🔥 We're back with our final hot takes for the new EU Commissiners.
In a few minutes, MEPs will scrutinise the nominee for Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen.
Virkkunen is up for one of the biggest portfolios, full of #digital and #tech topics. Follow along...🧵
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Why should you care? 🤔
If confirmed, Henna Virkkunen's role will span #cybersecurity, #disinformation, media, digital markets, "#TechSovereignty", cloud, net neutrality, #FOSS, the enforcement of #DSA, #DMA, #AIAct & much more!
Follow live: elections.europa.eu/european-c…
Hearing of the Commissioner-designate: Henna Virkkunen
European Parliament WebsiteEDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •What do we want to see?
Virkkunen must protect the integrity of EU digital communication tools like #encryption.
We hope to see protections for the open internet & net neutrality, action toward #climatejustice, & against #surveillance ads, digital exclusion & technosolutionism.
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •🚨 Henna Virkkunen is now LIVE, but the question remains: will MEPs genuinely grill her? Or will she get only a light toasting, like many of the Commissioner-designates before her?
Join us as we find out over the next three hours...⏱️
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Unsurprisingly, the opening speech is heavily focused on innovation and competitiveness😬
Like the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen before her, Virkkunen commits to more #AI rules within 100 days - will she succeed where von der Leyen failed? 🤔
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Virkkunen promises that the implementation of the #AIAct will be swift and transparent.
🤷🏽♀️We have trouble believing this - the AI Act implementation process is currently notoriously untransparent, and also delayed.
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Commissioner-designate Virkkunen falls into the trope claiming that digitalisation will provide a solution to all problems, from the #TwinTransition for the #climatecrisis, to improving public services and healthcare.
But what about its exclusionary effects, #AlgorithmicBias and #discrimination? 🤔
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Digital de-regulation also seems to be high on the Commissioner-designate's agenda.
She singles out "digital rules" for "review" and commits to reducing "admin burden" - a red flag for important laws like the Digital Services Act #DSA, Digital Markets Act #DMA & #AIAct 🚨🚨🚨
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Virkkunnen promises to ensure that market players take responsibility in keeping online spaces safe for children.
We can only hope that she means having a more holistic approach to this, and not through blanket bans and ‘privacy-preserving’ #AgeVerification systems 😬
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •The tech hype bingo has started with quantum, AI factories, digital innovation for public services...🤦🏽
But will #HumanRights and tech's ecological impact be considered?
Given what we are hearing so far from Commissioner-designate Virkkunen, it will come last - if at all ☹️ ❌
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •SuperTuesdays are now a thing, and so are safe online environments for minors?!
We are glad that Virkkunnen stresses her commitment to #DSA enforcement and guidelines. Fingers crossed she continues this balanced approach to protection online, after highlighting the positive impacts of online spaces and not only focusing on the scares.
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Two far-right European Parliament groups have brought out the tired trope that #EU's platform regulation rules amount to censorship.
They fail to see that #HateSpeech =/= #FreeSpeech 🙅🏽♀️
Virkkunen's responses are an attempt to defend the #DSA, but we'd have liked to hear a stronger reply.
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Denying reality? 🧐
Commissioner-designate Virkunnen says she and the EU_Commission support #OpenSource tools and development.
But the Commission recently cut funding for open-source software out of Horizon 2025 funding.
Read more from @fsfe ⤵️ edri.org/our-work/european-com…
European Commission cuts funding support for Free Software projects - European Digital Rights (EDRi)
European Digital Rights (EDRi)EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •🔥 The EU #ChipsAct is also a hot topic, with Commissioner Henna Virkkunen promising more EU-developed chips.
Fun fact: in Belgium, we call it the 'Frites Act' 🍟 😆
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •S&D MEP Alex Saliba calls on Virkkunen to commit to protecting #GDPR & #encryption, achieving the goals of #ePrivacy, and tackling #spyware 👏
🚨 Her response, sadly, says very little, and doesn't assuage our concerns of deregulation & attacks on vital #DataProtection rules.
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Virkkunen says the internet did not exist 10 years ago?!
🤔 If we do the math, that’s 2014 -- so we're not sure how we accessed Napster in 1996.
Time flies when we’re having fun at the EU Commissioner hearings #TimeWarp 😵💫
🐧DaveNull🐧 ☣️pResident Evil☣
en réponse à EDRi • • •Looks like she's even worse than Christine Albanel, known for "OpenOffice (and M$office) firewall"…
That's must be a be a politician thing to open their mouth about shit they know nothing about, to defend abusive business pratices, with the stupidest arguments they can come up with… It's quite amazing… 🤔
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Responding to the Left's question about #cybersecurity, Virkkunen emphasises that our information & data must be safe in the digital world, that the #GDPR is crucial, and that - wait for it - the Commission has been very focused on cybersecurity in recent years 🤔
Hasn't she heard of #ChatControl? edri.org/our-work/most-critici…
Is this the most criticised draft EU law of all time? - European Digital Rights (EDRi)
European Digital Rights (EDRi)EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •To our horror, a far-right MEP asked Henna Virkkunen
if she considers herself up to the task or a 'token woman' candidate 😠
Worse, Virkkunen fails to address sexist comments, choosing instead to take the hit.
A sad day for those who have been accused of being ‘diversity hires’ and ‘quota hires’ who are way more competent than this display of right-wing machismo 🙅🏽♀️
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •S&D MEP Eero Heinaluoma presses the Commissioner-designate for a commitment to the open internet & to upholding #NetNeutrality.
Virkkunen's limited answer speaks volumes: network fees might be coming, despite warnings from #DigitalRights groups 🚨
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Virkkunen acknowledges that access to the internet remains a challenge for many Europeans.
But speeding up infrastructure investments and updating the 2030 Digital Decade targets will NOT address the root cause of digital exclusion and ensure offline access to public services 🙅🏽♀️
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Virkkunen supports the uptake of #AI in public services and considers the #AIAct a sufficient safeguard.
She missed a crucial opportunity to acknowledge the many gaps in the #AIAct and that we need much more to protect our #FundamentalRights.
Read an analysis of the AI Act by civil society ⤵️ edri.org/our-work/eu-ai-act-fa…
EU’s AI Act fails to set gold standard for human rights - European Digital Rights (EDRi)
European Digital Rights (EDRi)EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •Renew Europe's McNamara warns about Germany's post-AIAct push for biometric #MassSurveillance and the risks of the NationalSecurity exemption in the #AIAct.
In response, Virkkunen merely describes the implementation plan of #AIAct, without committing to a #HumanRights focused enforcement.
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •1/2 #Climate goals take center stage for a second!
✅ Virkunnen acknowledges that data centers use a lot of energy 10/10.
❌ But she contradicts herself immediately and claims that the cloud (which lives in data centers) is energy efficient 0/10.
Someone needs to do their #homework!
EDRi
en réponse à EDRi • • •2/2 Overall, very little from her on real solutions to the climate crisis, like collectively meeting the Paris climate agreement or effective steps to curb the impact of technology on the climate.
Instead, she buys into buzzwords and band-aids like #quantum, #AI and the cloud.