Utopian dreams, sobering reality: The end we start from in EU’s approach to technology
We imagine a day in the near-future, when EU lawmakers commit to building a world where people, our planet, and democracy flourishes – and heed to civil society’s long-standing collective demands to achieve this. But in reality, we seem to be getting farther and farther away from this utopian scenario, and are preparing for a sobering next few years in the EU tech policy space.
April 2028: Missives from a modern EU-topia
Today, April 1, 2028, the EU sent a strong message about its commitment to human rights, with the European Commission announcing a slew of digital policy initiatives that mark a remarkable turnaround from the pro-corporate, deregulation, and innovation-at-any-cost stance of the executive branch a few years ago.
Firstly, the Commission has made Big Tech accountability and challenging their surveillance ads based model a top priority to make people’s online lives and experiences safer. A big part of this work will involve continued stringent enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and ensuring that compliance with DSA and DMA obligations are taken seriously and processed within a reasonable time frame. We have already seen how effective EU’s digital laws are in reigning in tech giants, with LinkedIn and even X forced to comply in recent years.
In a huge win for privacy, EU lawmakers also hinted at planning to formally enshrine encryption as a fundamental right in the EU Charter. Despite years of back and forth of the issue, and some controversial proposals from the Commission, they have evidently been convinced about the need for protecting secure and private communication and have acknowledged that privacy is, in fact, safety. We hope this learning will also inform the Commission’s upcoming strategy announcement on commercial spyware, which is also a similar threat, and will lead them to proposing a ban.
Artificial Intelligence (AI Act) and its application and related infrastructure development also came under scrutiny. The AI Act, which came into force in August 2024 and is still undergoing enforcement, had disappointingly excluded migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from any meaningful protection from harmful AI. We are pleased to see some Member States going further that the strict letter of the law and adding the use of AI in migration and policing contexts within the scope of their national laws. We laud Member States for this historic step drawing a line in the sand on what is unacceptable uses of AI in a democratic society, and hope this is the beginning of further strengthening of the rights of people on the move and other marginalised communities in the EU.
The establishment of an EU expert working group to assess the impact of AI on the environment and climate change is also a promising step, and will hopefully lead to a moment for lawmakers to prioritise a habitable planet over innovation and growth regardless of cost.
As expected, civil society working on human rights, social and environment justice, corporate accountability and others have been ecstatic about these developments, and the promise of increased consultations with civil society and affected communities, as well as more transparency in the law-making process.
When questioned about the 180-change on the EU’s priorities, a Commission insider told media, “We’re at a critical moment in history. The EU has a duty to its citizens – and to the rest of the world – to champion strong laws that protect people, the environment and safeguard our democracy. Anything that distracts us from achieving that would be a failure in meeting our responsibility.”
April 2025: Paving our interventions in a sobering reality
In reality, the year is still 2025 and the European Union and its Member States still haven’t lived up to expectations when it comes to ensuring technology serves people and the planet.
The new European Commission – following years of intense corporate lobbying and political shift to the right of the political spectrum – has centered a pro-business approach which could undermine the environmental, corporate accountability and human rights protections that the previous mandates so painfully secured. The Draghi-influenced European Commission has put forward a deregulation (aka ‘simplification’) agenda. The planned wave of ‘omnibuses’ may crash into people’s hopes for a more just, safe and sustainable digital society with a force never seen before, even under previous EU deregulation efforts. In the realm of tech regulation, EDRi fears this could lead to uncertainty and harms, threatening the timid safeguards we worked so hard for over the years. The planned simplification of parts of the GDPR could be a trojan horse to ‘simply’ remove more of the protections included in other digital legislation, such as the DSA, the DMA or the AI Act.
It is highly regrettable that the weakening of EU’s legacy comes at a moment when we need it most, for example, with the new Trump administration so harshly hammering on EU tech laws. In the context of the close alignment of US Big Tech CEOs with the US administration, we witness a growing sense of impunity for their toxic business model.
Our concerns with the proposed deregulation also stem from the broader context of democratic backsliding and the rise of far right governments including within Europe, where six countries countries are actively undermining the rule of law according to the latest Liberties Rule of Law Report. This has led to increasing attacks on NGOs and media, funding cuts and discriminatory surveillance practices. Not only are the EU and its Member States pushing a deregulation agenda, they have also proposed initiatives and legislation that would undermine safe communication channels when they are most needed, and actively promote a deportation surveillance and control regime for migrants.
With the plausible genocide committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza and the heightened tensions in Europe following Russia invasion of Ukraine continuing, technology has been central in Europe’s renewed defense and foreign affairs policies, further raising risks of increased surveillance and violence.
These are grim days, and EDRi prepares to account for this reality in its new multi-annual strategy to be adopted later this year. We will continue to hold the line to protect human rights in current and future legislation, promote just, safe, sustainable digital futures, and stands in solidarity with communities affected by technological harms, funding cuts, and attacks in Europe and beyond.
We dream of the days where having the best interest of people and the planet at heart would not just remain an utopia.