Speech

The Effects of Digital Technologies on Fundamental Rights

Speaker
Sirpa Rautio
FRA Director, Sirpa Rautio, at the University of Florence addresses 'The Future of Democracy in the Digital Era' conference on 15 May 2025. Her talk focuses on the effects of digital technologies on fundamental rights.

Dear colleagues, dear friends, 

Thank you for inviting me to speak about such an important topic. 

In 2025, digital technologies are everywhere. Our phones have become an extension of ourselves. Algorithms are used to decide what we see on our social media feeds. They influence our everyday decisions, and more importantly, they affect how we experience and enjoy our fundamental rights. Whether it is our right to data protection, our right to non-discrimination, our freedom of expression - and even our right to free and fair elections.  

So, in this context – how do we make sure that we protect fundamental rights, the rule of law and democracy?  

As Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, it is my job to point out the risks and pitfalls that we need to avoid when it comes to digital technologies. 

My Agency has done extensive research on the impact of AI on fundamental rights – including on the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, on automated online content moderation, and on efforts to digitalise our justice systems – with increasing use of AI tools.  

But as human rights professionals, we should not only highlight the possible threats that AI poses. Our lives are now digital in many ways – and we will not be able to reverse that. Therefore, what we need is to find a way forward for a digital future that protects and respects people’s rights. 

Artificial intelligence that respects human rights 

Regarding the key fundamental rights challenges we see, let’s start with AI. As I said earlier, AI is now everywhere, and it can affect virtually every human right. Aside from the major risks that the use of AI poses to privacy and data protection, it can also lead to discrimination or impede justice.  

Yet, most people are still unaware of the extent to which AI is used to make decisions in their lives. They do not know that algorithms can contain strong biases which may harm their rights and put them at a disadvantage. 

We all remember the Dutch childcare benefits case, where thousands of innocent families were falsely accused of fraud and forced to return social benefits. 

Many of these families came from ethnic minority backgrounds. The algorithm flagged them simply because they earned less or because of their ethnicity. The consequences were devastating – marriages broke down, homes were lost, and, in some cases, children were taken from their families. 

This example only underlines how vital it is that technology works for us and not against us – and especially not against some of us.  

Because: 

  • An AI-driven social security system that discriminates against minorities does not enhance effectiveness - it actually undermines it.  

  • A recruitment tool that is biased against one gender is not selecting better candidates - it is flawed and illegal.  

  • And a biased algorithm that sends police to the wrong neighbourhood is not making anyone safer. In fact, it can put people at greater risk — not just in the community that is over-policed, but also in the neighbourhoods where police presence is needed to ensure safety but is less available.  

We have to understand that making something work faster does not automatically mean that it works better. I cannot emphasise enough: safeguarding fundamental rights does not slow down progress or create barriers to innovation. It is high time to dispel the myth that human rights compliance slows down progress. 

Innovation and human rights go hand in hand. By minimising risks and respecting human rights, we can create a better technology - reduce bias, improve results and build trust among users and across society.  

If Europe wants to lead in the digital economy, this – fundamental rights-based technology – is the only kind of technology worth leading on.  

Fortunately, we already have the tools to make this happen.  

The AI Act is the first piece of legislation globally that sets standards for AI and calls for the assessment of fundamental rights risks.  

My Agency is actively contributing to this process. We develop ways to assess fundamental rights risks, we advise on the implementation of the AI Act, and we scrutinise high-risk AI applications.  

We analyse how police forces use remote biometric identification, including facial recognition technology, and later this year, we will publish a report on the digitalisation of our justice systems and compliance with fundamental rights. Based on hundreds of interviews with practitioners and technicians in the justice field, the findings focus on real applications of digital tools and the fundamental rights considerations that emerge when we examine them in practice. 

Lately we have seen that – in the EU and globally – political attention is shifting towards competitiveness and innovation. But as we push for simplification. deregulation, and the cutting of red tape, there is a real risk of leaving human rights behind.  

Let me be clear: simplification and efforts to boost innovation are certainly welcome, but not if they come at the expense of fundamental rights.  

We cannot turn a blind eye to discrimination or violations of our privacy for quick economic gains. 

Free speech, hate speech and disinformation

Our competitive edge in the digital economy lies in a trustworthy technology that respects human rights. To achieve this, we need to ensure the effective implementation of the AI Act.

Secondly, another worrying aspect of our ever more digital world is the spread of online hate and disinformation. 

While these trends are nothing new, their massive amplification through social media platforms presents a growing human rights issue.  

The internet has become a dangerous place and those who argue for less or no content moderation are confusing the freedom of speech with a freedom to break the law.  

FRA’s recent analysis of social media posts and comments underlines how widespread online hate is. Hateful posts easily slip through online content moderation tools and many people - and in particular women - face harassment, abuse and incitement to violence online. 

At the same time, we are too often faced with harmful disinformation, ranging from lies about Russia’s war against Ukraine to conspiracy theories about vaccines or migrants.    

While democracy thrives on free speech, it suffers when this freedom is abused. 

Take antisemitism, for example. From our latest survey on the experiences of Jews, we know that antisemitism is especially prevalent online. Virtually all Jews living in Europe - over 90% - have experienced antisemitism online in the past years. 

Out of fear for their safety, one in four Jews have stopped using online platforms or stopped posting content that could identify them as Jewish.  

Let us remember: freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to harass women, spread antisemitic speech or incite hate against minorities. 

These actions and rhetoric are illegal - no question. And we need effective content moderation to stop these crimes. 

Real-time content moderation is admittedly challenging – there is an overwhelming amount of content posted every day, and there is always a risk of removing too much. However, just because there are challenges does not mean it should not be done. 

The good news is that the EU already has the tools to tackle this and ensure effective content moderation. The Digital Services Act – the DSA – requires platforms to remove illegal content and to reduce the risks their systems pose to fundamental rights. It also requires them to give researchers access to platform data so they can examine these risks more closely.  

However, the law on paper is not enough. To truly tackle online hate and abuse, we need to ensure the DSA is properly implemented and enforced – and that platforms are held accountable. 

There is currently an urgent need for more information, data and analysis of the protection of fundamental rights online. 

At FRA, we are contributing to filling this gap through our work on online hate and content moderation and, in the coming months, we will come out with new reports on the topic. 

Free and fair elections are elections without interference 

Lastly, let me highlight that the ever-growing prominence of online platforms, online hate and disinformation is very closely linked to efforts to interfere with free and fair elections. 

By now, many people are probably aware of social media’s potential to sway election results. We all remember the now infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal – a concerted effort to harvest and misuse people’s Facebook data to target and manipulate voters in the US in the 2018 presidential elections.

Since then, we have seen attempts to influence elections through online platforms every year. 

This shift has been compounded by a growing reliance on online platforms as primary sources of information – platforms that often lack editorial oversight or fact-checking processes generally associated with traditional media.

These efforts include the use of AI to push certain parties and messages across social media channels or spreading false claims by pro-Russian groups.

For example, in Romania, the first round of presidential elections had to be annulled last year after serious allegations of irregularities were made. The Romanian Constitutional Court ruled that voters were effectively disinformed and manipulated by the candidate’s electoral campaign on social media.  

Therefore, a new aspect of protecting democracy in the digital age means guaranteeing the integrity of our elections. If we fail, we risk the erosion of democracy itself.

Our upcoming Fundamental Rights Report – which is FRA’s annual flagship report – focuses on the need for fair, transparent, and safe elections – including the online dimension. 

It repeats FRA’s calls for proper implementation and enforcement of existing EU rules – from the Digital Services Act and AI Act to the Political Advertising Regulation.

This will help to ensure that the integrity of future elections in the EU is fully protected from attempts at manipulation. At the same time, it will make sure that fundamental rights, such as the freedom of expression, are fully respected.  

Let me conclude by repeating that digital technologies have a profound impact on our fundamental rights, and by extension on our democratic societies. If we want to protect people’s rights and our democracy as a whole, we need to step up our efforts and make the case for a trustworthy, human rights-compliant technology. 

Let us remember that: 

  • Technology that discriminates and harms people’s rights is not effective, innovative or competitive. It is simply harmful. We need to support the development and use of trustworthy, rights-compliant technology. Only by ensuring that the use of technology respects human rights will we be able to harvest the benefits that digitalisation brings us.  

Let us also remember that: 

  • Free speech is not an excuse to spread hate online, to harass women, to insult minorities or to incite violence. We need effective content moderation to ensure a safer online space for all. 

And finally, let us remember that: 

  • Our elections are not immune to online hate and disinformation. To avoid manipulation, we need to step up our efforts to protect free and democratic elections. 

And as I said – we already have the tools. The Digital Services Act, the AI Act and other pieces of legislation are crucial pieces of the puzzle. They provide us with the tools to uphold people’s rights and protect our democracies from serious harm. 

It is paramount that we implement and enforce them effectively, including through strong oversight and by not hesitating to impose sanctions for non-compliance. 

At the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, we will continue working on collecting evidence on online content moderation, developing tools to assess AI and promoting respect for fundamental rights in the digital world.  

Thank you. 

See also