Making online spaces safer, more trustworthy and inclusive
Civitates launched an open call to support organisations working on national level enforcement of EU tech regulations in seven countries: Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Romania, and the Netherlands.
Social media platforms are influential spaces where societal questions are debated and where most people get access to news. Search engines are the gateways through which we access information in a quick and convenient way on a daily basis. However, while the original promise was to give us unlimited access to knowledge and information, these services often give us a selection of information and content that is skewed, partial and leaning towards the extremes.
The EU tech rulebook (Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, General Data protection Regulation – GDPR, Transparency and targeting of political advertising regulation, Artificial Intelligence Act, European Media Freedom Act etc.) attempts to address these issues by establishing transparency and accountability mechanisms for the tech industry, balancing free speech and freedom from harassment online, increasing the protection of online users and expanding citizens’ rights.
The national level is crucial for EU tech regulation enforcement as governments, national authorities, and civil society act as an essential support and counterbalance system to the European institutions by ensuring compliance, handling complaints, conducting investigations, and preventing any attempts to weaken or circumvent these protections.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED