating the income tax of the parent on whom that student is dependent. It observes that, if a Member State participates in the Erasmus+ programme, it must ensure that the arrangements for the allocation and taxation of grants intended to support the mobility of beneficiaries of that programme do not create an unjustified restriction on the right to freedom of movement and residence within the territory of the Member States.