27-09-2021 14:00
Basic structures and main principles of a European Digital Public Sphere
József Antall (6Q1)
On 27 September 2021 the Committee on Culture and Education held a public hearing on on the basic structures and main principles of a European Digital Public Sphere. The invited experts were Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Passoth, Professor for Sociology of Technology, European New School of Digital Studies, European University Viadrina (DE) and Hans H. Luik, AS Ekspress Grupp, Member of the Supervisory Board (ET), representing the perspectives from both public and private operators.
The experts gave their thoughts on how such a sphere would provide a basis for democratic debate, public opinion-forming and respect for European values, whilst developing an open European digital ecosystem that offers a genuine alternative, democratically accountable to its citizens. In their analysis, the experts stressed the key elements on which the sphere should be based, such as open standards, decentralised and user-centered data processing, transparent algorithms, privacy-by-design, quality, diversity, responsibility, accountability, legitimate democratic oversight and control as well as due process. They considered that the sphere should be built up on a cooperative European network of national or regional joint ventures of publishers, public and private broadcasters, cultural and educational institutions that could host core engineering, set up infrastructure standards as well as define ecosystem guidelines.