Executive Summary (full briefing here)

What would a healthy social network look and feel like, with recommender systems that show users the content they really want to see, rather than content based on predatory and addictive design features?

In October 2022, the European Union adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), introducing transparency and procedural accountability rules for large social media platforms – including giants such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok – for the first time. When it comes to their recommender systems, Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) are now required to assess systemic risks of their products and services (Article 34), and propose measures to mitigate against any negative effects (Article 35). In addition, VLOPs are required to disclose the “main parameters” of their recommender systems (Article 27), provide users with at least one option that is not based on personal data profiling (Article 38), and prevent the use of dark patterns and manipulative design practices to influence user behaviour (Article 25).

Many advocates and policy makers are hopeful that the DSA will create the regulatory conditions for a healthier digital public sphere – that is, social media that act as public spaces, sources of quality information and facilitators of meaningful social connection. However, many of the risks and harms linked to recommender system design cannot be mitigated without directly addressing the underlying business model of the dominant social media platforms, which is currently designed to maximise users’ attention in order to generate profit from advertisements and sponsored content. In this respect, changes that would mitigate systemic risks as defined by the DSA are likely to be heavily resisted – and contested – by VLOPs, making independent recommendations all the more urgent and necessary.

It is in this context that a multidisciplinary group of independent researchers, civil society experts, technologists and designers came together in 2023 to explore answers to the question: ‘How can the ambitious principles enshrined in the DSA be operationalised by social media platforms?’. On August 25th 2023, we published the first brief, looking at the relationship between specific design features in recommender systems and specific harms.1 Our hypotheses were accompanied by a list of detailed questions to VLOPs and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs), which serve as a ‘technical checklist’ for risk assessments, as well as for auditing recommender systems.

In this second brief, we explore user experience (UX) and interaction design choices that would provide people with more meaningful control and choice over the recommender systems that shape the content they see. We propose nine practical UX changes that we believe can facilitate greater user agency, from content feedback features to controls over the signals used to curate their feeds, and specific ‘wellbeing’ features. We hope this second briefing serves as a starting point for future user research to ground UX changes related to DSA risk mitigation in a better understanding of user's needs.

This briefing concludes with recommendations for VLOPs and the European Commission.

With regards to VLOPs, we would like to see these and other design provocations user-tested, experimented with and iterated upon. This should happen in a transparent manner to ensure that conflicting design goals are navigated with respect to the DSA. Risk assessment and risk mitigation is not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process, which should engage civil society, the ethical design community and a diverse representation of users as consulted stakeholders.

The European Commission should use all of its powers under the DSA, including the power to issue delegated acts and guidelines (e.g., in accordance with Article 35), to ensure that VLOPs:

• Implement the best UX practices in their recommender systems
• Modify their interfaces and content ranking algorithms in order to mitigate systemic risks
• Make transparency disclosures and engage stakeholders in the ways we describe above.

Read the full briefing here.

Photo by Christin Hume

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We have joined forces with high street brand Lush in a continuation of their Big Tech Rebellion, to raise money for our work to rein in the handful of Big Tech companies that have monopolised the Internet with intrusive surveillance, predatory addictive-algorithms, harmful content and echo chambers.

Lush online shops in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Canada will sell a limited edition bath bomb called The Cloud, with 100% of the sales price (minus VAT) will support People vs Big Tech campaigns.

Bathe in the knowledge that your purchase is helping to challenge the power and abuses of Big Tech.

Not only can you support our movement by buying The Cloud bath bomb, but you can also become a part of it. By signing the People’s Declaration, you will join our open network of concerned individuals and civil society organisations working together to challenge the power and abuses of Big Tech.

Lush, a high street cosmetics brand, has taken a stand against Big Tech's harmful business model. They've announced a Digital Divestment roadmap, and are committing to “push back against the stranglehold the Big Tech 5 have on our business, our families and our communities.”

More information about Lush and their Big Tech rebellion can be found here.

Sign the People’s Declaration and join the Big Tech Rebellion!

The post ESC Big Tech this Black Friday appeared first on People vs. Big Tech.

Presented by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureates Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov at the Freedom of Expression Conference, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo 2 September 2022

We call for a world in which technology is built in service of humanity and where our global public square protects human rights above profits.

Right now, the huge potential of technology to advance our societies has been undermined by the business model and design of the dominant online platforms. But we remind all those in power that true human progress comes from harnessing technology to advance rights and freedoms for all, not sacrificing them for the wealth and power of a few.

We urge rights-respecting democracies to wake up to the existential threat of information ecosystems being distorted by a Big Tech business model fixated on harvesting people’s data and attention, even as it undermines serious journalism and polarises debate in society and political life.

When facts become optional and trust disappears, we will no longer be able to hold power to account. We need a public sphere where fostering trust with a healthy exchange of ideas is valued more highly than corporate profits and where rigorous journalism can cut through the noise.

Many governments around the world have exploited these platforms’ greed to grab and consolidate power. That is why they also attack and muzzle the free press. Clearly, these governments cannot be trusted to address this crisis. But nor should we put our rights in the hands of technology companies’ intent on sustaining a broken business model that actively promotes disinformation, hate speech and abuse.

The resulting toxic information ecosystem is not inevitable. Those in power must do their part to build a world that puts human rights, dignity, and security first, including by safeguarding scientific and journalistic methods and tested knowledge. To build that world, we must:

Bring an end to the surveillance-for-profit business model

The invisible ‘editors’ of today’s information ecosystem are the opaque algorithms and recommender systems built by tech companies that track and target us. They amplify misogyny, racism, hate, junk science and disinformation – weaponizing every societal fault line with relentless surveillance to maximize “engagement”. This surveillance-for-profit business model is built on the con of our supposed consent. But forcing us to choose between allowing platforms and data brokers to feast on our personal data or being shut out from the benefits of the modern world is simply no choice at all. The vast machinery of corporate surveillance not only abuses our right to privacy, but allows our data to be used against us, undermining our freedoms and enabling discrimination.

This unethical business model must be reined in globally, including by bringing an end to surveillance advertising that people never asked for and of which they are often unaware. Europe has made a start, with the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts. Now these must be enforced in ways that compel platforms to de-risk their design, detox their algorithms and give users real control. Privacy and data rights, to date largely notional, must also be properly enforced. And advertisers must use their money and influence to protect their customers against a tech industry that is actively harming people.

End tech discrimination and treat people everywhere equally

Global tech companies afford people unequal rights and protection depending on their status, power, nationality, and language. We have seen the painful and destructive consequences of tech companies’ failure to prioritize the safety of all people everywhere equally. Companies must be legally required to rigorously assess human rights risks in every country they seek to expand in, ensuring proportionate language and cultural competency. They must also be forced to bring their closed-door decisions on content moderation and algorithm changes into the light and end all special exemptions for those with the most power and reach. These safety, design, and product choices that affect billions of people cannot be left to corporations to decide. Transparency and accountability rules are an essential first step to reclaiming the internet for the public good.

Rebuild independent journalism as the antidote to tyranny

Big tech platforms have unleashed forces that are devastating independent media by swallowing up online advertising while simultaneously enabling a tech-fueled tsunami of lies and hate that drown out facts. For facts to stand a chance, we must end the amplification of disinformation by tech platforms. But this alone is not enough. Just 13% of the world’s population can currently access a free press. If we are to hold power to account and protect journalists, we need unparalleled investment in a truly independent media persevering in situ or working in exile that ensures its sustainability while incentivizing compliance with ethical norms in journalism.

21st century newsrooms must also forge a new, distinct path, recognizing that to advance justice and rights, they must represent the diversity of the communities they serve. Governments must ensure the safety and independence of journalists who are increasingly being attacked, imprisoned, or killed on the frontlines of this war on facts.

We, as Nobel Laureates, from across the world, send a united message: together we can end this corporate and technological assault on our lives and liberties, but we must act now. It is time to implement the solutions we already have to rebuild journalism and reclaim the technological architecture of global conversation for all humanity.

We call on all rights-respecting democratic governments to:
1. Require tech companies to carry out independent human rights impact assessments that must be made public as well as demand transparency on all aspects of their business – from content moderation to algorithm impacts to data processing to integrity policies.

2. Protect citizens’ right to privacy with robust data protection laws.

3. Publicly condemn abuses against the free press and journalists globally and commit funding and assistance to independent media and journalists under attack.

We call on the EU to:
4. Be ambitious in enforcing the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts so these laws amount to more than just ‘new paperwork’ for the companies and instead force them to make changes to their business model, such as ending algorithmic amplification that threatens fundamental rights and spreads disinformation and hate, including in cases where the risks originate outside EU borders.

5. Urgently propose legislation to ban surveillance advertising, recognizing this practice is fundamentally incompatible with human rights.

6. Properly enforce the EU General Data Protection Regulation so that people’s data rights are finally made reality.

7. Include strong safeguards for journalists’ safety, media sustainability and democratic guarantees in the digital space in the forthcoming European Media Freedom Act.

8. Protect media freedom by cutting off disinformation upstream. This means there should be no special exemptions or carve-outs for any organisation or individual in any new technology or media legislation. With globalised information flows, this would give a blank check to those governments and non-state actors who produce industrial scale disinformation to harm democracies and polarise societies everywhere.

9. Challenge the extraordinary lobbying machinery, the astroturfing campaigns and recruitment revolving door between big tech companies and European government institutions.

We call on the UN to:
10. Create a special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General focused on the Safety of Journalists (SESJ) who would challenge the current status quo and finally raise the cost of crimes against journalists.

Signed by:
Dmitry Muratov, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

For more information and the full list of signatories, go to: www.10pointplan.org

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To: Mr Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic

Bruxelles, 30 Mars, 2022

Open Letter: France must not betray its promise to European citizens to prohibit the most invasive practices in online advertising in the Digital Services Act

Dear President Macron,

We are writing to you on behalf of the People vs Big Tech Coalition to express our deep concern regarding France’s failure to follow through on its promise to meaningfully protect EU citizens from the invasive use of their sensitive personal data for targeted advertising in the Digital Services Act. This is a system that has been weaponised by foreign and nefarious actors to distort public debate and democracy - not least by Russia. It is also a system that routinely tramples on the rights of European citizens. According to our newly published YouGov poll, an overwhelming majority of French citizens (70%) support a ban on the use of people’s sensitive personal data to target online advertisements. They are counting on you to secure this baseline protection in the DSA.

While we commend you for France’s tenacity in seeing through sweeping reform of the Big Tech platforms in the form of the Digital Markets Act, agreed last week, one of our movement’s core demands is that the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act take adequate steps to rein in the most invasive and harmful practices in online advertising. This is why we were so encouraged to hear Minister O’s commitment on Friday, announcing that the DSA would include the proposal to prohibit targeted advertising to minors as well as the use of sensitive information for ad targeting. Minister O rounded off his commitment with a reference to “how much trust there was between (the negotiators) to allow us to move forward and to take the most logical approach” on this all important issue.

To our dismay, that trust now appears to have been broken. Mere days later, the French Council Presidency appears to have diluted the provision on sensitive data in ad targeting by moving it to a recital and severely weakening it so that it no longer meaningfully protects citizens from this exploitative practice. This means European citizens will continue to be exposed to intrusive advertising on the basis of inferences about them which they may never choose to explicitly share or meaningfully consent to - including sensitive categories such as religious or political views, health conditions, and sexual preferences.

Beyond the well documented harms to people’s rights, the use of sensitive data for advertising raises serious democracy and national security concerns. By segmenting the paid-for messages that are seen by specific groups of the electorate, dialogue between communities is prevented and disinformation can more easily thrive. This type of advertising can and has already been weaponised by nefarious actors to distort public debate and influence democratic processes in Europe. Russian interference in the US 2016 election via targeted ads was a clear example and, at a time when the world order is increasingly precarious and actors such as Russia seek to undermine the EU, the risks are now even higher.

The Digital Services Act is a vital opportunity to move towards a safer online advertising system which European consumers and businesses are able to trust and which safeguards citizen’s fundamental rights. European citizens are counting on France to follow through on its promise to ensure that a final deal on the DSA prohibits the use of sensitive data, including the drawing of inferences about a person’s sensitive characteristics, for the purpose of displaying advertisements. This is a critical baseline protection, already limited in scope to online platforms only, proportionate to the harms and necessary to achieve the aims.

If France wants a swift deal on the Digital Services Act, it cannot afford to betray European citizens at the eleventh hour. We hope that instead you will lead the way in ensuring a Digital Services Act that offers vital and overdue protections for European citizens.

Yours sincerely,

Access Now

All Out

Alliance4Europe

Avaaz

Bits of Freedom

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties)

Citizen D / Državljan D

Cultural Broadcasting Archive (CBA)

Defend Democracy

D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais

Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe - DARE network

Digitas Institute

European Digital Rights Initiative (EDRi)

European Youth Forum

Fair Vote

Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv)

Fix the Status Quo

Global Action Plan UK

Global Forum for Media Development

Global Witness

HateAid

Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Irish Council for Civil Liberties

#JeSuisLà

Lie Detectors

LobbyControl

Panoptykon Foundation

Peter Tatchell Foundation

Ranking Digital Rights

Sum of Us

The Coalition For Women In Journalism

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

The Signals Network

Vrijschrift.org

Waag

WeMove Europe

Wikimedia Deutschland

Wikimedia France

CC:

Mr Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market

Mr Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery

Mr Cédric O, Minister of State for Digital Transition and Electronic Communications

Ms Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister Delegate for Industry

Mr Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs

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New polling reveals 70% of adults in France support a ban on the use of people’s sensitive personal data in online targeted advertising.

A new YouGov poll commissioned by the People vs Big Tech network demonstrates that people in France find it wholly unacceptable for technology companies to target individuals with online advertising based on their personal data. The findings come just as French Minister of State for Digital and Telecommunications, Cédric O, announced that the Digital Services Act (DSA) will include a ban on targeted ads using sensitive data, as well as targeted ads to minors. While this is a promising development, it’s not a done deal as EU lawmakers continue to discuss the final provisions of the landmark legislation which aims to hold large online platforms accountable for the harms of their business model.

At a time when industry pressure appears to be causing representatives of the EU Commission and EU Council to consider backsliding and removing the proposed measure by the European Parliament, the survey shows that 69% of people in France find it unacceptable for technology companies to use their personal data in such a way.

Rewan Al-Haddad, Campaign Director at SumOfUs, said: “For years now people across Europe have been demanding stronger protection against Big Tech’s toxic and abusive data practices which only serve to enrich the coffers of the likes of Mark Zuckerberg – and these poll results in France demonstrate exactly that. Now the question is whether EU lawmakers will follow Cédric O’s lead, or capitulate to Big Tech lobbyists.”

A full 70% of those polled supported a ban on the use of people’s sensitive personal data (such as a person’s ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, health conditions, or political opinions) in online targeted advertising – with 42% strongly supporting such a ban. By contrast, just 10% strongly opposed a proposed ban on the invasive practice.

These findings are particularly significant for French politicians as France currently chairs the negotiations for the DSA and plays a pivotal role in shaping the rules by which Big Tech companies will be allowed to operate in Europe going forward. Of note, the overall results of the survey show public opinion in France is in line with the views of small business leaders as well. For more information on their views, see January 2022 polling.

The EU has a decisive opportunity to establish the baseline protections necessary to secure the fundamental rights of EU citizens. Because no regulation currently prevents companies like Meta/Facebook or Google from profiling people based on their sensitive data (or making inferences about such characteristics), the online targeted advertising system has been repeatedly weaponised with ads designed to suppress votes, sell miracle cures, recruit militia, and incite violence.

But an opportunity to stem these harms is available and, as the YouGov poll results demonstrate, the time to act is now. The measure proposed by the European Parliament to prohibit the use of sensitive data in Article 24 of the DSA (including the drawing of inferences about a person’s sensitive characteristics) for the purpose of displaying advertisements must be adopted into the final provisions of the law. A system that enables foreign interference, facilitates the spread of disinformation, and inflames tensions between groups can no longer be permitted to operate without robust government oversight and new rules in place to protect privacy, promote safety, and maintain the integrity of Europe’s democratic processes.

Polling Note: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1023 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 21st - 23rd March 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all French adults (aged 18+).

The post Vast Majority of French People Do Not Want to be Targeted with Online Ads Based on Their Sensitive Personal Data (YouGov Poll) appeared first on People vs. Big Tech.

This briefing paper has been compiled by SumOfUs, Panoptykon Foundation, Global Witness, Alliance 4 Europe, Je Suis Là, Hate Aid, Amnesty International, The Signals Network, AlgorithmWatch, Defend Democracy, Avaaz and Vrijschift

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a crucial and welcome opportunity to hold online platforms to account and ensure a safer and more transparent online environment for all. EU negotiators must ensure that the DSA has the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights and democracy at its core, establishing meaningful long-term accountability and scrutiny of online platforms. Key outstanding issues must be resolved in the Trilogues, including EU-level enforcement, due diligence requirements, data scrutiny and tackling systemic risks related to tracking-based advertising.

As the DSA negotiations progress, we therefore urge you to prioritise the following issues:

A strong EU-level enforcement regime for VLOPs (Art 50)

We commend the Council for its support for an EU-level enforcement structure, as confirmed in the General Approach, and recommend giving enforcement powers to an independent unit inside the European Commission to oversee VLOPs. Matched with adequate resources, we believe independent EU-level enforcement powers offer the best opportunity for ensuring deep and consistent checks of VLOP’s compliance with due diligence measures from the outset. We urge you to prioritise this in the negotiations, avoiding the pitfalls of fragmentation and delay that has plagued other EU legislation such as the GDPR.

Tackling the most egregious forms of tracking-based advertising (Art 24)

The European Parliament’s DSA position secures important new safeguards against some of the most egregious and invasive forms of profiling for tracking-based advertising: minors and sensitive data - including sexual orientation, health data, or religious and political beliefs. EU policymakers must urgently guarantee this protection for citizens. This type of data should not be used for advertising purposes, given the inherent systemic risks posed. Recent polling from Global Witness and Amnesty Tech in France and Germany has shown that not only are citizens deeply uncomfortable with their sensitive data being used for advertising, but SMEs are also wary, believing their own customers would disapprove and wanting to see more regulation.

An end to manipulative practices and fair access (Art 13a & 24)

If the DSA is meant to truly empower users and protect fundamental rights, platforms must be prevented from using manipulative design techniques, or “dark patterns”, to coerce users’ consent and decisions. The Parliament’s addition of Article 13a on “Online interface design and organisation” is an essential development for safeguarding users’ rights and protect them from unfair consumer practices. This must include the ability for users to indicate their opt out preference in the browser via a legally binding “do not track” signal, sparing them from continuous consent banners. Refusing consent should be just as easy as giving it and users who reject tracking should still have alternative access options which are fair and reasonable (Art 13a 1; Art 24 1a).

Ensuring meaningful third party scrutiny of VLOPs (Art 31)

While we welcome the DSA’s ambition to mandate data scrutiny of VLOPs by third parties in relation to their systemic risks, we are concerned this crucial oversight measure will be severely weakened if it is limited to academics and if platforms are able to invoke a broad “trade secrets” exemption. Given the crucial role civil society organisations play in holding platforms to account and exposing rights breaches and other harms, access should be extended to them - provided their proposals adhere to the highest ethical and methodological standards and they are able to secure any personal data they receive. Currently, scrutiny is severely hampered by the lack of data available as well as a hostile approach from key platforms. This includes Facebook’s intimidation of AlgorithmWatch to shut down its Instagram Monitoring Project by weaponizing the company’s terms of service. We therefore strongly urge you to support the Parliament’s position to widen access to include “vetted not-for-profit bodies, organisations or associations” and remove the trade secrets exemption.

Widening risk assessment to cover all rights and social harms (Art 26 and 27) 

We urge you to support the Parliament’s position on risk assessment and clarify the text to ensure that it expands risk assessment to consider all fundamental rights, as set out in the EU charter of Fundamental Rights, while maintaining a focus on social harms such as disinformation. This expansion is essential to ensure risk assessment is comprehensive and sufficiently addresses all systemic risks - current and future. A crucial addition from the Parliament’s position is to ensure assessments of risks posed by algorithms, activities, and business-model choices, before new products are deployed as well as explicit focus on VLOPs’ business model choices and inclusion of risks stemming from “algorithmic systems”. Finally, the DSA should require that civil society organisations be consulted as part of VLOPs’ risk assessment and when designing risk mitigation measures, as the Parliament’s position underlines (Art 26 2a; Art 27 1a). This is essential as a check on potential negative effects of mitigation measures on citizens or minorities, such as discriminatory moderation or over-removal of content.

Empowering users to seek redress (Art 17)

We commend the Council for its position regarding the internal complaint handling system, empowering users to seek redress against wrongful actions and inactions by the platforms. As the General Approach makes clear, the system must be broadened so it covers all cases, including where users want to act when a platform has not removed or disabled access to a piece of content. Failing to broaden the application of this Article would further harm victims of hate speech and vulnerable communities, who would be left powerless. We therefore strongly urge you to follow Council’s position (by including “whether or not” in Art.17 (1)) and provide redress through internal complaint handling mechanisms to all users.

Priorités pour les trilogues (pdf)

Schwerpunkte für die Triloge (pdf)

Key issues for trilogues (pdf)

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The European Parliament moves to curtail invasive advertising and block loopholes that would worsen vulnerability to disinformation attacks.

In a full vote of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the evening of 19 January, announced the following morning, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) backed amendments to Article 24 of the Digital Services Act (DSA) that will see tougher restrictions on how personal data can be used in targeted advertising, including a ban on use of sensitive data for targeted ads and a requirement that platforms must provide continued fair access to users who turn off targeted ads. Although the Parliament missed an historic opportunity to fully outlaw targeted ads based on people’s personal data, these essential steps will help restrict the current abusive business model which allows Big Tech companies to profit off the invasive collection and use of their users’ data.

The final DSA text (which still must go through the Trilogues process before it becomes law) comes after months of hard campaigning from civil society groups in the face of unprecedented lobbying from Silicon Valley firms. Another welcome development was the voting down of an amendment (Recital 38) that would have effectively mandated the continued algorithmic promotion of content from any outlet calling itself media, even if the content is disinformation. Other wins represented in the vote include last year’s defeat of a broad trade secrets exemption that would have undermined crucial data access and scrutiny provisions in the DSA, as well as widened access to platform data for third-party researchers including civil society.

MEPs voting to outlaw the most invasive practices of targeted advertising embodies the growing global momentum against Big Tech’s surveillance advertising model. The crucial European vote came on the heels of US Members of Congress separately proposing legislation to ban surveillance advertising in the US – the latest signal that lawmakers around the world are looking to take a stand against Big Tech’s abusive business model.

Members of the People vs Big Tech network welcomed the outcome of the European Parliament’s vote and called on EU leaders to ensure these changes are signed into law later this year, releasing a joint statement here.

In response to the outcome of the vote and the collective efforts of the People vs Big Tech network to help secure it, MEPs said the following:

• MEP Karen Melchior, Danish Social Liberal Party: "This week the people of Europe took back control. People Vs Big Tech campaign allowed to unify civil society and digital rights activists; bringing the debate into the mainstream. The united front paid off when we voted the amendments in plenary, we managed to fight off the media exception, and got a majority for protection against tracking ads. I’m grateful for the work of People Vs Big Tech. You should all be proud of the results achieved!"

• MEP Alexandra Geese, Greens: "I thank all of you, who helped us to expose the interests of the big-tech lobby in the public debate and to ensure objectification. The outcome is a tremendous success. You have opened up the discussion space and brought the debate back to the facts."

• MEP Paul Tang, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats: "[The] DSA voting result proved Big Tech's long-lasting campaign - worth millions of euros - couldn't stand the power of all these individuals and civil society organisations defending their rights and interests. Civil society won! We are, as MEP's, but foremost as members of the Tracking-free Ads Coalition, enormously grateful for all your efforts and this powerful result! We are not there yet. However, by continuing this cooperation and unity, I'm confident we will effectively limit the harmful practices of a few and make the many powerful. Many thanks once again!"

• MEP Kim Van de Sparrentak, Greens: "We made a number of groundbreaking steps! Thank you for creating a strong movement, raising the momentum and making sure people’s voices were heard, to counter big tech’s lobbying efforts. We’ll keep up the fight for more fundamental change in the next years. Together we will end the divisive recommender algorithms and toxic business models for once and for all."

The next round of DSA negotiations (the so-called Trilogues) are already underway – with an aim to agree the final package as early as April. Going forward, the People vs Big Tech network will continue to work to protect these victories, while also demanding greater access to justice for victims of online abuse under Article 17 of the Act. As it stands, the DSA currently leaves victims of digital violence and abuse with no option to appeal if their notifications or request for remedy are denied by the platforms. Platforms’ content moderation practices already disproportionately harm marginalised groups – a lack of appeal options would have a silencing effect on large numbers of platform users such as women and minorities.

On this important issue, Josephine Ballon, Head of Legal of HateAid, said “Every second woman is afraid to express their opinion freely online. With this vote, the European Parliament leaves millions of users defenseless against hate speech and disinformation - with devastating consequences especially for women and minority groups. HateAid, the first counseling center for victims of online violence in Germany, is calling on the Council to uphold their position concerning equal access to mechanisms laid out in Article 17 and Article 18 in the Trilogues.”

The post MEPs Stand Up to Big Tech with Significant DSA Vote appeared first on People vs. Big Tech.

YouGov poll reveals small business leaders are uncomfortable with Facebook and Google’s tracking-based advertising

A new YouGov poll commissioned by Amnesty International and Global Witness has shown that small business leaders in France and Germany want alternatives to Facebook and Google’s dominant tracking-based advertising. The findings come ahead of a key EU vote this week on the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to impose stricter rules on tracking-based digital advertising and force more accountability from Big Tech companies.

Facebook and other industry leaders have emphasized their belief that targeted advertising is necessary for the survival of European small and mid-sized enterprises. But the survey shows that 79% of leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises felt that large online platforms – such as Facebook and Google – should face increased regulation of how they use personal data to target users while advertising online.

The poll further reveals that 75% of respondents also believe tracking-based advertising undermines peoples’ privacy and other human rights.

“The constant and invasive monitoring of our lives to target people with ads is unacceptable, annihilates our right to privacy, and fuels discrimination. These results show that business owners are extremely uncomfortable with the approach to tracking-based advertising that their customers currently experience,” said Claudia Prettner, Legal and Policy Adviser at Amnesty Tech. “This week’s plenary vote on the Digital Services Act represents a vital opportunity for MEPs to stand up for human rights, and to take action to address advertising practices that rely on intrusive surveillance.”

Respondents were uncomfortable with the influence and monopoly that platforms like Facebook and Google have. A total of 69% of business owners surveyed said that they felt they had no option but to advertise with them due to their dominance of the industry.

The survey also showed that business owners believed their customers were not comfortable being targeted with online ads based on their race or ethnicity (62%), their sexual orientation (66%), information about their health (67%), their religious views (65%), their political views (65%), or personal events in their life (62%).

“It’s been part of Facebook and Google’s lobbying playbook to use small business’ reliance on their services as a fig leaf to justify their invasive profiling and targeting of users for advertising,” said Nienke Palstra, Senior Campaigner on Digital Threats to Democracy at Global Witness. “In fact, our polling shows small business leaders in France and Germany are deeply wary of their ad tech practices – but don’t see an alternative. Given the overwhelming support from small business to regulate ad tech giants, there is every reason for MEPs to go further in the Digital Services Act and protect individuals from surveillance advertising.”

The latest findings support previous Global Witness polling conducted in February 2021 that investigated French and German social media users’ attitudes to targeted advertising. Those results showed overwhelmingly that people were deeply uncomfortable about the ways they are targeted by advertisers every day, from being categorized by income and religious views to life events such as pregnancy, bereavement, or illness.

The YouGov poll was conducted with more than 600 leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises in France and Germany. The full results are available to download for the France and Germany polls.

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