What’s going on in Brussels?
One of the priorities of the current European Commission is "a Europe that is ready for the digital age". That means Brussels is producing quite a lot of legislation aimed at regulating the digital environment and digitization. We want to make sure that legislation respects and promotes your rights and freedoms. In this blog, you'll find an overview of the new European rules we are working on, what our position is and in which phase of the legislative process we are.
Artifical Intelligence Act
The Artificial Intelligence Act is the law that aims to regulate artificial intelligence. We believe citizens must be able to trust that technology is deployed in a safe way and in compliance with the law. Citizens' fundamental rights must be guaranteed. With that in mind, we see many ways the AI-Act proposal needs to be improved. For example, we would like to see a complete ban on biometric surveillance in public spaces. And we want manipulation and so-called 'social scoring' of citizens' behavior to be prohibited. We also want to see better protection for citizens who are subjected to artificial intelligence systems.
At the moment, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are in the process of determining their position on the AI Act. Our work is to encourage politicians to go a step further than the European Commission, in order for our human rights to be better protected.
Rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse regulation (CSAR)
This law is supposed to protect children from sexual abuse. But the European Commission's proposal misses the point completely, and, in its current form, will abolish confidentiality on the internet. In the proposal, companies are forced to monitor what internet users share with each other via chat apps like Whatsapp or platforms like Instagram. In other words: the Commission seems to want to get rid of encryption.
The proposal was introduced in May. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union now have to determine their position. We will be talking to them in the coming months, to explain that lifting confidentiality on the internet solves nothing. And we'll urge the Dutch government to speak out against the Commission's proposal in Brussels.
The European Commission's proposal misses the point completely, and, in its current form, will abolish confidentiality on the internet.
Political advertising regulation (PAR)
The political advertising regulation aims to ensure transparency of political ads and regulate tracking-based political ads and amplification. Better rules around political ads are desperately needed, after scandals like Cambridge Analytica and Facebook's lies about election manipulation. We are still analyzing this proposal, but can share some first observations. We welcome the focus on transparency, but the proposal needs to go further if we truly want to protect citizens from political manipulation.
The proposal was announced last winter. And again, it is now in the hands of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. So for the foreseeable future, we'll make sure to share our concerns, position and expertise with members of the Parliament and the Council.
Digital Services Act
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is the law that protects users against online platforms. This law regulates online platforms, giving users more control over their online communication. The law sets rules for tracking-based advertising, recommender systems, manipulative interfaces and content moderation. It is not the most ambitious it could have been, but we are happy with the steps that have been taken.
The final text is expected within a few months, and the law will take effect in early 2024. Over the next year, we will be focusing on the implementation of the law and its visibility, in order to make sure we are protected not only in theory, but also in practice.
We will be focusing on the implementation of the DSA and its visibility, in order to make sure we are protected not only in theory, but also in practice.
Digital Markets Act
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the law that is supposed to break the market power of large platforms. It includes rules on interoperability, which would allow users to exchange messages freely between different apps. The law will also deliver more freedom of choice with regards to which app store and software people want to use. And it introduces rules about corporate takeovers.
For the DMA, the same applies as the DSA: the final text is expected soon and the law will enter into force in early 2024.