European Policy, Free Expression, Government Surveillance, Privacy & Data
EU Tech Policy Brief: September 2022 Recap
This is the September 2022 recap issue of the Centre for Democracy & Technology Europe‘s monthly Tech Policy Brief. It highlights some of the most pressing technology and internet policy issues under debate in Europe, the U.S., and internationally, and gives CDT’s perspective on them. Our aim is to help shape policies that advance our rights in a digital world. Please do not hesitate to contact our team in Brussels: Iverna McGowan, Asha Allen, and Ophélie Stockhem.
CDT Europe Launches New Series on the EU Digital Services Act
Over the summer, CDT Europe launched a three-part blog series on the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which breaks down the obligations imposed by the legislation, reflects on its implications for online content moderation and fundamental rights, and poses recommendations on next steps in bringing the DSA to life.
The first chapter of the series unpacks obligations imposed by the DSA for tackling illegal content, and outlines aspects that have been maintained or strengthened, as well as concerns that remain around Rule of Law. In the second chapter of the series, CDT Europe analyses the prominent due diligence chapter of the Regulation, its practical implementation, and level of international influence. The last chapter focuses on the proposed enforcement regime established under the legislation, its feasibility, and its alignment with Rule of Law safeguards.
CDT Europe Welcomes United Nations Human Rights Chief’s Landmark Report
On 16 September, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented a report on ‘The right to privacy in the digital age’ to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. CDT strongly welcomed the report, which reiterates OHCHR’s call for a moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of hacking tools until a human rights-based safeguards regime is in place. The report also strongly emphasises the importance of end-to-end encryption in the protection of democracy and human rights worldwide.
In our briefing on the report, CDT highlighted the deep concerns raised in the report over the EU’s Child Sexual Abuse Online Proposal, which would impose broad monitoring obligations for all communications and threaten the rights of all users, including children. We also welcomed the report’s focus on the need for judicial safeguards and oversight in relation to surveillance by private and public actors, especially in light of the proliferation of spyware.
CDT Europe Joins Conference on Gender-Based Cyberviolence
On 27 September, Asha Allen, Advocacy Director for Europe, Online Expression, and Civic Space, joined an event in Brussels organised by the FemBloc project and aimed at discussing online gender-based violence and democratic challenges in Europe.
Speaking at a panel on the regulatory challenges and social impact of gender-based cyberviolence and hate speech, Allen highlighted that the EU lacks a legal framework on gender-based violence, and that at the level of EU member states, the legal landscape is fragmented. Accordingly, Allen welcomed the new EU directive on gender-based violence and existing due diligence obligations for platforms under the DSA, insisting that a harmonised co-regulatory approach founded upon an intersectional perspective is the best way to address these forms of online abuses. She outlined the importance of bringing legal clarity to current definitions, and uniformly implementing existing standards.
CDT Meets European Stakeholders Discuss Critical Data Protection Issues
Throughout September, staff from the Center for Democracy & Technology U.S. office met with European officials who travelled to Washington, D.C., to discuss developments in tech policy. The European Data Protection Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, delivered a speech on privacy, security, and sovereignty at the Mentor Group Forum for EU-U.S. Legal Economic Affairs, and met with CDT colleagues to discuss issues related to data protection.
On the same day, Greg Nojeim, Senior Counsel and Director of CDT’s Security and Surveillance Project, and Caitlin Vogus, Deputy Director of CDT’s Free Expression Project, exchanged on surveillance practices and the Pegasus enquiry with Diana Riba, vice chair of the European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware.
Don’t forget to check out CDT’s publications for this month, and to sign up for CDT Europe’s new AI newsletter!
