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
Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, calls on the European Commission to "immediately" start proceedings on the Anti-Coercion Instrument in response to Trump's latest tariff threat.
January 17, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, calls on the European Commission to "immediately" start proceedings on the Anti-Coercion Instrument in response to Trump's latest tariff threat.
Reposted by Mathias Vermeulen
Rather than the older retaliation packages Europe could also just put a 10% tariff on US imports or go straight to taxes on US services to react more strongly.
Then prepare escalation steps.
Europe has little choice but to hit back really hard since Trumps Greenland demand cannot be negotiated.
Then prepare escalation steps.
Europe has little choice but to hit back really hard since Trumps Greenland demand cannot be negotiated.
Woah Nellie, Trump rekindles the trade war with Europe over Greenland.
The President announces 10% tariffs on France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK (yes), Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia.
The tariffs will rise to 25% on June 1st unless Greenland is sold to the US.
1/
The President announces 10% tariffs on France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK (yes), Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia.
The tariffs will rise to 25% on June 1st unless Greenland is sold to the US.
1/
January 17, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Rather than the older retaliation packages Europe could also just put a 10% tariff on US imports or go straight to taxes on US services to react more strongly.
Then prepare escalation steps.
Europe has little choice but to hit back really hard since Trumps Greenland demand cannot be negotiated.
Then prepare escalation steps.
Europe has little choice but to hit back really hard since Trumps Greenland demand cannot be negotiated.
It does not have a choice. If it’s not invoked now we can just throw the ACI in the bin.
If Trump goes ahead, the European Commission will face the burning question it has avoided for almost a year: the Anti-Coercion Instrument.
It refused to apply the instrument against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and China’s rare earths restrictions. Will it dare to do it now? Will it have a choice?
It refused to apply the instrument against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and China’s rare earths restrictions. Will it dare to do it now? Will it have a choice?
🚨 Donald Trump says he will impose a 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland in retaliation for deploying soldiers to protect Greenland.
Effective 1st of February, he says.
Effective 1st of February, he says.
January 17, 2026 at 6:27 PM
It does not have a choice. If it’s not invoked now we can just throw the ACI in the bin.
UFC > G7 www.politico.eu/article/fran...
France delays G7 to avoid clash with White House cage fighting on Trump’s birthday
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the new schedule is “the result of our consultations with G7 partners.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-delay-g7-white-house-donald-trump-birthday/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=alert&utm_campaign=France%20delays%20G7%20to%20avoid%20clash%20with%20White%20House%20cage%20fighting%20on%20Trump’s%20birthday
January 9, 2026 at 3:28 PM
UFC > G7 www.politico.eu/article/fran...
How should Europe respond to the US new national security strategy? Like this: www.egmontinstitute.be/allies-and-r...
Allies and Rivals - Egmont Institute
This is strategy. Trump’s National Security Strategy (NSS), released on 4 December 2025, is bold and concise. One reads it, and one knows what the US wants. One may not […]
www.egmontinstitute.be
December 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
How should Europe respond to the US new national security strategy? Like this: www.egmontinstitute.be/allies-and-r...
Today’s 120 million euro fine against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA) will be spun as a decision against “free speech.” It’s not. (1/7) #digitalservicesact #dsa #dsa ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission fines X €120 million under the Digital Services Act
Today, the Commission has issued a fine of €120 million to X for breaching its transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
December 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Today’s 120 million euro fine against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA) will be spun as a decision against “free speech.” It’s not. (1/7) #digitalservicesact #dsa #dsa ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Translating the CJEU judgment in Amazon vs EC on art.40 DSA: (1) giving vetted researchers data isn’t a disproportionate privacy intrusion; (2) compliance may be costly but you can bear it; (3) if you have a better way to study systemic risks, we haven’t heard it. curia.europa.eu/juris/docume...
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Translating the CJEU judgment in Amazon vs EC on art.40 DSA: (1) giving vetted researchers data isn’t a disproportionate privacy intrusion; (2) compliance may be costly but you can bear it; (3) if you have a better way to study systemic risks, we haven’t heard it. curia.europa.eu/juris/docume...
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)