EuroDIG - European Dialogue on Internet Governance

The #YOUthDIG2026 Messages on Disparities and Inclusion (Part I): 1. Age disparities in accessibility to the digital services – right to offline services Everyone should be included in online services or provided with suitable alternatives – older generations, marginalised groups based on their socioeconomic, migrant, and/or ethnic/Roma backgrounds. This would allow them equal access to online services, such as banking, e-commerce, and other digital government services. Strategies for equal access should be implemented through two routes: - Providing online services (with the above mentioned groups in mind) as well as intergenerational workshops, including intergenerational tech labs, with the goal of giving older generations the tools to use online services. - Providing offline alternatives to generally needed services including banking, commerce, healthcare, customer service, 2. Access to the internet and equal opportunities in rural areas Everyone should have the right to access the internet regardless of social background, particularly when it comes to area of residence (accounting for appropriate age groups). In this sense it’s necessary: - Ensuring that access to the internet becomes a human right, considering how this access has become an integral part of exercising other rights, including but not limited to freedom of expression, assembly and right to education. - Investing in internet infrastructure in rural areas to make sure that equal access to the internet is achieved, improving access to new opportunities (e.g. educational). 3. Gender disparities, violence perpetuated through AI and social media - Currently, generative AI and social media platforms are allowing gender-based violence and discrimination to be perpetrated. This affects minorities, women, people of color, LGBTQ communities and people with disabilities. - AI models’ development should incorporate, across all stages, people from various communities and backgrounds. Each year, the participants of #YOUthDIG, our newcomers' program, deliberate on digital policy issues and draft messages that then become part of the overall #EuroDIG Messages.

The #YOUthDIG2026 Messages on Digital Impact on Children: 1. Children should learn about digital literacy and be empowered with agency and critical thinking skills, from a young age, before having access to Generative AI tools. Parents should also be empowered to support their child’s cognitive development. 2. Governments should invest in school mental health programs and collaborate with NGOs to provide professional support for children, to combat social media addiction, anxiety, cyberbullying, and other negative effects of social media. 3. Existing regulations (such as GDPR) should be strengthened to limit the collection of children data and the tracking of children online. Existing data of children online should be removed to prevent the targeting of ads. 4. Social media platforms should be tailored to the evolving capacities of children; certain features should be restricted, and more parental controls should be included to create safe online spaces for children under 16 (for example, prohibiting addictive design and enhancing content moderation). Each year, the participants of #YOUthDIG, our newcomers' program, deliberate on digital policy issues and draft messages that then become part of the overall #EuroDIG Messages.

The #YOUthDIG2026 Messages on Disparities and Inclusion (Part II): 4. Accessibility for people with disabilities Ensuring that different internet platforms are designed to cater to the needs of people with disabilities. This means building in features that support people with visual, auditory, or cognitive impairments and taking them into account in initial dialogues on services development. Making sure these groups are included in formulation of AI models, to avoid biases and guarantee accessibility. 5. Data Centers and Sustainability - FLAP-D markets i.e., Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin are Europe’s primary IT hubs, but data centres are not confined to these cities alone. They have expanded into wider regions across the continent, including the Nordics, and into rural parts of countries like Ireland and the Netherlands, well beyond their capital cities. - Data centres don’t just appear anywhere. They are built in specific towns and regions where power is cheap, water is available and planning permission is easy to get. These places end up hosting the infrastructure that powers the global internet, yet the communities living there rarely had a say in it, and even more rarely benefit from it. - When a hyperscale facility moves in, local electricity prices rise. Water tables shift. Grid capacity that once served homes is redirected. The people living there carry a real, material cost for infrastructure decisions made thousands of miles away, by companies they have no relationship with. - This is not just an environmental issue, but rather a disparity issue.Therefore, to counter it, we should design better policy that takes into account local communities and environmental impact, making sure that there’s transparency behind the building processes of these centers. 6. Human Rights / protecting people Stronger measures must be taken to protect people in the AI labour force, including those who extract resources and those who moderate content, labour usually outsourced outside of Europe by European companies, often with little oversight or accountability. Each year, the participants of #YOUthDIG, our newcomers' program, deliberate on digital policy issues and draft messages that then become part of the overall #EuroDIG Messages.

#YOUthDIG2026 Messages on Freedom of Expression and Disinformation (Part II) 4. To combat decreased media literacy and intense spread of mis- and dis-information, we believe there should be more visibility on existing media literacy / disinformation detection campaigns and projects. There are a multitude of projects and initiatives supported by the EU which tackle the issue of media literacy and disinformation, and offer trainings and workshops. However, these do not reach the target audience. The EU could allocate financial support to increase the visibility of such projects and ensure that more people are aware of their existence. This can be done via more social-media publicity. In the long-term, we advise that such visibility campaigns could reach people who do not have access to the internet, but are still affected by disinformation. Such campaigns could involve media literacy educational materials sent via post. 5. It is increasingly difficult to distinguish AI generated images and videos from real ones. This can further increase the spread of disinformation or addictive behaviour. Therefore, we believe that labelling AI content (images and videos) on social media should be mandatory and clear to limit the spread of disinformation. Each year, the participants of #YOUthDIG, our newcomers' program, deliberate on digital policy issues and draft messages that then become part of the overall #EuroDIG Messages.

#YOUthDIG2026 Messages on Freedom of Expression and Disinformation (Part I) 1. Increased state-led surveillance amplifies fear of self-expression. To ensure that states do not abuse their digital competencies, we put forward both immediate action and long-term solutions to combat online surveillance. Considering the lack of international legislation regarding the ability of states to conduct surveillance, we believe that developing state-sureveillance policies is critical to ensuring and maintaining citizens’ safety and right to freedom of speech. We would encourage / ask international bodies such as the EU to develop regulations that could implement checks and balances on states’ surveillance mechanisms. While establishing an agency responsible for such missions would be ideal, we acknowledge that the processes needed to create such an agency are extensive and require lengthy measures. This is why we advise for international legislation to be developed first, with the goal of creating and appointing an international independent body that could later take responsibility for supervising state surveillance issues. The necessary steps for the establishment of such an independent (intergovernmental) institution should be rapidly taken. Such an agency would have the authority to regulate state-surveillance and tackle related citizens’ privacy concerns. 2. More and more individuals request medical advice from Artificial Intelligence Chatbots. These proceed to giving advice on medical issues with reduced visibility on the sources that were utilised, particularly when the sources are anonymous comments from online communities. To tackle this, we believe that AI chatbots should clearly specify the sources it used at the beginning of the response, to facilitate users’ understanding of differences between professional advice and advice originating from platforms users’ comments. Sources should also be written simultaneously per advice/ idea expressed. While we acknowledge that there is a bibliography included in generative AI responses, we believe that health-related issues advice shall specifically mention whether the advice is coming from medical experts to avoid worsening of symptoms. 3. Social media platforms and online communities are still flooded with too much harmful / hate-speech content. We support the idea of Implementing (AI?) algorithms that would detect harmful content (slurs, offensive words, death threats) / messages before being sent. These would notify the sender / person who is about to comment that what they are writing will be flagged as harmful, offensive etc. It would not censor the messages, allowing the users to proceed, however it would flag the comments once they are posted. After the comments are posted, they would be reported and verified against harmful content moderation and removed if found too offensive.

The #YOUthDIG2026 Messages on Ethics and Internet Governance: 1. Ethical data governance and leak prevention To prevent data leaks, combat unauthorized surveillance, and ensure the safety of publicly owned data, we must establish clear data ownership and strict consistency in who and what manages this information. This requires a robust multi-stakeholder approach to enforce ethical internet governance standards and protect citizens’ privacy from invasive surveillance practices. 2. Inequalities and access to a safe digital environment To prevent data profiling such as in employment or education (scholarships), we must regulate how AI algorithms are trained with our data, to avoid bias. Particular attention should be paid to the targeting through harmful and illegal practices (based on status) of vulnerable groups such as women, lgbtq+ community and minorities. 3. Multi-stakeholders: implementations & regulations How can companies enforce regulations, how can users implement them and how should governments monitor them? All relevant stakeholders, from governments to big tech and everyday users of digital spaces/platforms, should work together so that policies don’t just stay on paper but actually work in the real world. 4. Putting people first in the age of AI We need to make it clear that real people and their jobs should be valued more than any AI tool or technology. To keep the workplace safe and fair, governments and companies must put in place strong regulations that protect workers from being easily replaced or left behind. Each year, the participants of #YOUthDIG, our newcomers' program, deliberate on digital policy issues and draft messages that then become part of the overall #EuroDIG Messages.

This week's EuroDIG Messages highlight discussions on: 🔹 Platform accountability and the future of the digital public sphere 🔹 Youth online safety and the debate around social media age bans 🔹 Technical measures to address online harms while respecting fundamental rights The Messages capture the main takeaways and policy considerations from these sessions, reflecting the European multistakeholder dialogue on some of today's most pressing digital policy challenges. Read the latest EuroDIG Messages here: https://lnkd.in/dXSna76d

#EuroDIG Messages are the primary output of each conference. We are highlighting the #EuroDIG2026 Messages session by session. From the workshop: 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 1. The ever-evolving nature of online harms requires a multistakeholder collaboration to be tackled effectively. This may take the form of collaboration among industry players, or cross-industry and the government. 2. Intervention on the technical layer by blocking the IP addresses or DNS have significant impact on the availability of online resources, like websites, and cause unnecessary collateral damage without necessarily addressing the illegal content in question. 3. Interventions on illegal content to increase online safety should be proportionate so that the rights of individuals are respected. Rapporteur: Filip Lukáš Org Team: André M.D. Melancia, Philip Struyf, David Frautschy Heredia, Frederic Taes, Matthew Cowen, Petra Arts, Dr. Valeriia Filinovych, Vittorio Bertola, Darwin Costa, Charalampos Kyritsis, Daniel Costea

#EuroDIG Messages are the primary output of each conference. We are highlighting the #EuroDIG2026 Messages session by session. From the workshop: 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 – 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 1. Blanket age bans risk oversimplifying a complex issue rather than reducing harms. It is important to fully understand the complexity of the issue which includes and requires among others child participation, hearing all expert voices, learning from international partners, and putting children’s rights at the center. More viable solutions would be an age-appropriate design system, combining safety by design (with more focus on for ex. age inappropriate content and algorithms) with youth voices embedded earlier in the regulatory design and holding platforms more accountable. 2. It is important for policies to also focus on privacy, proportionality and accuracy. We need to continue the work towards harmonizing age verification measures, digital literacy and meaningful engagement with young people themselves. Any measures taken need to be centered around child rights, youth participation, and be harmonized. 3. Technical instruments to implement age bans can be privacy invasive while not guaranteeing for no more harms. There is a need to carefully assess the real-world effectiveness and proportionality of age restrictions. In terms of implementation, the technology is challenging and may negatively affect inclusion and push children towards more dangerous environments. From a security perspective regulating platforms would have a better benefits vs. harms ratio. 4. We should move away from the idea that bans will get rid of everything and change everything. Age restrictions/bans should be considered not in isolation but within current policy and regulatory context, which at European level is multi-layered and includes several national and EU level initiatives. We should be aware of the distinction between regulating access and regulating content. 5. We should be aware that this is a social issue, and the focus should not be on arbitrary age gates, but rather on mitigating the harms that users encounter through attention-exploiting, profit-driven algorithms. Digital literacy and education alone cannot help us. Rapporteur: Desara Dushi, Ph.D. Dushi Org Team: Torsten Krause, Murillo Salvador, Diana C., Karen Mulberry, MBA, Luc Delany, Maciej Groń

#EuroDIG Messages are the primary output of each conference. We are highlighting the #EuroDIG2026 Messages session by session. From Main Topic 4: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬’ 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 1. We consider platforms as a social digital infrastructure of democracy. Yet platforms were not designed to fulfil a civic function. Instead, they optimize engagement, e.g., through the deployment of dark patterns like infinite scrolling. They are not neutral communication and information channels: they distort the public debate by enabling the spread of disinformation. In this context, civil society acting within platform ecosystems, such as fact-checking collectives and other actors, should be supported as key partners in the digital public sphere. 2. We view the loss of cognitive sovereignty is an emerging risk linked to the embedding of AI into platforms. Algorithmic management, from recommendation systems to automated moderation, need to take into account democratic principles from the design stage and not as an afterthought. Provenance and verification mechanisms are crucial as AI-driven synthetic content and identities become more prominent in the digital public sphere, faster than regulations can be deployed. In this context, the deployment of AI tools themselves can go through preliminary steps of testing and sandboxing before reaching the market. 3. Rules do not necessarily hamper innovation. In fact, existing regulation acts as a powerful deterrent for platforms’ worst outcomes in democracies. Participants called for stronger DSA compliance, and here civil society can play a key role as partners for public authorities to make platform operators accountable with regards to the law. At the same time, CoE frameworks provide foundations to expand users’ agency, and international human rights provide an universal basis for users seeking to make platforms take action where no regulation exists. 4. The discussion invites us to move from consumer perspectives towards an understanding of digital citizenship as embedded in platforms. Platform design is a fluid outcome of choices. New business and engagement models should be incentivised, such as community-driven platforms that already exist and perform a civic function. At the same time, alternative forms of democratic engagement should be supported, outside of platforms, including deliberative and multistakeholder formats. Rapporteur: Murillo Salvador Org Team: Dorijn Boogaard, Evangelia Vasalou, Francesco Vecchi, Pascal Schneiders, Argyro Karanasiou, Murillo Salvador, Cesare Pitea, Milica Vesovicć, Juan Miguel Aguado, Teresa García de Alcaraz Ruiz, Marta Pérez Escolar, Ilkka Räsänen, Chloe McDowell