Digital Rights

Europe is about to get a new digital law. It will change the way Google, Facebook and Amazon do business. The mechanisms that allow them to make billions are polarising society. We need robust new rules to protect our democracy.

In recent decades the internet has transformed how people share knowledge, but the web has also diverted from its early promise of democratisation. Currently, rewards mainly go to media platforms instead of original content creators, leading to market distortion and frustrated expectations. 

This article series by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's Hong Kong office explores possible alternatives to the internet’s current mechanisms and practices in content curation.

Governments, the private sector and other organizations increasingly collect massive amounts of data, some for the public good, other times not. A consistent framework could ensure data use is both beneficial to the public interest and sufficiently protected against misuse.

In Asia, the pandemic has accelerated efforts to keep citizens informed through prompt and extensive data sharing. However, this new openness has also led to concerns regarding transparency, data protection, and democratic participation.

The coronavirus lockdown caught the IT infrastructure of the European Parliament unprepared for such severe emergency conditions. The EU's parliamentary work comes with distinct political sensitivities and responsibilities for transparency that complicate the legislative process. Any measures taken to introduce digital tools now and in the future must safeguard vital democratic principles. 

The coronavirus pandemic highlights the challenges of outdated congressional practices that needed to be addressed long ago. Individual members' offices and leadership of the House and Senate should reevaluate how technology can help US lawmakers better serve their constituents and their country.

How did the coronavirus impact digital rights, the introduction of contact tracing apps, as well as the daily use of digital tools and artificial intelligence. What does this mean for current and future policy?

Computers are often thought of as neutral technology. However, it becomes alarmingly clear that machines learn from training data made up of outdated social norms, values and attitudes towards race and gender. This can have insidious consequences.