EDRi-gram, 27 November 2025
What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: Digital Omnibus rolls back rights, age verification misses the mark, data workers behind AI, & more!
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Last week, a chill down the digital rights community’s spine – and it wasn’t because of the unexpected snow in Brussels.
The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposals finally landed – and they were as appalling as expected. The proposals massively threaten EU’s core digital protections, especially targeting the GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive and the AI Act. This move – and the overall deregulation agenda – clearly panders to corporate and Big Tech interests, rather that prioritising people and communities. These changes would lower safeguards, expand intrusive data access, and give governments and corporations more leeway to track, profile, and automate decisions about all of us.
Rest assured, we’re not taking this sitting down. Earlier this month, we came together with 126 civil society organisations and unions to tell the European Commission that we see their ‘simplification’ attempts for what they really are – the biggest rollback of digital fundamental rights in EU history, being carried out using non-democratic mechanisms. On the day of the Digital Omnibus launch, thanks to our collective action with People vs Big Tech and WeMove Europe, the EU quarter in Brussels was buzzing with mobile billboards calling on European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen to stop giving in to pressure and to stand up for Europe’s citizens and democracy.
We will continue our ardent efforts to ensure that Europe’s digital future is protected. We do not need fewer rules: we need the political will to enforce the digital rulebook that is already in place.
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Press Release: Commission’s Digital Omnibus is a major rollback of EU digital protections
Today the European Commission has published two Digital Omnibus proposals, reopening the EU’s core protections against harm in the digital age. This step risks dismantling the rules-based system...
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EU adopts Digital Trade Agreement with Singapore despite warnings: a setback for digital rights and democratic oversight
The European Parliament has approved the EU–Singapore Digital Trade Agreement, rejecting a motion to seek a Court of Justice opinion on its legality. This decision weakens the...
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Why the Digital Omnibus puts GDPR and ePrivacy at risk
On 19 November, the European Commission has published two Omnibus proposals: one that rewrites key parts of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ePrivacy rules, along with...
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Europe is dismantling its digital rights from within
The European Commission’s new Digital Omnibus is presented as simple “streamlining”, but in practice it dismantles key safeguards in the GDPR, ePrivacy rules and the AI Act. It...
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Artificial intelligence is not as artificial as you might think
AI systems involve a huge amount of human effort at the hands of millions of workers, often in Global South countries, working in precarious conditions. In this blog,...
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Why age verification misses the mark and puts everyone at risk
Age verification is a short-sighted, ineffective and dangerous way to protect young people form online harms. It is disproportionate when better alternatives are available, straightforward and rewarding to...
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RECOMMENDED
Stand up, Ursula
People vs Big Tech, WeMove Europe, Avaaz, and EDRi
Since returning to office, Donald Trump and his Big Tech cronies have launched a full-scale pressure campaign against the EU’s digital laws. Right now, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Commission are deciding whether to break up Google’s illegal adtech monopoly or cave to escalating pressure from Donald Trump and Big Tech CEOs. Europe’s digital laws were written to protect us. Now they risk being rewritten to protect them. Sign the petitions by WeMove Europe and Avaaz.
Digital Rights Under Threat — The Impact of LinkedIn’s Biased Moderation Amid Genocide
EDRi member, 7amleh, Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
This report documents how LinkedIn’s content moderation practices have disproportionately restricted Palestinian voices during the hostilities in Gaza. Based on fifteen user testimonies and interviews with LinkedIn and Microsoft employees, it highlights internal bias, account restrictions, content removals, and widespread self-censorship. Read more.
How X Spreads Hate Against LGBTI People in Poland
EDRi observer, Amnesty International
This documentary investigates how X has enabled the spread of targeted hate and abuse against LGBTI people in Poland. It reveals how the platform’s failure to invest in Polish-language content moderation, disregard for human rights responsibilities, and non-compliance with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) have created an unsafe and hostile environment for the LGBTI community. Watch the video. Content warning: This video includes references to transphobia, suicide, self-harm, online abuse, violence and sexual violence.
There are now more Big Tech lobbyists than MEPs
EU Watchdog Radio by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Counter Balance
In this episode, CEO’s researcher Bram Vranken talks about their new report which uncovered that there are now more Big Tech lobbyists operating in Brussels than there are members of the European Parliament. The sheer muscle power these companies have to target legislation and to lobby decision makers is unheard of and it is worth reminding ourselves that Big Tech’s lobby power only further entrenches its hold over key aspects of society. Listen to the podcast.
EVENTS
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European Young Innovators Festival
For the last last ten years, the EYI festival has fostered meaningful exchange, encouraged peer-to-peer and intergenerational learning, and celebrated cross-cultural connection.
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Finance For Society Forum 2025
Organised by Finance Watch, the Finance for Society Forum is a high-level event held biennially to bring together policymakers, academics, civil society, and financial sector professionals to shape...
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SplinterCon in Paris
As national and regional efforts around digital sovereignty gain momentum, SplinterCon Paris will bring together technologists, researchers, and policymakers to consider what resilient, interconnected digital societies require today...
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Collective Redress and Digital Fairness Conference
The Collective Redress and Digital Fairness Conference, organized by the University of Amsterdam with support from the Stichting Onderzoek Collectieve Actie, provides a forum to examine how collective...
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International Digital Rights Days
Digital rights are human rights. In a society increasingly shaped by the digital world, it is essential to emphasize the importance of everyone’s right to access, use, and...
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e-Society.mk 2025: Integrity at the core of digital transformation
Powered by EDRi member Metamorphosis, e-Society.mk brings together top experts & decision makers to discuss the future of the e-society.
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39th Chaos Communication Congress (39C3)
The 39th Chaos Communication Congress (39C3) takes place in Hamburg on 27–30 Dec 2025, and is the 2025 edition of the annual four-day conference on technology, society and...
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Political Tech Summit
The Political Tech Summit is organised by Partisan, a Berlin-based hub for political professionals working at the intersection of tech, campaigning, and democracy. Through events, research, and community-building,...
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Data Privacy Day
Data Privacy Day is an annual event organized by the Restena Foundation and the Digital Learning Hub – under the umbrella of Cybersecurity Luxembourg – in the framework...
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EU Open Source Policy Summit 2026
The 2026 edition of the EU Open Source Policy Summit will bring together leaders from the public and private sectors to focus on one clear proposition: open source...
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The DSA and Platform Regulation Conference 2026
The conference will reflect on the DSA and European platform regulation, including in its broader legal and political context, under the overall theme of platform governance and democracy.
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The Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF)
The PDAF aims to provide a platform to discuss the challenges that Palestinians face the Palestinian civil society to protect Palestinian digital rights and digital activists working on...
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RightsCon 2026
Each year, RightsCon convenes business leaders, policymakers, general counsels, government representatives, technologists, academics, journalists, and human rights advocates from around the world to tackle pressing issues at the...
JOBS
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Logos is hiring for a Campaign Director
Logos is a movement supporting the development of the decentralised web. Logos technologies lay the foundations for a freer internet upon which communities can evolve into network states....
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Kamara is hiring for Senior Digital and Information Security Specialist
Founded in 2019, Kamara is a social enterprise that supports social justice actors to strengthen their holistic security, risk-informed decision making and overall organisational resilience.
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Frontline Defenders is hiring for a Event & Visa Assistant
Front Line Defenders (FLD) is an international human rights organisation founded in Dublin in 2001, with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk (HRDs).
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7amleh is hiring for a Programs Manager
7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media is a non-profit organization that advocates for Palestinian digital rights. 7amleh’s mission is to create a safe,...
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Liberties is hiring for an Executive Director
The Civil Liberties Union for Europe is a Berlin-based watchdog that safeguards the human rights of everyone in the European Union. Liberties works on multiple human rights issues,...
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noyb is hiring for a Data Protection Lawyer
Noyb pursues strategic and effective enforcement by thoroughly analyzing and prioritizing privacy violations, identifying the legal weak spots of these cases and litigating them with the best possible...
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Wikimedia Foundation is hiring for a Movement Communications Specialist
The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia and their other free knowledge projects. Wikimedia Foundation wants to make it easier for everyone to share what they...
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Mozilla is hiring for a Senior Integrated Marketing Manager
Mozilla Foundation is committed to an internet that promotes civil discourse, human dignity, and individual expression. To an internet that catalyzes collaboration among diverse communities working together for...
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Internet Society Foundation is hiring for a Director, Administration and Travel Management & a Director, Fund Management and Compliance
The Internet Society (ISOC) supports and promotes the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good...