Digital Democracy
In recent years, the rise of new digital technologies, from social media platforms to generative AI, has posed new challenges to democracy and elections. For this reason, EPD has been working on investigating the impact that digital innovation can have on democracy and how EU policies can be the most effective in tackling the risks posed by new technologies.
On this page you can take a look at the legislative files that we have been monitoring.
Do you want to know more about our work on Digital Policy? Contact our Digital Policy Manager at [email protected].
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has been at the top of the EU agenda since the start of the 2019-2024 mandate, with the proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). The discussions around it, however, intensified further in 2023, with the boom of generative AI systems. From deep fakes of politicians circulated online to AI-generated disinformation campaigns, from AI systems used for microtargeting of political ads to chatbot-based AI systems to provide voter assistance, AI applications with the potential to impact democracy and elections are countless. EPD is therefore working on assessing the effectiveness of mechanisms in the AI Act to mitigate the risks posed by such applications.
The Digital Services Act
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is an EU horizontal framework of rules put forward to create a safer online space. As many challenges posed by online platforms and regulated via the DSA can have an impact on democratic civic discourse and electoral processes, such as the spread of disinformation, coordinated attacks against civil society or the lack of transparency on how recommender systems work, having a DSA that works for democracy is of utmost importance for EPD.
Transparency and targeting of political advertising
Political advertising online has been historically the main focus of EPD’s work in the digital sphere. Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it has become increasingly evident how online practices such as micro-targeting of political ads can steer public opinion ahead of elections. When the European Commission put forward its proposal for a Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA), EPD took an active role in leading the advocacy work on this file by promoting more transparency and accountability for both sponsors and online platforms.
Our work on these files is funded by Civitates and the Open Society Foundations.