As the European Parliament gets ready to vote on the AI Act, we call on MEPs to put our fundamental rights first and protect the people affected by AI systems.

AI systems will soon determine our rights and freedoms, shape our economic situation and physical wellbeing, affect market behaviour and natural environment. With the hype for ‘problem-solving’ AI, claims for (more) accountability in this field are gaining urgency. Summary of the IGF 2020 session: Aiming for AI explainability: lessons from the field.

Algorithmic decision-making can carry more weight than you might expect. While algorithms do innocuous or helpful things like changing the traffic signals when you approach an intersection, they also decide what content to show in your social media feed. There are also algorithms that assist real people in deciding whether you can get a mortgage, get into a particular university or qualify for insurance. How does it work? Katarzyna Szymielewicz explains three layers of digital profile in the video.

The District Court in Warsaw (Appellate Division) upheld its interim measures ruling from 2019 in which it temporarily prohibited Facebook from removing fan pages, run by the Polish NGO “SIN”, on Facebook and Instagram, as well as from blocking individual posts. This means that – until the case is decided – SIN’s activists may carry out their drugs-related education on the platform without concerns that they will suddenly lose the possibility to communicate with their audience. The decision is now final. What does it mean on the broader scale?

The list of negative consequences of how dominant online platforms shape our experience online is neither short nor trivial. From exploiting users’ vulnerabilities, triggering psychological trauma, depriving people of job opportunities to pushing disturbing content to others, these are just some examples. While members of the European Parliament debate their position on the Digital Services Act, Panoptykon Foundation, together with 49 civil society organisations from all over Europe, urge them to ensure protection from the harms caused by platforms’ algorithms.