The European Commission is asking the public critical questions about the future of our online world, but these questions are buried throughout a lengthy consultation survey that will probably make your eyes water. We need you to tackle the survey and make your voice heard. It’s not easy, so we’re here to help.
Go ahead, take a look at the public consultation. It has five pages of oblique questions and too much smallprint for anyone’s taste. But all it’s really asking is one thing: what are the roles and responsibilities of service providers in the digital world? The survey survival guide helps you overcome the bureaucratic barrier and answer that question, because it’s at risk of being ignored.
This isn’t just for European companies — it impacts everyone online.
Online services are the foundations of the web and we all rely on them every day. Virtually everything online is a service of some kind, from the social media giants to the smallest blogs and forums, from cloud storage to web hosts to email providers. The EU is considering regulations that would make online services responsible for policing the actions of their users.
This kind of “intermediary liability” is a threat in four critical areas:
· Privacy – When service providers are liable for the actions of their users, they have a strong incentive to constantly spy on them.
· Innovation – The need for bureaucratic approval is a significant barrier to innovation, slowing or outright stopping the implementation of new ideas.
· Competition – The cost of liability disproportionately punishes smaller businesses, blocking competition and strengthening monopolies.
· Freedom of Speech – Regulations that force platforms to take down user content are widely and routinely abused to stifle free speech.
Thanks to one confusing and poorly-designed survey, the consultation is receiving very little response from the people most affected by this important issue — entrepreneurs, service providers, innovators and the public. Don’t let lawmakers shake the foundations of the internet without your input. The public consultation closes on December 30th.
Click on the link below to find out more and to complete the consultation. You will also find a useful guide to help you navigate through the labyrinth that is the consultation.
Don’t be silent, fill out the consultation now.
