Thread by @VanberghenEU

This is EVP Margrethe @Vestager speech "Democratic values in a digitalised world" @HumboldtUni 25.10.21. It explains rationales, set up basis for what I think will be a successful #EuropeanDigitalLaw! A speech that will continue to resonate for us #Thread ec.europa.eu/commission/com…

Late 1990: large platforms “emerged and started organizing the internet for what would soon become millions of users around the world.” For 1st time "the platforms acted as global “match-makers” B2C. With “ever-growing match-making” platforms have power, & control. 1/1

Power & control are particularly important 4 #socialmediaplatforms. "Clicks matter. The more content is seen and shared, the higher the income from advertising. Hence, it is not so much the quality or the truthfulness of the content that matters but its “virality”" 1/2

“We risk thinking that the world is just as large as what we see online. (…) but a small parcel of reality carefully carved out by a sophisticated #algorithm.” "But we need the contradiction and the diversity of arguments to keep our #democracy alive.”1/3

EVP @vestager considers that "no matter how fast technologies evolve, they always serve #people. This approach is an action plan designed to give back to people – in this case, to users – part of the control which they lost to the benefit of the #platforms.” 1/4

“For decades, such gatekeepers were left almost free to act as they wished"(...) For the sake of restoring fairness, protecting people, preserving democracy, #EU created a global standard in terms of protecting #personaldata. @vestager 1/5

#EU recent initiatives on #digitalpolicy:
1⃣ empower people by giving them the rights and knowledge they need to stay in control of their digital interactions;
2⃣regulate #providers of digital services, depending on their role & the risk that can be associated with them. 1/6

Since 2016, #GDPR set the course for #democracy to catch up with #technology. "It enacted the fundamental principle that we as citizens have rights online, as we do offline. The right to be forgotten, to own and control our data, to choose if we want to be tracked or not." 1/7

Protecting fundamental rights online as offline through #digitalprinciples: "a universal access to high quality connectivity, the right to be educated with sufficient digital skills to control technology & the right to have access to fair & non-discriminatory online services.”1/8

#Fundamentalrights! But even more, #democracy relies on #knowledge. This is the objective of the proposed #DSA... "authoritarian regimes thrive on fear and ignorance. (...) The less we know how things work, the more likely we are to let control slip through our fingers." 1/9

For the 1st time, #DSA “sets in stone digital #platforms’ responsibility to create a transparent, free yet safe digital environment. Core to this regulation is the obligation for platforms to enhance #transparency - and public knowledge - about how their #algorithms operate.”1/10

#DMA is based on the logic "with power comes responsibility!” "Many digital platforms have created monopolies 4 their services & act as gatekeepers for millions of other small businesses that have no choice but to use the one gatekeeper platform to reach the customers." 1/12

#DMA will restore fairness & limit the possibility of the largest platforms to use their market power. It sets clear obligations for such #platforms to keep the gates of the #onlinemarketplaces open. And it prohibits #unfairbehavior. #Vestager 1/13

For a #trustedinternet "we need to be sure that we chat and communicate with humans and not with bots or trolls" and "we asked #platforms to set up a joint system – a #codeofconduct – on how to best detect & delete fake accounts." #Vestager 1/14

Legislation will restore democratic control. An ambition of #TTC will be
1⃣to define #transatlantic #digitalspace working together on #cybersecurity #data #technologies #onlineplatforms #AI;
2⃣ to align rules & increase #legalcertainty, which will benefit mutual exchanges.1/15

#OpenInternet is challenged "by autocratic models of digitalisation. Those models use technology as a means 4 surveillance & social control, where citizens become #data sources 4 the advancement of #state." #Internet shall benefit our democracies instead of threatening them. 1/18

EVP Vestager @vestager concludes that our world is changing at extraordinary #speed. The #digitaltransformation of our society needs guidance & clear rules. 1/19

"It is not acceptable that a few privately held #platforms have taken control. Today, to solve big parts of the climate crisis, to make our societies inclusive. But this can only happen if we keep the online space open for free & fair dialogue.” #Vestager 1/20

Finally, EVP @Vestager concludes "democracies do not just happen. They need work, debate, compromise and people who are willing to fight for it." Online as well as offline. 1/21 End