Welcome back to the Centre for Democracy & Technology Europe’s Tech Policy Brief! This edition covers the most pressing technology and internet policy issues under debate in Europe and gives CDT’s perspective on the impact to digital rights.
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👁️ Security and Surveillance
Open Letter against the ePrivacy Directive’s Derogation
As of February, European co-legislators continue to negotiate on the final text of the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation. Due to the significant delays in these negotiations, the EU looks set to extend the temporary derogation from certain provisions of the ePrivacy Directive, which is necessary to prevent a lapse in legal provisions whilst the Regulation is finalised. CDT Europe joined several civil society partners in an open letter opposing the extension of the derogation as it contains measures to allow providers to voluntarily scan their users’ private messages and has been criticised by the European Data Protection Supervisor. As negotiations on both the derogation and the Regulation continue, CDT Europe will be informing the development closely and joining efforts to reiterate our ongoing fundamental rights concerns with the proposal.
Recommended read: Citizen Lab, Submissions to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances: And the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances
💬 Online Expression & Civic Space
The DSA and Platform Regulation Conference 2026
On 16 February, CDT Europe’s Secretary General Asha Allen spoke at the opening plenary of The DSA and Platform Regulation Conference, a two day conference organised by the DSA Observatory and convening experts across sectors to explore current issues and challenges of DSA enforcement. It featured a keynote address by a Commission representative, who highlighted the value of CSOs in the drafting and implementation of the DSA, as well as acknowledging the shrinking civic space CSOs have to reckon with. During her session on Risks, Rights, and Platform Accountability, Asha highlighted that the Digital Services Act is moving beyond the initial operational phase and into tangible enforcement: regulators have laid the groundwork, platforms understand what compliance requires, and public interest actors are increasingly making use of the tools available to them. With a view to the upcoming evaluation of the Act under its Article 91, she called to attention the manner in which certain actors are framing the DSA ahead of it, attacking the role of independent civil society organisations and researchers in using the DSA’s provisions to increase accountability, transparency and protect free expression.
“Where We Stand: Gender Language and the Politics of Hate” Symposium
On 23 February, CDT Europe participated in the Where We Stand: Gender, Language and the Politics of Hate event organised by the Media Diversity Institute. Our Secretary General, Asha Allen, spoke at a session focused on content moderation and whether platform policies have aligned with human-rights frameworks and addressed gendered harm. She highlighted the importance of identifying which harms are to be addressed through adequate content moderation policies, which are informed by experts, and types of harm that fall into the realm of illegality. With co-panelist Ben Whitelaw, who provided insights from the perspective of content moderation implementation, the conversation zoomed in on the limitations of automated content moderation policies in adequately addressed tech-facilitates GBV, and how best to implement an integrated approach to ensure users can seek effective redress.
Recommended listen: Tech Policy Press, The Digital Services Act is a Lightning Rod for Debate
⚖️ Equity and Data
Effective Redress for AI Harms in Europe Report
Last week, our Equity and Data team published its first report on effective remedies for AI harms in the European Union. The report analyses cross-cutting legal frameworks applicable to AI systems, drawing on existing literature and expert interviews across multiple areas of EU law, including data protection, equality and non-discrimination, consumer law and product liability. Our findings note important obstacles to the realisation of the right to an effective remedy, ranging from the enduring opacity of AI and lack of transparency surrounding its use, to the burden and procedural hurdles imposed on individuals seeking redress.
Our report was launched during a webinar titled “Effective Redress for AI Harms in Europe: Charting a Path Forward”, co-hosted with the Hermes Center. Legal and Advocacy Officer Magdalena Maier presented the report’s findings, underscoring the respective strengths and weaknesses of intersecting areas of law. You can watch the recording of the discussion here.
Recommended read: Tech Policy Press, Stochastic flocks and the critical problem of ‘useful’ AI
⏫ Upcoming Events
IASEAI’26: Today, 26 February, our Equity & Data Programme Director Laura Lazaro Cabrera is at the UNESCO House in Paris to participate in The International Association for Safe & Ethical AI (IASEAI) second annual conference, speaking in a workshop on “Open Problems in Frontier AI Risk Management”. Read more about the program here.
European Parliament’s Press Seminar for International Women’s Day 2026: On 5 March, on the occasion of the 2026 International Women’s Day on 8 March, our Secretary General Asha Allen will be speaking at a high-level press seminar in the European Parliament on the threats and challenges women face in the digital environment. You can follow the seminar here.
ETUI Foresight Lab: On 5 March, our Equity & Data Programme Director Laura Lazaro Cabrera will be co-facilitating a workshop addressing the implications of the Digital Omnibus for workers’ rights organised by the European Trade Union Institute. You can register here.
📚🎧 Our Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence monthly recommendations
In February, we launched a monthly reading series dedicated to unpacking the evolving landscape of tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). Digital tools are becoming more powerful and more accessible, leading to a dangerous increase of the risks of abuse and discrimination. Thoughtful, evidence-based analysis is essential to ensure responses are not only effective but also rights-respecting and grounded in reality.
Here are some of our recommendations for this month:
🟣 Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, How AI and digital technologies enable gendered harms: Written evidence to the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
🟣 ISD (Institute for Strategic Dialogue), Landscape Briefing: Mapping Online Male Supremacist Activity in Central and Eastern Europe
🟣 AI Forensics, AI-Generated Image Abuse: An Update on Grok Unleashed
🟣 Center for Countering Digital Hate, Grok floods X with sexualized images of women and children
🟣 UN Women, Tipping Point: The Chilling Escalation Of Online Violence Against Women In The Public Sphere
