Press release

EU Parliament vote on AI Act: Lawmakers chose to protect people against harms of AI systems

After long months of intense negotiations, members of the European Parliament voted on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). AlgorithmWatch applauds the Parliament for strengthening fundamental rights protection against the negative impacts of AI, such as that of face recognition in public spaces. Yet, the Parliament missed the opportunity to enhance protection for some people who would need it most.

Joint statement

A diverse auditing ecosystem is needed to uncover algorithmic risks

The Digital Services Act (DSA) will force the largest platforms and search engines to pay for independent audits to help check their compliance with the law. But who will audit the auditors? Read AlgorithmWatch and AI Forensics' joint feedback to the European Commission on strengthening the DSA’s independent auditing rules via a Delegated Act.

Open letter

DSA must empower public interest research with public data access

Access to “public data” is key for researchers and watchdogs working to uncover societal risks stemming from social media—but major platforms like Facebook and Twitter are cutting access to important data analytics tools to study them. The EU must now step in to ensure that researchers aren’t left in the dark.

Call for Evidence: new rules must empower researchers where platforms won’t

The ink may have dried on the Digital Services Act (DSA), but key data access provisions are still being written with input from researchers and civil society experts. Read AlgorithmWatch’s submission to the European Commission.

The EU now has the means to rein in large platforms. It should start with Twitter.

The European Commission today announced the platforms that will have to comply with the strictest rules the Digital Services Act imposes on companies. Twitter has to be on top of its list in enforcing these rules.

Civil society statement: we call on members of the EU Parliament to ensure the AI Act protects people and our rights

AlgorithmWatch demands the regulation of General Purpose AI in the AI Act

There was a lot of speculation to hear recently about large language models being a doom’s bell. This is just a red herring that distracts from the real harm people suffer from such models. To prevent an escalation of harmful effects, AlgorithmWatch calls on the German Government and the EU to implement an array of effective precautions.

Risky business: How do we get a grip on social media algorithms?

Public scrutiny is essential to understand the risks that personalized recommender systems pose to society. The DSA’s new transparency regime is a promising step forward, but we still need external, adversarial audits to hold platforms accountable.

France: the new law on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games threatens human rights

France proposed a new law on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (projet de loi relatif aux jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de 2024) which would legitimize the use of invasive algorithm-driven video surveillance under the pretext of “securing big events”. This new French law would create a legal basis for scanning public spaces to detect specific suspicious events.

A joint statement on Digital Services Act implementation at the national level

As the political process of negotiating the landmark new set of EU rules for a safer and more accountable online environment has concluded, civil society organisations from across Europe joined forces to offer suggestions on how to strengthen the harmonization of the DSA implementation process across EU member states.

Civil society observers call for an effective Council of Europe Convention on AI

On the occasion of the International Data Protection Day on 28 January, AlgorithmWatch and six other civil society organizations remind the Council of Europe of its mandate in negotiating a global Convention on AI.

Joint statement: The EU AI Act must protect people on the move

In its current form, the AI Act does not adequately address and prevent harms stemming from the use of AI in the migration context. Today, AlgorithmWatch together with 191 organizations and individuals are sending a decisive signal to EU decision-makers: ensure the protection of human rights of people on the move!

How the German government decided not to protect people against the risks of AI

Today, EU member states’ ministers are meeting in Brussels to formally adopt the version of the AI Act that their governments agreed to. As it stands, it will not be in line with the German government’s vows to protect fundamental rights. Instead, it will propose lavish exemptions for security agencies to the detriment of people’s rights.

Open Letter: EU must protect fundamental freedoms for online political speech

As EU lawmakers negotiate important new transparency rules for online political ads, AlgorithmWatch and 8 other civil society organizations are calling on the German government to address serious risks to democratic pluralism and freedom of expression contained in the Council’s most recent proposal.

Open letter: the German government should stand up for a strong ban on biometric surveillance in the Council of EU negotiations regarding the AI Act  

AlgorithmWatch and 26 other civil society organizations are calling on the German government to stand up in the negotiations on the AI Act and advocate for a strong ban on biometric surveillance as mirrored in its coalition treaty.

Civil society responds to the Council of Europe Treaty on AI

Together with other observer civil society organizations in the Committee on AI in the Council of Europe, AlgorithmWatch stresses the importance of that legal framework on AI based on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law that is currently being elaborated in Strasbourg. We urge the EU not to delay this process in light of the negotiations on its own AI Act currently ongoing in Brussels. The two frameworks have a different purpose and should complement rather than copy-paste each other.

Civil society open letter demands to ensure fundamental rights protections in the Council position on the AI Act

Negotiations in the Council of the EU regarding the AI Act are at full speed. Civil society calls for the Council to correct major shortcomings of their version of the Act which fails to ensure the necessary safeguards against harmful applications of AI systems.

EU rules for AI have some distance to go

The AI Act and Directive on AI Liability aim to protect fundamental rights, health and safety, but fall short in the current form. An op-ed, published first at Context.

Our statement on the draft AI Act to the German government and public

On 26 September, the Digital Committee of the German Parliament held a hearing with the theme “EU regulation regarding Artificial Intelligence including the competitiveness on the field of AI and blockchain technology” with a major focus on the upcoming AI Act. Our Head of Policy & Advocacy, Angela Müller, was invited to give a statement on behalf of AlgorithmWatch.

Our response to the EDPB’s guidelines on facial recognition in law enforcement

The European Data Protection Board has called for input on its recently published guidelines on the use of facial recognition technology in law enforcement. AlgorithmWatch responded.

Open Letter: Big Tech won’t respect the new Digital Markets Act unless it can be enforced

AlgorithmWatch and 17 other civil society organizations are calling on the European Parliament to quickly mobilize the resources needed for the European Commission to strongly enforce of the Digital Markets Act.

Submission to the UN report on the right to privacy in the digital age

When the right to privacy is violated, it is often the case that other human rights are also negatively impacted. In our submission, we list key areas of concerns on the way automated decision-making systems (ADMs) affect people’s basic rights.

Members of the European Parliament could protect us from biometric surveillance – if they wanted to

Together with Reclaim Your Face and 51 other civil society organizations, AlgorithmWatch calls for a meaningful ban of remote biometric identification systems in public spaces. In an Open Letter to Members of the European Parliament, we urge them to amend the draft AI Act accordingly.

Civil society reacts to EP AI Act draft Report

Together with civil society partners we analyse in our new joint statement the two main EU parliamentary committees' draft report on the AI Act. In light of our core demands we identify the important steps it takes – and the gaps it still needs to fill so that it protects people and our fundamental rights.