This blog is part of a series of publications looking into EDRi’s manifesto for positive digital futures. Read the rest of the series here.

To visualise this digital future, EDRi published a manifesto that sets a positive vision where everyone can feel safe and empowered. Together, we can protect human rights, strengthen democracy, and reshape societal systems.

What do we mean when we say we want to develop a collective vision for our digital futures? Here is what we can do to ensure that our technology is by, for and of the people:

• Influencing states to invest significant resources to support public infrastructures and public technologies, which are governed by clear frameworks of democratic accountability.
• Banning corporate technology providers from dealing in or profiting from the sale and deployment of surveillance technology.
• Ensuring people are able to access the open and free internet without restrictions, sharing and contributing to the world’s information and knowledge, as the digital commons are established.
• Technology that is conceived, built, iterated, and deployed in service of all, including people with disabilities, in multiple languages.
• Digitalisation efforts, including public services, that do not impose upon or result in the exclusion of people, groups, or communities.
• Incentives and freedom to build, tinker, contribute to, and deploy technology, including software, that lie with communities and prioritise well-being, accessibility, and care.

In our manifesto, we suggest clear policy recommendations to make this vision a reality. Following the 2024 elections for new policy-makers in the European Union, we call for a commitment from our elected representatives to build digital policies that ensure technology is by, for, and of the people. Join us in our demands now by signing the petition.