Eurotopics.net

Whistleblower Frances Haugen has leaked internal documents from Facebook that testify to persistent problems including algorithms that favour polarising posts and huge deficiencies in the moderation of hate comments, especially outside the US. Above all, according to the documents, Facebook has been aware of all this for a long time. At the beginning of October Haugen testified before the US Senate. This Monday she appeared before British MPs.

The situation at the EU's external borders with Belarus remains tense. Poland wants to build a wall, and Lithuania is also turning away most migrants. In these countries' media discussion of how to deal with the people who are besieging their countries' borders as a result of dictator Alexander Lukashenka's "hybrid warfare" continues.

The French newspaper Ouest-France has announced that it will not conduct any polls for the 2022 presidential election on the grounds that they distract from the essential issues. With the exception of the free papers, Ouest-France is the French daily with the highest circulation. Can this move strengthen democracy and the culture of debate?

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed last week that he will present a law abolishing prostitution in Spain by the end of this legislative period. The ruling parties plan to introduce a version of the so-called "Nordic model" which makes using sexual services a punishable offence. Commentators call for a broadbased debate.

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and the West have reached a new low. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has instructed his foreign minister to prepare the expulsion of ten ambassadors of Western countries including the US, Germany and France. Commentators take very different views on the repercussions.