An Open Letter on the Urgent Need to Regulate Digital Technologies

We, the signatories of this letter, believe that the European Union (EU) must stand up to the overt threats to its digital regulatory framework which has been and continues to be constructed in order to safeguard its humanistic and democratic values.

These threats emanate from an unprecedented confluence of immense political and economic power and the EU regulations may well constitute one of the last lines of defence against these threats worldwide.

The EU regulatory tools comprising, most recently, the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) do not constitute censorship or attacks on any particular company or nation as powerful disinformation purveyors claim. They have been designed to protect information and election integrity, protect from monopolistic power abuses and show that there are ways to harness the benefits of technology for all while mitigating its potential harms.

We, the signatories of this letter, therefore, propose that:

The provisions of the DSA and DMA should be fully enforced and that the completion of the AI Act towards its full implementation in 2026 should proceed forcefully. This will help maintain trust that the EU will effectively regulate emerging technologies when and as needed in the future.

The EU should continue working multilaterally to set common standards and regulatory policies in AI and digital technologies in general, with other national and international organizations as broadly as possible. The recent adoption of the Brazil AI Act provides a first glimpse of an “adapt and adopt” Brussels Effect globally.

The currently under discussion proposals for greater EU integration and investment (Letta and Draghi reports) should be adopted and substantially implemented as a prerequisite to the EU’s digital sovereignty. This becomes particularly crucial in the context of current developments in AI technologies.

We, the signatories of this letter, pledge to work with like minded concerned citizens and national, as well as international organizations to support the EU in taking the strong and united stand that we propose. This pledge extends to all institutions and countries striving to defend and preserve shared humanistic and democratic values, and to ensure that digital technology advances are put to the best possible use for the well- being of humanity.

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The Open Letter on the Urgent Need to Regulate Digital Technologies is available for download in PDF format: An Open Letter on the Urgent Need to Regulate Digital Technologies

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Supporters

• A Min Tjoa, TU WIEN, Austria
• Axel van Lamsweerde, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
• Carlo Ghezzi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
• Fabio A. Schreiber, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Florina Piroi, TU Wien, Austria
• Gerti Kappel, TU Wien, Austria
• Hannes Werthner, TU Wien, Austria
• Hans Akkermans, AKMC Knowledge Management BV, The Netherlands
• Jeff Kramer, Imperial College London, UK
• Julia Neidhardt, TU Wien, Austria
• Luisa Mich, University of Trento, Italy
• Lynda Hardman, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica; Utrecht University, Netherlands
• Mirjam De Bruijn, Leiden University, Netherlands
• Lukas Daniel Klausner, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, Austria
• Martina Properzi, Pontifical Lateran University of Rome, Italy
• Markus Schedl, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria
• Norberto Patrignani, Polito, Italy
• Peter Knees, TU Wien, UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism, Austria
• Peter Michor, Austria
• philipp schaumann, sicherheitskultur.at, Austria
• Roland Schegg, HES-SO Valais/Wallis, Suisse
• Alireza Saebi, Self Employed, Iran
• Sally Wyatt, Professor, Maastricht University, Netherlands
• Jacques Bus, Digital Enlightenment Forum, Netherlands
• Simon Haller-Seeber, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Domenico Talia, Università della Calabria, Italy
• Alexander Holik, ImplanTec GmbH, Austria
• Theo Hug, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Hutter Thomas, digital humanism, Austria
• Viola Schiaffonati, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Reinhard Wilhelm, Universität des Saarlandes, Germany
• Yuri Kazepov, University of Vienna, Austria
• George Metakides, Digital Enlightenment Forum, Greece
• Gerd Hesina, VRVis GmbH, Austria
• Gabor Recski, TU Wien, Austria
• Gianna Bellò, School, education, Italia
• Joanna Zamiechowska, TU Wien, Austria
• Manfred Kraft, Blühende Heimat, DE
• Michael Caspersen, It-vest – networking universities, Denmark
• Margarita Egghart, Austria
• Johann Wagner, College, Österreich
• Nuno Guimaraes, ISCTE Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Portugal
• Paul Timmers, iivii, Belgium
• Luis Moniz Pereira, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal
• Doris Malischnig, Therapy Center Ybbs, Österreich
• Walter Palmetshofer, TU Wien, Austria
• Eliot Mannoia, BrandKarma, Austria
• Ludger Hagedorn, IWM, Austria
• Michał Boni, SME Europe, Polska
• Anni Rowland-Campbell, Intersticia, Australia
• Stefan Woltran, TU Wien, Österreich
• Hannes A. Schwetz, -, Austria
• Irina Nalis, TU Wien JKU Linz, Österreich
• Lejla Ibralic Halilovic, Austria
• Giorgos Flouris, FORTH-ICS, Greece
• Fosca Giannotti, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Italy, Italia
• Dino Pedreschi, University of Pisa, Italy
• Roland Steinbauer, Universität oft Vienna, Austria
• Joe Püringer, Occupational Safety and Health, Austria
• Virginia Dignum, AI Policy Lab, Umeå University, Sweden
• Eugen Pfister, Hochschule der Künste Bern, Austria / Switzerland
• Kim Schmider, TU Wien, Austria
• peter hagedoorn, no organization, writer about the digital society, The Netherlands
• Declan Deasy, Ireland
• Harald Kapper, kapper.net, Austria
• Bashar Nuseibeh, The Open University, UK
• Juraj Podrouzek, Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies, Slovakia
• Paloma Krõõt Tupay, University of Tartu, Estonia
• Sarah Gaggl, TU Dresden, Germany
• Lukas Magenheim, TU Wien, Austria
• Michael Kiran Huber, TU Wien
• Georg Sedlbauer, Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie, Österreich
• Christos Kalpakidis, University of Bonn
• Natalie Schmerlaib, Austria
• Marcus Mayrhofer, TU Wien, Österreich
• Caleb Gebhardt, Austria
• Cristiano Codagnone, Italia
• Sabine Köszegi, TU Wien, Austria
• Dr Lollie Mancey, Digital Enlightnenment Forum, Ireland
• André Baart, Babafla, Netherlands
• Erich Prem, Verein Digitaler Humanismus, Austria
• Manuel Bichler, Austria
• Stefan Schurischuster, Austria
• Thanassis Tiropanis, Digital Enlightenment Forum, UK
• Justus Bogner, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Ameen Abu-Hanna, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Sinead Quealy, Digital Enlightenment Forum, Ireland
• Michele Benzi, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy
• Enikő Török, Hungary
• Paolo Odasso, Italy
• Andreas Falkner, Austria
• Stefan Hupe, Thinker Circle, Austria
• Herbert Waloschek, Chaos Computer Club, Österreich
• Gerard Quinn, Qmobility Solutions, Ireland
• GABRIELE GATTIGLIA, University of Pisa, Italia
• pelle yntema, Voice4Thought, Netherlands
• Stefan Winter, Ulm University, Germany
• Tim Lyon, TU Dresden, Germany
• Gaye Moore, None, Ireland
• Alessandro Gabrielli, University of Pisa, Italy
• Jutta Eckstein, Germany
• Sara Wit, Assistant Professor African Studies, Institute for History/ ASCL, Institute for History, Leiden University, Netherlands
• Silvia Keeling, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy
• Elisabeth Zoppoth, Austria
• Francesco Giannini, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italia
• Lucía Gómez Álvarez, Inria, France
• Lili Novák, Hungary
• Peter Van Roy, Université catholique de Louvain, BE
• Roberta Savella, Italy
• Kajetan Enge, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, Austria
• Andreas Gebesmair, UAS St. Pölten, Austria
• Victor Adriel de Jesus Oliveira, University of Applied Sciences St. Poelten, Austria
• Vrääth Öhner, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, Austria
• Herr Kaschke, Humanity, Germany
• Sebastian Markus, Germany
• Willem Korteweg, NL
• Stefanie Größbacher, Austria
• Linda Melissa Otto, Paderborn University, Deutschland
• Clara Hollomey, University of applied Sciences St. Pölten, Austria
• Sibylle Moser, Fachhochschule St. Pölten, Österreich
• Jim Cloos, TEPSA, Luxembourg
• Marie-Luise Ruscher, Germany
• Francesca Finotello, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Toby Erik Wikström, University of Iceland, Iceland
• alfredo ferrarin, Scuola normale superiore, Italy
• Markus Passecker, University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, Austria
• Markus Jochum, Private, Austria
• Ton de Kok, CWI, The Netherlands
• Matúš Mesarčík, Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies, Slovakia
• Magali Dubosson, Hes-so, Suisse
• Catholijn Jonker, Netherlands
• Oliver Fernández Gil, TU Dresden, Germany
• Heribert Insam, BioTreaT GmbH, Austria
• Joanna Chimiak-Opoka, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Katarzyna Nowicka
• Alessio Rocchi, IUSTO, Italia
• Diego Calvanese, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
• Clemens Baumann, UAS St. Pölten, Austria
• Katharina Lippmann, Deutschland
• Magdalena Löffler
• Maria Stopfner