Mathias Vermeulen
@mathver.bsky.social
EU law and tech policy, mostly musings on content moderation, platform governance, privacy, AI. Now: Co-Founder & Director @awo.agency. Fellow at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Then: EU Parliament. UN. Mozilla. PhD in EU law.
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
This is real news. Reporters, please report on it.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
Government has no business policing media for viewpoint bias or balance. The FCC must repeal its news distortion policy, urges a bipartisan group of 11 former FCC Chairs, Commissioners & other top officials in a petition we filed today with @protectdemocracy.org
protectdemocracy.org/work/fcc-new...
protectdemocracy.org/work/fcc-new...
November 13, 2025 at 4:54 PM
This is real news. Reporters, please report on it.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
Attention, freelance tech reporters: Omydiar Network has an open call for their Winter 2026 Reporters in Residence program. Deadline: November 15. $8,000 a month stipend and $2,000 travel budget (totaling $50,000). Good luck! job-boards.greenhouse.io/omidyarnetwo...
Reporters in Residence (Winter 2026)
Remote
job-boards.greenhouse.io
November 12, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Attention, freelance tech reporters: Omydiar Network has an open call for their Winter 2026 Reporters in Residence program. Deadline: November 15. $8,000 a month stipend and $2,000 travel budget (totaling $50,000). Good luck! job-boards.greenhouse.io/omidyarnetwo...
The biggest source for any DSA investigation into addictive design features might not be platforms' risk assessments, but the more than 6 million documents that are part of the pretrial discovery process in the US www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
‘Massive Legal Siege’ Against Social Media Companies Looms
Thousands of plaintiffs’ complaints, millions of pages of internal documents and transcripts of countless hours of depositions are about to land in US courtrooms, threatening the future of the biggest...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:24 AM
The biggest source for any DSA investigation into addictive design features might not be platforms' risk assessments, but the more than 6 million documents that are part of the pretrial discovery process in the US www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
NIEUWS: AIVD en MIVD delen minder informatie met hun Amerikaanse partners. Dat zeggen de hoofden van de Nederlandse diensten in de Volkskrant. Peter Reesink (MIVD): ‘Dat we soms ook dingen niet meer vertellen, dat is waar.’ 1/5
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...
Nederlandse diensten delen minder informatie met de VS: ‘Soms vertellen we dingen niet meer’
Het aantal dreigingen dat op Nederland afkomt is groot, zien de hoofden van de AIVD en de MIVD elke dag: niet alleen Russische agressie, maar ook de opmars van China als digitale macht en binnenlands ...
www.volkskrant.nl
October 18, 2025 at 5:19 AM
NIEUWS: AIVD en MIVD delen minder informatie met hun Amerikaanse partners. Dat zeggen de hoofden van de Nederlandse diensten in de Volkskrant. Peter Reesink (MIVD): ‘Dat we soms ook dingen niet meer vertellen, dat is waar.’ 1/5
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...
The UK government must tackle resistance from those who want to return to a “mythical past” as it develops its plans for AI-led economic growth, the new UK junior minister for artificial intelligence said www.mlex.com/mlex/artific...
UK's AI must reflect heritage, reject 'mythical past,' junior minister says | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
The UK government must tackle resistance from those who want to return to a “mythical past” as it develops its plans for AI-led economic growth, the new UK junior minister for artificial intelligence ...
www.mlex.com
October 17, 2025 at 12:27 PM
The UK government must tackle resistance from those who want to return to a “mythical past” as it develops its plans for AI-led economic growth, the new UK junior minister for artificial intelligence said www.mlex.com/mlex/artific...
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
They always start with free speech. It sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Free speech? And they can use it to shut down anyone who criticises them, because it’s all “free speech”
After “free speech” it’s “protecting women and girls”
And then it’s whatever they actually wanted.
After “free speech” it’s “protecting women and girls”
And then it’s whatever they actually wanted.
The right-wing campaign group that helped topple Roe v Wade in the US is now working to roll back abortion laws in the UK, with the help of Nigel Farage.
Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
October 13, 2025 at 10:07 AM
They always start with free speech. It sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Free speech? And they can use it to shut down anyone who criticises them, because it’s all “free speech”
After “free speech” it’s “protecting women and girls”
And then it’s whatever they actually wanted.
After “free speech” it’s “protecting women and girls”
And then it’s whatever they actually wanted.
Data compiled by The Chronicle of Philanthropy suggests at least 22,000 jobs were lost in the sector in the first six months of the year on.ft.com/4nBgdu4
‘Enormous fear’: Trump’s threats against George Soros chill US non-profits
Civil society groups funded by billionaire’s charitable foundation feel vulnerable to administration’s attacks
on.ft.com
October 9, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Data compiled by The Chronicle of Philanthropy suggests at least 22,000 jobs were lost in the sector in the first six months of the year on.ft.com/4nBgdu4
Strong report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Freedom of Expression on "the paradigm shift" in the governance of social media platforms that has "alarming consequences for freedom of expression online". www.ohchr.org/en/documents...
A/80/341: Threats to freedom of expression online in turbulent times
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression focuses on a paradigm shift in the governance of social media platforms ...
www.ohchr.org
October 8, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Strong report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Freedom of Expression on "the paradigm shift" in the governance of social media platforms that has "alarming consequences for freedom of expression online". www.ohchr.org/en/documents...
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
We're delighted to be ranked in this year's Legal 500 in 3 practice areas (Civil liberties & human rights, Data protection, and Administrative & public law) and as a 'Firm to Watch' in Artificial Intelligence. Thank you to all our clients and referees! 🎉
www.legal500.com/firms/234760...
www.legal500.com/firms/234760...
October 7, 2025 at 2:44 PM
We're delighted to be ranked in this year's Legal 500 in 3 practice areas (Civil liberties & human rights, Data protection, and Administrative & public law) and as a 'Firm to Watch' in Artificial Intelligence. Thank you to all our clients and referees! 🎉
www.legal500.com/firms/234760...
www.legal500.com/firms/234760...
Interesting development in the X vs. Mekic case in the Netherlands, which partly deals with "Guano Notes" - X’s internal system that tracks users’ reputation scores and labels them. Those scores can determine whether posts are blocked or accounts are hidden. Very little is know about the system(1/6)
October 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Interesting development in the X vs. Mekic case in the Netherlands, which partly deals with "Guano Notes" - X’s internal system that tracks users’ reputation scores and labels them. Those scores can determine whether posts are blocked or accounts are hidden. Very little is know about the system(1/6)
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
Think of the waste this involves
New - “Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work.”
www.cnn.com/2025/09/24/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/24/p...
Trump administration rehires hundreds of federal employees laid off by DOGE | CNN Politics
Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work.
www.cnn.com
September 24, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Think of the waste this involves
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
I can't believe this is real. Literally Thiel is saying the antichrist is anyone who wants to regulate technology.
September 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I can't believe this is real. Literally Thiel is saying the antichrist is anyone who wants to regulate technology.
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
Very happy to announce brilliant new paper on AI by the wonderful @atoosakz.bsky.social , Phillip Hacker, and er, me, on systemic risk and how it is confusingly differently interpreted through the EU AIA, the DSA and its origin, financial regulation.
Paper at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.17878
Paper at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.17878
September 23, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Very happy to announce brilliant new paper on AI by the wonderful @atoosakz.bsky.social , Phillip Hacker, and er, me, on systemic risk and how it is confusingly differently interpreted through the EU AIA, the DSA and its origin, financial regulation.
Paper at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.17878
Paper at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.17878
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
This white paper from @noupside.bsky.social and @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social is an extremely helpful explanation of how the media environment has irrevocably shifted away from one in which institutions could wield influence simply by speaking authoritatively.
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
For Expertise to Matter, Nonpartisan Institutions Need New Communications Strategies
To avoid irrelevance when they are needed most, experts and nonpartisan analysts must rethink not just their channels of communication but also their theory of influence.
carnegieendowment.org
September 21, 2025 at 4:54 PM
This white paper from @noupside.bsky.social and @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social is an extremely helpful explanation of how the media environment has irrevocably shifted away from one in which institutions could wield influence simply by speaking authoritatively.
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 12:50 PM
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
on.ft.com/3K7NYV4 In Charlie Kirk’s name: Trump officials signal move to limit free speech
In Charlie Kirk’s name: Trump officials signal move to limit free speech
White House shifts from defending dissent to vowing crackdown on ‘hateful’ rhetoric in wake of killing
on.ft.com
September 18, 2025 at 9:05 AM
on.ft.com/3K7NYV4 In Charlie Kirk’s name: Trump officials signal move to limit free speech
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
"When trolls demand debates, they’re not interested in having their minds changed or genuinely testing their ideas. They want one of two outcomes: either you decline and they get to claim victory by default, or you accept and they get to use your credibility to legitimize their nonsense..."
The “Debate Me Bro” Grift: How Trolls Weaponized The Marketplace Of Ideas
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was…
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was…
The “Debate Me Bro” Grift: How Trolls Weaponized The Marketplace Of Ideas
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was engaging in good faith. Perhaps the perfect example of this is Ezra Klein’s silly eulogy claiming that Kirk was “
www.techdirt.com
September 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
"When trolls demand debates, they’re not interested in having their minds changed or genuinely testing their ideas. They want one of two outcomes: either you decline and they get to claim victory by default, or you accept and they get to use your credibility to legitimize their nonsense..."
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
Carr's views as of October 2024:
September 18, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Carr's views as of October 2024: