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: https://elections.europa.eu/european-commission/en/virkkunen/

Hearing of the Commissioner-designate: Henna Virkkunen

Appointment of the European Commission 2024-2029 - Find out about the confirmation hearing of Henna Virkkunen

^{European Parliament Website}

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.

🚨 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...⏱️

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? 🤔

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.

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? 🤔

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 🚨🚨🚨

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 😬

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 ☹️ ❌

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.

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.

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 ⤵️ https://edri.org/our-work/european-commission-cuts-funding-support-for-free-software-projects/

European Commission cuts funding support for Free Software projects - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

The Next Generation Internet initiative has supported Free Software projects with funding and technical assistance since 2018.

^{European Digital Rights (EDRi)}