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This story originally appeared in Global Voices. A decade after the first assessment, the 2025 Ranking Digital Rights Index: Big Tech Edition reveals a landscape of paradox. While some of the world’s most influential digital platforms demonstrate incremental improvements in transparency, particularly in governance disclosures from Chinese companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, the overall picture suggests a concerning inertia. In a world grappling with rising authoritarianism, the use of AI tools, and ongoing global conflicts, the report shows that many Big Tech companies are largely continuing with business as usual, failing to address critical issues. The concentration of power within Big Tech remains a central concern. The report highlights how companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft have aggressively acquired competitors, consolidating their dominance in the digital landscape. This market concentration, where Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon capture two-thirds of online advertising revenue, grants them power over online access and information flows. Despite increasing scrutiny from legal systems, evidenced by rulings against Google for illegal monopolies in search and advertising, the political influence of Big Tech appears to have increased. The symbolic image of US Big Tech CEOs in the front row of the presidential inauguration underscores their deep connections with government bodies, potentially hindering much-needed oversight at a time when human rights and democratic structures face unprecedented challenges globally. This dominance is further exacerbated in a context of conflict. Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft have all developed tools meant for war and integration with lethal weapons. Their cloud infrastructure has powered military campaigns, reveals the report. Ranking Digital Rights also calls attention to propaganda, especially on X and platforms owned by Meta. Lack of transparency While the report highlights pockets of progress, particularly among Chinese companies (Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu), showing increased transparency in governance, patterns have been spotted throughout the analysis that raise concerns. Though Meta has shown improvements in disclosing how its algorithms curate content and has enhanced security with default end-to-end encryption on some messaging services, significant shortcomings persist across the industry. A common issue is the widespread lack of transparency in how companies handle private requests for user data or content restrictions, with Samsung notably disclosing no information in this area. [Image: Ranking Digital Rights, 2025] The very engines of Big Tech’s profitalgorithms and targeted advertisingremain largely opaque. Despite the known risks for democracies linked to disinformation and election interference, none of the assessed companies achieved even half the possible score in this area. Alphabet and Meta even showed slight declines in transparency related to their targeted advertising practices. Most companies fail to disclose information about advertisements removed for violating their policies or provide evidence of enforcing their ad targeting rules. X declined significantly more than other companies analyzed. The companys transformation from the publicly listed Twitter to the privately held X Corp. and the elimination of its human rights team coincided with a significant drop in transparency across its governance, freedom of expression, and privacy practices, the report emphasized. X failed to publish a transparency report in both 2022 and 2023. While a report finally surfaced in September 2024, it fell outside the assessment’s cutoff. Even more troubling is the reported removal of years worth of transparency reports dating back to 2011. [Image: Ranking Digital Rights, 2025] Finally, the report points to a troubling pattern of policy evolution. Companies like Meta and YouTube have been revising their content policies in ways that have sparked widespread concern, such as Meta dismantling its third-party fact-checking program in the US and YouTube removing gender identity from its hate speech policy. Global Voices covered the consequences of this policy in Africa, and also how fact-checking practices are needed amidst digital authoritarianism, especially during elections, such as the case of Indonesia. This suggests a potential shift towards justifying existing behaviors rather than upholding previously embraced principles. The 2025 RDR Index demonstrates stagnation at a critical time. While acknowledging some positive developments, the report also calls for a renewed effort from different stakeholders, especially civil society, investors, and policymakers.
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Britain and the European Union hailed a new chapter in their relationship Monday after they sealed new agreements on defense cooperation and easing trade flows at their first formal summit since Brexit. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other senior EU officials in London for talks, said the deals will slash red tape, grow the British economy and reset relations with the 27-nation trade bloc since the U.K. left the EU in 2020. Britain is back on the world stage, Starmer said. This deal is a win-win. Von der Leyen called the talks a historic moment” that benefits both sides. More broadly, she said it sends a message at a time of global upheaval that the U.K. and EU are natural partners standing side-by-side on the global stage.” Britain’s opposition parties slammed the deals as backtracking on Brexit. Were becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again,” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said. Under the deals, a new U.K.-EU defense and security partnership will allow the U.K. to access a EU defense loan program worth 150 billion euros ($170 billion.) Other agreements include removing some checks on animal and plant products to ease food trade across borders, and a 12-year extension of an agreement allowing EU fishing vessels in U.K. waters. While the EU is the U.K.s largest trading partner, the U.K. has been hit with a 21% drop in exports since Brexit because of more onerous border checks, laborious paperwork and other non-tariff barriers. Post-Brexit visa restrictions have also hobbled the cross-border activities of professionals such as bankers or lawyers, as well as cultural exchanges, including touring bands and school trips. Resetting relations Since becoming prime minister in July, Starmer has sought to reset relations with the EU, following years of tensions in the wake of the U.K.’s 2016 Brexit referendum. Post-Brexit relations have been governed by a trade agreement negotiated by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Starmer thinks that can be improved in a way that boosts trade and bolsters security. Starmer hailed Monday’s agreementsthe third package of trade deals struck by his government in as many weeks following accords with the U.S. and Indiaas good for jobs, good for bills and good for our borders. Burgers, fishing and youth mobility The defense pact will allow Britain’s defense industry to access cheap loans from a new EU loan program to buy military equipment, in part to help Ukraine defend itself. In trade, officials say they will reduce routine border checks and costs on some food imports and exports to make it easier for goods to flow freely. The changes will mean the U.K. can sell products like British burgers and sausages to the EU again, officials said. We know weve had lorries waiting for 16 hours, fresh food in the back not able to be exported, because frankly its just going off, red tape, all the certifications that are required, we absolutely want to reduce that, Cabinet Office minister Thomas-Symonds, who led the negotiations, told the BBC. In fisheries, the deal means European fishing boats will have access to U.K. waters until 2038. While economically minor, fishing has long been a sticking point and symbolically important issue for the U.K. and EU member states such as France. Disputes over the issue nearly derailed a Brexit deal back in 2020. The talks also included a youth mobility plan that’s expected to allow young Britons and Europeans to live and work temporarily in each others territory, though no details were provided. That remains a politically touchy issue in the U.K., seen by some Brexiteers as inching back toward free movement. The U.K. has similar youth mobility arrangements with countries including Australia and Canada. Starmer has stressed that the U.K. wont rejoin the EUs frictionless single market and customs union, nor agree to the free movement of people between the U.K. and the EU. Opposition objects to a surrender Some of the trade-offs may prove difficult for Starmer, who faces growing challenges from the pro-Brexit and anti-immigration Reform U.K. party and accusations of betraying” Brexit. Reform, which recently won big in local elections, and the Conservatives have called the deal a surrender to the EU. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has backed Brexit, could also be a potential headache for Starmer. The reset could still be blown off course by disagreements over how to consolidate existing areas of cooperation like fisheries and/or external factors, such as a negative reaction from the U.S. to the U.K. seeking closer ties with the EU, said Jannike Wachowiak, research associate at the UK in a Changing Europe think tank. Sylvia Hui, Pan Pylas, and Jill Lawless, Associated Press
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Bath & Body Works just announced its second new CEO in three years, and hes coming straight from a leadership shakeup at Nike. According to a press release published this morning, Daniel Heaf will take over at Bath & Body Works, effective immediately. Heaf arrives at the company fresh off of his most recent executive position at Nike, a role which he departed in March after management chose to eliminate his role, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Bath & Body Works current CEO, Gina Boswell, has stepped down from the position after just over two years. Alongside the CEO swap, Bath & Body Works also preannounced better-than-expected first quarter results this morning. Per the press release, the company expects net sales to increase year-over-year by 3% to $1.4 billion for the quarter ending on May 3. It also maintains its initial full-year 2025 guidance that net sales are expected to rise by 1% to 3%, a change that the company says reflects a 10% tariff on Chinese goods but excludes any other potential tariffs. So far, investors haven’t been sold on the news of Heafs new role: Since market close, stock is down 1.42% as of this writing. Who is Daniel Heaf? Before joining Bath & Body Works, Heaf held leadership roles at both the BBC and Burberry. Most recently, he served a six-year stint at Nike. According to his LinkedIn, Heaf started at Nike as the vice president of global direct digital commerce. From there, he moved up to become the vice president of Nike Direct, the companys direct-to-consumer branch, during which time he oversaw 45,000 employees across 41 countries and more than doubled the business to $22.3 billion in five years, per the press release. Heafs last position as Nikes chief strategy and transformation officer started in 2023 and came to an unceremonious end this March. Bloomberg found that his position was eliminated as part of a larger corporate overhaul spearheaded by Nike CEO Elliott Hill, who took the helm in October. Hill has been fighting an uphill financial battle amidst the Trump administrations global trade war, given that Nikes main country of import, Vietnam, is currently facing an impending 46% tariff. In March, Nike announced middling third quarter financial results and warned of a potentially worse fourth quarter, which ends this month. In his new role at Bath & Body Works, Heaf says he plans to harness the companys extraordinary untapped potential and lead it into its next chapter of growth. Together, with the foundation of an iconic brand, more than 50,000 associates, tens of millions of active loyalty members, and a strong North American store footprint and supply chain, we have an opportunity to become the defining home fragrance and beauty brand of choice globally, Heaf said in the press release.
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