Responding to the European Commission’s so-called “digital omnibus” proposals, which will dismantle the bloc’s protections against digital threats, Damini Satija, Programme Director at Amnesty Tech, said: 

“The EU’s ongoing deregulatory push will lead to a weakening of people’s rights and expose them to digital oppression. It will open the door to unlawful surveillance, discriminatory profiling in welfare and policing, strip people of their right to have control of their personal data and object to automated decisions, and the spread of harmful content online. It will also make it harder to detect and challenge decisions made by automated systems on who gets social benefits, jobs, and educational opportunities, while further exacerbating climate harms fuelled by policies that prioritize the tech industry. 

“Years of hard work by civil society, trade unions, and human rights defenders has gone into ensuring that the EU’s digital rulebook protects people against digital threats and unfair AI systems, while safeguarding their data and holding governments and corporations accountable for misusing technologies. These measures are essential for a digitally safe society.  

“Some of these hard-won laws have yet to even come into effect, but the EU is already seeking to shift the balance of power from individual protections to corporate impunity, conceding to the profit-centric motives of tech behemoths who often operate at the cost of our rights.  

Years of hard work by civil society, trade unions, and human rights defenders has gone into ensuring that the EU’s digital rulebook protects people against digital threats and unfair AI systems, while safeguarding their data and holding governments and corporations accountable for misusing technologies. These measures are essential for a digitally safe society.  

Damini Satija, Programme Director, Amnesty Tech

“If the EU truly wants to support the smooth implementation of digital laws, including the AI Act, the GDPR, and other vital protections, it should strengthen existing safeguards and ensure that laws are meaningfully enforced – not dismantle the frameworks that currently hold companies to account and allow progress towards a rights-respecting tech future.” 

Background 

The digital omnibus is part of a wider deregulatory push by the EU, which civil society has raised alarm over.