After Poland, Portugal and Romania: Change the algorithms now!
Dear friends
Only at first glance do the results of the European Super Election Sunday seem like a relief. Even though pro-European parties and candidates are in the lead, far-right parties are stronger than ever in all three countries. This should be the final wake-up call for the runoff election in Poland and for European fundamental values as a whole.
As you, my regular readers, know, right-wing extremists across Europe and around the world are ultimately using the same alt-right playbook. They stir up fear and resentment, make solutions to problems impossible and disparage institutions. They are aided in this by the major online platforms, whose algorithms deliberately favour this – often false – content and penalise genuine information that does not seek to incite hatred. Analyses show that the far right in Poland, Romania and Portugal have used precisely these mechanisms of social media algorithms and have been very successful in doing so.
But although it is becoming increasingly clear that recommendation algorithms are the problem, the EU Commission is unwilling to act and use existing laws to examine the algorithms in detail and then change them so that all information has free rein again and is not disadvantaged.
I have repeatedly called for this in the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS), whose mandate is to defend democracy. However, only a few members of this committee dare to tackle the algorithms. They would rather see the Commission spend more money on fact-checking, for example. This is of little help and obscures the real problem, because even corrected, fact-based posts are less likely to be spread as lies by the algorithms.
Now you might think: it’s all in vain. But quite the contrary. I notice that more and more people understand that the problem lies in the algorithms and the business model of the internet giants behind them. But we need to push even harder. And that’s where you come in.
The Commission wants your opinion: demand a change to the algorithms!
Until 26 May 2025, the European Commission is collecting the opinions of all EU citizens and associations in order to determine the focus of its democracy work in this mandate. These consultations are really important because the European Commission is looking at them very closely. If hundreds or thousands of submissions come in one direction, it will make a difference.
That is why, for example, the Slovakian populist government of President Fico has launched a campaign and is flooding the consultation with its anti-democratic views.
So please:
Take part in this consultation and write a short comment, e.g. that the algorithms of the very large digital platforms are the problem and that the EU should use all means at its disposal to force a change in the algorithms so that citizens can once again decide for themselves what they see.
You can find the consultation here. There you can also read the submissions made so far. Write briefly and in your own words.
One more note: you have to register once to participate. It’s quick and allows you to participate in all consultations. There are really a lot of them and it’s worth it.
Thank you very much for your support and best regards from Europe,
Alexandra Geese