Europa / Europe and the EU + EEA

Original post in Swedish: https://feddit.nu/post/11247971

In the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) today, all parties, with the exception of the Social Democrats who want to see a broader expansion, voted in favor of expanding the prohibition on sex purchases.

The amendment, which comes into force on July 1, 2025, means that the sex purchase prohibition will now not only cover physical sexual services, but also makes it a criminal offense to provide a person compensation for performing sexual acts remotely – for instance, video material purchased per order or live via platforms such as OnlyFans. The expansion also applies to the Swedish legal definition of pimping – i.e., those who promote or unduly profit from a person having temporary sexual relations in exchange for compensation.

The Swedish Riksdag has previously also supported a motion to exempt the purchase of sexual services (now sexual acts) from the principle of dual criminality. This has not yet resulted in any concrete legislative proposals, but could potentially lead to these acts becoming punishable globally for Swedish citizens and those domiciled in Sweden in the future.

The text above was written by me, originally in Swedish. There is also an article in swedish at TV4's website.

More than 100,000 people gathered Sunday in The Hague to protest the Dutch government’s stance on Israel and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, in what organizers called the Netherlands’ largest demonstration in the past 20 years, according to NOS.

Participants wore red clothing to symbolically draw a “red line,” a message aimed at the Dutch government, demanding it take action against what they described as Israel’s continued violations of international humanitarian law. “Prime Minister Schoof refuses to draw a red line. That’s why we’re doing it,” organizers stated.

The Intercept was able to uncover the suppression of audible discontent with Israel at last year’s Eurovision by examining various feeds sent out by the competition organizers for broadcast across the globe.

When the local host country’s national broadcaster — in last year’s case Sweden and SVT, respectively — produce Eurovision, they collect multiple audio feeds: such as one for the performers, one for the audience, and one for announcer voices. The broadcaster then does a live mix of the three audio feeds into a single stereo mix.

The stereo mix is beamed up to a satellite using a multichannel format which Eurovision has been experimenting with since 2004. The video feed is also sent on a separate channel. The system allows a streamlined approach for local broadcasters around the globe to access the feeds and put the program on their stations.

The audio feeds were compared using the time encoding that allows broadcasters to sync up the sound and picture. On the audience feed, cheers swell up from time to time, along with whistles and other noises of audience approval. These swells and other noises correspond between the audience feed and the stereo mix.

Notes of crowd disapproval, however, are present on the audience feed but completely absent from the stereo mix. At one point in the feed at the start of Israel’s performance, scattered boos well up on the audience feed, while the corresponding timestamp in the stereo mix has no audience sound. Likewise, at the start of the performance, an audience member can be heard prominently shouting “Free Palestine!” The cry is not on the stereo broadcast mix.

For the popular vote the top 10 were as follows (bottom to top):

• 97 pts. - Italy, Lucio Corsi – Volevo Essere Un Duro

• 108 pts. - Finland, Erika Vikman – ICH KOMME

• 126 pts. - Greece, Klavdia – Asteromáta

• 139 pts. - Poland, Justyna Steczkowska – GAJA

• 158 pts. - Ukraine, Ziferblat – Bird of Pray

• 178 pts. - Austria, JJ – Wasted Love

• 195 pts. - Sweden, KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu

• 258 pts. - Estonia, Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato

• 297 pts. - Israel, Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise

Personally I'm partial to KAJ for no particular reason (ehem nationality bias ;) and we love our Swedish Finns) but it was fun to see a whole lot of non-english songs making both the finals and top rankings!

Did you guys have any particular favourites and if so why?

In today’s edition of The Capitals, read about why the EU's defence pact with the UK makes sense, Spain’s rail system struggling despite billions in EU funding, and so much more.

Nature and climate protection takes another major hit in EU proposal to “simplify” agricultural policy

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/38016771

BRUSSELS, May 15 (Reuters) - Social media app TikTok was charged by EU tech regulators on Thursday with breaching EU online content rules, putting its owner ByteDance at risk of a fine of as much as 6% of its global turnover.

The stop killing games campaign’s slated goal is to prevent game publishers from intentionally destroying their games after official support ends.

Sign it: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home

Read it: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007

More questions?: https://www.stopkillinggames.com/faq Giant FAQ on The European Initiative to Stop Destroying Games!

https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works #StopKillingGames

Greece faces a media freedom crisis as a result of actions and failures by the Greek government, threatening democracy and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

• The pervasive and deliberate constraints on journalism in Greece are creating an environment in which critical reporting is stifled, and self-censorship becomes the norm.
• Journalists face state surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by pro-government actors, and abusive lawsuits by politicians, all of which threaten democracy and the rule of law.
• The EU Commission and the EU as a whole need to monitor the situation carefully and ensure that genuine progress is made on media freedom in Greece and core democratic values are upheld.

The report: From Bad to Worse: The Deterioration of Media Freedom in Greece

Every year on the 30th of April we celebrate Valborg in Sweden, often with a big bonfire to welcome the summer. This was our local one.

Happy Valborg to y'all!

Greece currently has 13 open cases into alleged human rights violations involving migrants, the single largest number of incidents across the bloc. In 2024, nearly a third of Frontex’s 56 open cases involved the country.

[The original article at Omni is a summary of others and is written in Swedish, available at the link. Below is a translation to English, made by me.]

The criminal exploitation of assistance businesses [in Sweden] is notable because it is so widespread says the criminologist Amir Rostami to the news bureau TT.

A new report confirms the long-known problem, but with an improved foundation - he says it becomes apparent how systematic and widespread the exploitation is.

This problem threatens trust in the welfare system, according to Rostami.

- If we don't have better protection in the future this might lead to a questioning of the entire system with personal assistants.

Since the assistance system affects some of the most vulnerable people in society there must be a special protection and tough inspections of the industry, he continues.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/28231592

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/28090979

To learn more go to:

https://stopscanningme.eu/