communication with Facebook on disinformation

Die Anfrage war erfolgreich.

Thomas Spekschoor

Dear Communications Networks, Content and Technology,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

Dear sir / madam,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

- All communication from 2016 until now between the European Commission and Facebook on disinformation or fake news on Facebook platforms, including, but not limited to, letters to Facebook to ask for participation in the 'High level group on fake news and online disinformation', letters from Facebook to ask for participation in this High level group, letters or emails from the European Commission to Facebook about their attempts to fight disinformation on their platform, etc.

I've made this request before and you answered with a request for more from me. Due to personal circumstances I couldn't answer in time to that email. My apologies. I hope you can answer to this new request.

Yours faithfully,

Thomas Spekschoor (NOS News, dutch public broadcaster)
Wetstraat 155 box 92
1040 Brussels
Belgium

[email address]

Yours faithfully,

Thomas Spekschoor

Generaldirektion Kommunikationsnetze, Inhalte und Technologien

Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
 
 
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
 
 
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
 
 

References

Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...

ve_sg.accessdoc (SG), Generaldirektion Kommunikationsnetze, Inhalte und Technologien

[1]Ares(2019)3789513 - RE: access to documents request - communication
with Facebook on disinformation --- Ref. Gestdem 2019/3386

Sent by ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[DG CONNECT request email]>. All responses have
to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[DG CONNECT request email]>. Toutes les
réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 13/06/2019. We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on
13/06/2019 under reference number GestDem 2019/3386.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days.

The time limit will expire on 04/07/2019. In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.

You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please note
that this is a private third-party website which has no link with any
institution of the European Union. Therefore, the European Commission
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.

Please note that the private third party running the AsktheEU.org website
is responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal data
via that website, and not the European Commission. For further information
on your rights, please refer to the third party’s privacy policy.

We understand that the third party running that website usually publishes
the content of applicants’ correspondence with the European Commission on
that website. This includes the personal data that you may have
communicated to the European Commission (e.g. your private postal
address).

Similarly, the third party publishes on that website any reply that the
Commission will send to the email address of the applicants generated by
the AsktheEU.org website.

If you do not wish your correspondence with the European Commission to be
published on the AsktheEU.org website, you can provide us with an
alternative, private e-mail address for further correspondence.

In that case, the European Commission will send all future electronic
correspondence addressed to you only to that private address.

Yours faithfully,

Access to documents team (RC)
SG.C.1
Transparency

Zitate anzeigen

ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT), Generaldirektion Kommunikationsnetze, Inhalte und Technologien

1 Attachment

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

[5]Ares(2019)4264006 - Holding reply - Your application for access to
documents RefGestDem 2019/3386

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Mr Spekschoor,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 13/6/2019 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on the same date under the abovementioned
reference number.

 

Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expires today.

 

An extended time limit is needed as different Commission services must be
consulted.

 

Therefore, we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 25/7/2019.

 

We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Access to Documents Team

 

 

[6]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D53267.11EB6F00
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...

ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT), Generaldirektion Kommunikationsnetze, Inhalte und Technologien

1 Attachment

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

[5]Ares(2019)4523679 - Your application for access to documents-
RefGestDem 2019/3386

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Mr Spekschoor,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 13 June 2019 wherein you submit a request
for ‘access to documents’, registered on the same date under the
abovementioned reference number.  We also refer to our holding reply,
dated 4 July 2019, our reference Ares(2019)4264006, whereby we informed
you that the time limit for handling your application was extended by 15
working days pursuant to Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on
public access to documents (hereinafter 'Regulation 1049/2001').  

 

By your application you request ‘documents which contain the following
information:

All communication from 2016 until now between the European Commission and
Facebook on disinformation or fake news on Facebook platforms, including,
but not limited to, letters to Facebook to ask for participation in the
'High level group on fake news and online disinformation', letters from
Facebook to ask for participation in this High level group, letters or
emails from the European Commission to Facebook about their attempts to
fight disinformation on their platform, etc.’

 

As your request is addressed to DG CONNECT we understand that the request
concerns communications between DG CONNECT and Facebook.

 

Your application concerns a large number of documents. At this stage, we
have identified more than 100 documents.

 

The identified documents need to be assessed individually, according to
Regulation 1049/2001. Moreover, the handling of your request involves the
assessment of a very large number of documents originating from third
parties. The analysis of these documents, together with the need to
consult the concerned third parties in accordance with Article 4(4) of
Regulation 1049/2001, cannot be expected to be completed within the normal
time limits set out in Article 7 of Regulation 1049/2001.

 

Article 6(3) of the Regulation 1049/2001 provides that, in the event of an
application relating to a very large number of documents, the institution
concerned may confer with the applicant informally with a view to finding
a fair solution. In accordance with the case law of the European Union
Courts, the proposal for a fair solution aims to balance the interest of
the applicant against the workload resulting from the processing of the
application, in order to safeguard the interests of good administration
(Judgments of 6 December 2001, Council v Hautala, Case C 353/99 P,
EU:C:2001: 661, para. 30, and of 2 October 2014, Strack v Commission, Case
C 127/13 P, EU:C:2014:2250, para.27). Such solution can only concern the
content or the number of documents applied for, not the deadline for
replying (Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case C-
127/13, Guido Strack v Commission, paragraphs 26-28). This means that the
scope of the request must be reduced in a manner that enables its
treatment within the extended deadline of 15 + 15 working days.

Based on the above-mentioned provision, we kindly ask you to specify the
objective of your request, your specific interest in the requested
documents (Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case
C-127/13, Guido Strack v Commission, paragraph 28; Judgment of the General
Court (then 'Court of First Instance') of 22 May 2012 in case T-344/08,
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg v Commission, paragraph 105 ) and to ask
you to narrow down the scope of your request, so as to reduce it to a more
manageable amount of documents.

 

In order to help you to narrow down your request, please note that the
following categories of documents have been identified as falling under
the scope of your request:

- Minutes and reports from meetings between the Commission services and
Facebook (current estimate: 3 documents)

- Documents related to the participation of Facebook in the High Level
Expert Group on Fake news and online Disinformation (call for
applications, application form, invitation to the High Level Expert Group 
(current estimate: 4 documents)

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook relating to the
Multi-stakeholder conference on fake news 13-14 November 2017 (current
estimate: 5 email exchanges and related documents)

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook related to the
Multi-stakehoder Forum on disinformation aiming to elaborate a Code of
Practice  (current estimate: more than 20 e-mail exchanges and additional
documents)

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook related to the
Code of Practice (CoP) on Disinformation and to Facebook’s monthly reports
to the Implementation of the CoP (current estimate more than 30 email
exchanges and additional documents)

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook on fake news
(current estimate: 4 email exchanges).

 

With regard to the email exchanges, please note that the above mentioned
emails in total account for more than 70 email exchanges containing all
together approximately 180 individual emails ca. 40 attached documents.
These emails are either bilateral or emails sent to a group of addresses,
with Facebook included.

 

According to our estimates and taking into account the other access to
documents’ requests being handled within DG CONNECT at the same time, the
global workload of the concerned staff during the same period, the human
resources available and the need to safeguard good administration, we
estimate that a maximum of 20 documents could possibly be dealt with
within the remaining days from the extended deadline of 30 working days
counting from the date of registration of you application (13 June 2019).

 

We therefore propose, as a fair solution, that you narrow the scope of
your request based on the description listed above and we will
consequently assess, under Regulation 1049/2001  a maximum of 20
documents  relating to the topics you are interested in. In case you are
interested in a topic with more than 20 documents, we would choose the 20
most recent ones.

 

In order to enable us to respect the time limits of Regulation 1049/2001,
we would ask you for a swift response to our proposal for a fair solution,
and within three working days, i.e. by Wednesday  17 July eob at the
latest.

 

Please send your response by email to the following address:

[6][email address]

 

In the absence of a reply within three working days, we will unilaterally
restrict the scope of your application to those parts that can be dealt
with within the extended deadline of 30 working days counting from the
date of registration of your application.

 

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Access to Documents Team

 

[7]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D538CC.136F4200
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
6. mailto:[email address]

Thomas Spekschoor

Dear Acces to documents team,

Thank you for your email. Apologies for the late reply, but you might understand that these are busy days for EU-reporters.

I understand that my request contains a large amount of documents and that it will be a lot of work for your team, but only 20 of these documents will not be enough to do my research. I've indicated below which documents I'd like to receive. It adds up to at least 27 documents. I don't know the exact amount, because of the fourth category that you mention.

- Minutes and reports from meetings between the Commission services and
Facebook (current estimate: 3 documents). I'd like to receive these documents.

- Documents related to the participation of Facebook in the High Level
Expert Group on Fake news and online Disinformation (call for
applications, application form, invitation to the High Level Expert Group
(current estimate: 4 documents). I don't need these documents.

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook relating to the
Multi-stakeholder conference on fake news 13-14 November 2017 (current
estimate: 5 email exchanges and related documents). I don't need these documents.

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook related to the
Multi-stakehoder Forum on disinformation aiming to elaborate a Code of
Practice (current estimate: more than 20 e-mail exchanges and additional
documents). I'd like to receive these documents.

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook related to the
Code of Practice (CoP) on Disinformation and to Facebook’s monthly reports
to the Implementation of the CoP (current estimate more than 30 email
exchanges and additional documents). I don't need these documents.

- Email exchanges between Commission services and Facebook on fake news
(current estimate: 4 email exchanges). I'd like to receive these documents.

I hope this selection will already significantly reduce your workload. If it helps, we can also push the deadline to mid-august, so your team can take some more time to fulfill the request. If you have any further questions, you can also contact me on my phone number 0471731586.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas Spekschoor

ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT), Generaldirektion Kommunikationsnetze, Inhalte und Technologien

1 Attachment

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

[5]Ares(2019)4878152 - Your application for access to documents -
RefGestDem 2019/3386

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Mr Spekschoor,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 13 June 2019 wherein you submit a request
for access to documents, registered on the same date under the
abovementioned reference number. We also refer to our holding reply, dated
4 July 2019, our reference Ares(2019)4264006, whereby we informed you that
the time limit for handling your application was extended by 15 working
days pursuant to Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on public
access to documents (hereinafter 'Regulation 1049/2001').

 

We would like to inform you that our reply will be sent to you tomorrow.

 

We apologise for the delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Access to Documents Team

 

[6]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D54320.539C14D0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...

Generaldirektion Kommunikationsnetze, Inhalte und Technologien

2 Attachments

Advance copy by e-mail and registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt
 
Dear Mr Spekschoor,
 
Please find attached document Ares(2019)4887798 regarding "Your
application for access to documents- Ref GestDem 2019/3386" sent by Mr
Roberto Viola, General Director of DG CONNECT on 26/07/2019.    
 
 
Best regards,  
 
European Commission
DG CONNECT — ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Avenue de Beaulieu, 25
B-1160 Brussels/Belgium