Strengthening the Digital Public Sphere and Platform Regulation

These past few years, the European Union has adopted a series of legal and non-legal measures aimed at fostering a safe, empowering and innovative digital public space for all. In parallel, a growing number of Member States have developed national-level legislation or launched public debates pursuing a similar objective. Driving this push are growing dangers arising from dominant market positions, data protection violations and data manipulations, opaque business processes harming users, or inadequate handling of disinformation and hate speech.  

The EU’s Digital Services Act, in particular, imposes a responsibility on digital services providers to detect and rapidly take down illegal or harmful content such as hate speech, child pornography, incentives to self-harm and disinformation. More transparency is also expected from platforms when it comes to their moderation practices, as well as to how they process user data (e.g. how it feeds into their recommender systems).  

With these new tools in place, and amid exacerbated geopolitical tensions, Europe stands at a crossroad. Is the toolbox complete or does it need further extension to truly uphold citizen’s fundamental rights in the digital public sphere? Is it clear and coherent? How efficient is it and how to improve compliance? Are the authorities in charge of enforcing this framework, in particular the European Commission and national regulators, well equipped to do so? These are the questions this programme is focusing on.  

Against this backdrop, part of the team is currently exploring how to better protect children and their rights in digital environments.