Our EU Policy Principles: User Controls

As the EU is gearing up for a major reform of key Internet regulation, we are introducing the principles that will guide our policy work surrounding the Digital Services Act (DSA). We believe the DSA is a key opportunity to change the Internet for the better; to question the paradigm of capturing users’ attention that shapes our online environments so fundamentally, and to restore users’ autonomy and control. In this post, we introduce policy principles that aim to strengthen users' informational self-determination and thereby promote healthier online communities that allow for deliberative discourse.

A Chance to Reinvent Platform Regulation 

In a few months, the European Commission will introduce its much anticipated proposal for the Digital Services Act, the most significant reform of European platform regulation in two decades. The Act, which will modernize the backbone of the EU’s Internet legislation—the e-Commerce Directive—will set out new responsibilities and rules for online platforms. 

EFF supports the Commission’s goal of promoting an inclusive, fair and accessible digital society. We believe that giving users more transparency and autonomy to understand and shape the forces that determine their online experiences is key to achieving this goal. Currently, there is a significant asymmetry between users and powerful gatekeeper platforms that control much of our online environment. With the help of opaque algorithmic tools, platforms distribute and curate content, collect vast amounts of data on their users and flood them with targeted advertisements. While platforms acquire (and monetize) a deep understanding of their users, both on an individual and collective level, users are in the dark about how their data is collected, exploited for commercial purposes and leveraged to shape their online environments. Not only are users not informed about the intricate algorithms that govern their speech and their actions online; platforms also unilaterally formulate and change community guidelines and terms of service, often without even informing users of relevant changes. 

The DSA is a crucial chance to enshrine the importance of user control and to push platforms to be more accountable to the public. But there is also a risk that the Digital Services Act will follow the footsteps of the recent regulatory developments in Germany and France. The German NetzDG and the French Avia bill (which we helped bring down in court) show a worrying trend in the EU to force platforms to police users’ content without counter-balancing such new powers with more user autonomy, choice and control. 

EFF will work with EU institutions to fight for users’ rights, procedural safeguards, and interoperability while preserving the elements that made Europe’s Internet regulation a success: limited liability for online platforms for user-generated content, and a clear ban on filtering and monitoring obligations.

Principle 1: Give Users Control Over Content

Many services like Facebook and Twitter originally presented a strictly chronological list of posts from users’ friends. Over time, most large platforms have traded that chronological presentation for more complex (and opaque) algorithms that order, curate and distribute content, including advertising, and other promoted content. These algorithms, determined by the platform, are not necessarily centered on satisfying users’ needs, but usually pursue the sole goal of maximizing the time and attention people spend on a given website. Posts with more “engagement” are prioritised, even if that engagement is driven by strong emotions like anger or despair provoked by the post. While users sometimes can return to the chronological stream, the desig