OffOn is a pan-European campaign to protect our fundamental rights to Freedom of Expression online. Our message is simple - don't switch off our online freedoms.
Enhance rights, don't suppress them.
The internet is an amazing resource that connects and empowers people across the world. Of course we need to tackle illegal acts online - but new laws should promote fundamental rights, not threaten them.
Authoritarian Governments will use the new powers in the Digital Services Act to ban dissent, outlaw legitimate criticism and suppress freedom of speech and expression.
No legal overreaching.
Online regulation must be limited to addressing illegal content - not censoring freedom of expression.
The Digital Services Act will create new powerful arbitration committees in each member state meaning that something legal in one member state could be forcibly removed from the internet across Europe because it contravenes a law in another member state.
Imagine how people like Victor Orban could use this to curtail LGBT or Women’s rights on every platform inside the European Union?
Keep it simple.
It's crucial that we have legal certainty supported by the same due process safeguards that apply offline.
Without clarity we risk our citizens falling foul of laws that they don't understand.
The Digital Services Act allows big tech platforms to decide what is and what isn’t acceptable, with no accountability. Small businesses will face greater burdens and potentially huge legal bills for what other people say and do. This new law will effect everyone with a digital footprint, not just the big tech giants.
Why do we need to protect our rights and freedoms?
The European Parliament is progressing with the Digital Service Act. This new and wide-ranging piece of legislation will have a chilling effect on the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and freedom of expression on every digital platform in Europe.
The dominance of social media is generating tough questions about regulation and who is responsible for what is posted online; what content is liable to be taken down; and where culpability sits.
There are no simple answers to these questions. The Digital services Act, in trying to determine the right way forward but in doing so creates new threats to our fundamental human rights.
Hurried and wide-ranging legislation is always a poor substitute for a considered response to what are legitimate concerns.
The Digital Service Acts will place more power – not less – in the hands of the big tech companies. They become both judge and jury on what is and what is not acceptable online content. Big tech companies would have the same powers online as courts have in the real world but with none of the accountability.
Supporters of the new law claim it is needed to tackle hate speech, death threats and child abuse but we already have laws to tackle those crimes – we don’t need new laws, we need better enforcement of our existing laws.
Index on Censorship will be leading a campaign of European Civil Society organisations to raise awareness of the ‘unintended consequences’ of the Digital Services Act that threaten our freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
We must ensure that vulnerable and marginalised groups are not erased from our societies as a result of knee-jerk reactions that aim to do some good but end up restricting the freedoms we all value.
The #OffOn campaign will tell MEPs not to switch off our online freedoms. We need MEPs to protect fundamental freedoms of expression while strengthening the rule of law to deal with criminal activity and illegal content.
See our Privacy Policy
