unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Klára Dobrev
Country: Poland
Language: EN

Dear colleagues, now that the interventions in the name of the political groups have ended, I would like to remind you that we have a very long speaker list in this debate, a really long one. So the only way to keep to the time is if you keep to your speaking time. I would like to say that I am going to be very strict and very loud and very serious about keeping to the speaking time, so please keep to your speaking time.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Paulo Rangel
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: PT

Senhora Presidente, Senhora Secretária de Estado, Senhora Comissária, a esfera pública e a esfera de comunicação mudaram radicalmente. Do mundo em que tínhamos mediadores e mediações (na política, os parlamentos, os partidos, as instituições; na esfera social, a imprensa, as televisões, as rádios), passamos, de repente, através das redes sociais, para a ilusão da democracia direta.  Os mediadores caíram e agora, nas redes sociais, todos pensam que podem abolir a comunicação social e os meios tradicionais. Todos pensam que através da participação direta podem até substituir os parlamentos. Não faltam países em que se decreta ou se defende a abolição dos parlamentos. Não mais a mediadores. Só a participação direta, através das redes sociais, com um voto que até em leis e decisões podia ser diário através dos instrumentos digitais.  O problema é que, de repente, nos apercebemos que, por detrás das redes sociais e das companhias que as detêm, existe um mediador, um mediador escondido, um mediador secreto, que é o algoritmo, que é o controlador, que é o proprietário das redes sociais e, portanto, a liberdade de expressão está em perigo. Está em perigo por uma interferência externa, está em perigo por uma mediação escondida, está em perigo por falta de regulação democrática E, por isso, nós não podemos estar nas mãos das redes sociais. Temos de as pôr nas nossas mãos. É esse desafio que hoje aqui se debate.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Ismail Ertug
Political group: S-D
Country: Portugal
Language: EN

Madam President, although we are now one year into the pandemic, Facebook only decided this week to take down posts claiming vaccines cause autism. It took them one year to act against fake news. And a study released this week reveals that 83% of young people have already been confronted with fake news on social media and 25% of them cannot distinguish between fake news and real news. And this is, in my eyes, a threat. For years, and I think I am not exaggerating when I say social media platforms and Trump, for example, have benefited from each other. Only after Trump’s election defeat and him calling on his supporters to storm the Capitol did they decide to ban him. That means that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter took more than four years to ban him. And while I think it was right to ban Mr Trump from social media platforms, I would say that private companies should never act without reference to the law, and as the European Union this is the way we have to go.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Michal Šimečka
Political group: Renew
Country: Italy
Language: EN

Madam President, I think it’s now clear that most social media have wildly outgrown their founders’ expectations and their impact on society is felt globally and, of course, in each individual country. With such great power must come greater responsibility, because today there is very little incentive for social media corporations to ensure that their products are not used as vehicles for the mass spread of hate or lies or disinformation. In Slovakia, last year, journalists tracked 56 death threats posted publicly on Facebook, and actually had to call Facebook’s PR department before the death threats were taken down. So it was because of the action of journalists that the threats actually disappeared.  This is illustrative of a much bigger problem, which is that the social media corporations are unable or unwilling to ensure that their content not only meets ethical standards, but actually complies with the legislation and the laws of the country in which they operate. So, when we think about the future, the regulation must not be virtual, but real.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Alessandra Basso
Political group: ID
Country: Italy
Language: IT

Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signora Commissaria, nei media la diversità e il pluralismo dovrebbero essere legati dallo stesso obiettivo fondamentale in una democrazia liberale: quello di proporre ai cittadini una varietà di contenuti. Sappiamo che nel DSA soprattutto le grandi piattaforme sono di fatto obbligate a dotarsi di meccanismi interni atti a ricevere notifiche da parte di qualunque persona od ente di contenuti ritenuti illegali. Nello stesso articolo si stabilisce che gli avvisi ricevuti diano luogo a conoscenza o consapevolezza effettiva, obbligando di fatto a rimuovere i supposti contenuti illegali o disabilitarne l'accesso. In sostanza, qualunque segnalazione fatta in supposta buona fede obbliga alla rimozione. Ritengo incauto che la valutazione soggettiva di singoli individui o enti possa influire in modo determinante sul pieno rispetto della libertà di parola. Si vuole forse andare in una direzione opposta al pluralismo che dovrebbe caratterizzare una democrazia? Credo sia urgente una profonda riflessione.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Marcel Kolaja
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Madam President, democratic scrutiny and protection of fundamental rights has to go hand-in-hand with addressing the issue of the dominant position of some tech platforms. Recent events in the United States demonstrated that large platforms, due to their size, have a systemic role in amplifying and shaping information flows and create parallel information bubbles. With the new Digital Markets Act, we need to enable an environment where people can not only scrutinise if they are being targeted by malicious actors via the platform, but also gain back effective control, where they have a choice to switch to an alternative, decentralised, open and privacy-friendly service. Only in this case can democratic scrutiny and the protection of fundamental rights have full effect.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Elżbieta Kruk
Political group: ECR
Country: Bulgaria
Language: PL

Pani Przewodnicząca! Czy władzę nad światem przejmują wielkie korporacje technologiczne, które już dziś kontrolują debatę publiczną, wpływają na wyniki wyborów, nie liczą się z nikim, są bezkarne? Wczesny internet dawał wolność, działał jak Hyde Park online. Celem gigantów z Doliny Krzemowej w początkach ich działalności było dawanie ludziom za darmo dostępu do informacji, a ich zasadą „nie czyń zła”. Tak jednak było wczoraj, a dzisiaj mamy znów „rok 1984” – przewidział przyszłość Orwell i inni pisarze science fiction. Tym razem jednak to się dzieje naprawdę. Nie zgadzasz się z Wielkim Bratem, to zamknie ci usta, choćbyś był prezydentem Stanów Zjednoczonych. Ofiarą są zawsze konserwatywne poglądy w sieci. Kilku miliarderów Big Tech w imię lewackiej ideologii wypowiedziało wojnę wolności słowa, a ich poczynania można porównywać do działań państw totalitarnych.  Jesteśmy świadkami bezprecedensowego zagrożenia dla wolności. Z jednej strony cenzura i blokowanie kont, z drugiej cyfrowa inwigilacja i manipulacja. Bierność Komisji Europejskiej wobec tych monopolistycznych praktyk jest zadziwiająca. Najwyższy czas przeciwdziałać i wprowadzić regulacje chroniące wolność słowa w sieci.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Sira Rego
Political group: The Left
Country: Spain
Language: ES

Señora presidenta, Abascal en España, Salvini en Italia, Le Pen en Francia, Orbán en Hungría, etcétera, etcétera. Todos ellos con un denominador común: el discurso del odio, los bulos racistas, la LGTBIfobia, el machismo, la exaltación del fascismo. Por eso, para mí, el debate de fondo es el de la impunidad, el de la tolerancia con la que se ha aceptado la narrativa de la vulneración de los derechos humanos de la extrema derecha y, a partir de ahí, el uso de las redes sociales como diseminador del discurso del odio. Un peligro. Y, claro, es normal que surja la pregunta: ¿debe ser una multinacional la que determine cuándo y por qué se limita el uso de una cuenta o más bien debería ser un gran consenso antifascista el que dé lugar a una regulación pública para hacerlo? Desde luego, nosotros creemos que se debe apostar por lo segundo. La única forma de garantizar el derecho fundamental de acceso a una información veraz, la única forma de erradicar el discurso del odio, es la intervención de los poderes públicos, la alianza firme para expulsar el odio de cualquier espacio público.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Mislav Kolakušić
Political group: NI
Country: Greece
Language: HR

Poštovana predsjedavajuća, suočeni smo s nastankom nove, moćne i beskrupulozne mafije koja je opasnija od svih dosadašnjih oblika organiziranog kriminala. Radi se o mafiji koja umjesto oružja koristi medije i to medije svih oblika za kampanju straha kako bi prodala milijarde svojih proizvoda. Posljednjih godinu dana gotovo svi
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Eva Maydell
Political group: PPE
Country: Portugal
Language: EN

Madam President, what we hear today is that we as a Chamber are sometimes somewhat inconsistent in our calls to platforms, and thus by this we risk becoming irrelevant. We urged the platforms to act during the Rohingya case in 2016 when thousands of people were killed, but in 2021, when five people were killed in the Capitol attacks, we asked the platforms why did you act and silence Trump? So the problem, I think sometimes, is that we often call for different things.  I accept that platforms should not have the right to easily silence a president, of course, but what are the rules that would make this impossible in the future? I believe our job is to create them, and we are indeed on the right track. But in order to create them, we need to make sure we have clear definitions and visions of how we actually treat platforms. Do we consider them to be media? Are they a type of providers similar to cable TV operators? Or are they simply an environment in a place where everything is possible and can happen?  I think we need a coherent definition of that, and only then could we perhaps be consistent in our calls and, most importantly, successful in our efforts to create a just and a good environment, good rules for platforms that most importantly safeguard our fundamental rights and values.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Tanja Fajon
Political group: S-D
Language: SL

Gospa predsedujoča, svoboda medijev je v zadnjih letih v središču pozornosti z razlogom. Si predstavljate, da bi pred leti, ko družbenih medijev še ni bilo, časopisi in informativne oddaje vse povprek trošili lažne informacije, napačne. Zavajali so morda oglaševalci, ne pa novinarji, poročevalci, voditelji. Danes pa je posamezniku na voljo vrsta preverjenih in nepreverjenih informativnih kanalov, ki mu služijo pri ustvarjanju resnice. Zelo me skrbi, kako preprosto je objaviti popolno laž in dezinformacijo in zanjo ne prevzeti nobene odgovornosti, češ da gre za svobodo govora in na ta način diskreditirati tarčo napada. Takšne in podobne objave, napade, žalitve v večini danes uporablja populistična desnica, ki s svojimi avtokratski težnjami spodkopava demokracijo in se požvižga na temeljne človekove pravice. Svobodne medije vidijo celo kot svoje sovražnike in ne kot temeljni vidik svobodne družbe. Za eno bolj učinkovitih taktik širjenja dezinformacij se je izkazala strankarska prilastitev novo nastalih medijev, ki služijo izključno promoviranju strankarske ideologije. Na žalost takšne prakse uporablja vse več politikov, ki blatijo in širijo neresnice o svojih političnih nasprotnikih tudi v Sloveniji, slovenski premier. Različni pogledi in prepričanja so seveda nekaj povsem normalnega. Ko konstruktivni dialog zamenjajo laži in žaljiva ali celo sovražna retorika, je naša demokracija resnično v nevarnosti. Takrat gredo stvari tako daleč, da se zgodi udar, kot se je zgodil na Kapitol. Znašli smo se na križišču med svobodo in pravicami posameznika do izražanja in močno pozdravljam akcijski načrt, ki ga je predstavila Evropska komisija.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Karen Melchior
Political group: Renew
Country: Estonia
Language: EN

Madam President, we have no digital democracy. We have democracy. We have no digital human rights. We have human rights. Our freedom of expression must be protected equally online as we protect it offline. More and more of our communication and democracy is taking place online and, under COVID, it has quickly become much more, as we no longer make a distinction between the online and the offline but rather regard it as one and the same – our lives, our reality, our democracy. What that means is that the same principles of human rights must be respected online as well as offline. In the past decade, we’ve observed the platformisation of the internet. Openness and free spirit have been consolidated into the monopoly of a few platforms. Therefore, the regulation of digital platforms has become even more important. However, the laws of physics online are different from those in the offline world. Therefore, we cannot simply apply regulation designed for the offline world online. Attempting to do so leads to a restriction of our human rights and has a chilling effect on our democracy.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Tom Vandendriessche
Political group: ID
Country: Belgium
Language: NL

Voorzitter, de sociale media zijn vandaag de dag wat de boekdrukkunst was in de middeleeuwen: een instrument voor burgers om hun standpunt te vertolken en hun belangen te verdedigen. Net zoals vroeger reageert de heersende elite echter met censuur en onderdrukking om, onder het mom van de bestrijding van zogenaamd nepnieuws, te bepalen wat de waarheid is. Maar een waarheid die door censuur beschermd moet worden, is een leugen. Men wil, onder het mom van de bestrijding van zogenaamde haatzaaiende taal, verzet tegen ongewenste migratie en multiculturele omvolking criminaliseren. Maar net zoals een moeder voor haar kinderen zorgt, is dit verzet niet uit haat voor wat vreemd is, maar uit liefde voor wat eigen is. Een democratie kan niet bestaan zonder de vrijheid van meningsuiting. Dat is geen kwestie van links of rechts, of van het met elkaar eens of oneens zijn; dat is een grondrecht dat ons allen voor tirannie behoed. Censuur op de sociale media moet daarom worden bestraft. We moeten de oligarchie van Silicon Valley opbreken om de grondrechten en de fundamentele vrijheden van onze burgers en onze democratie te beschermen.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Madam President, the NGO AlgorithmWatch reports that existing transparency tools have failed. Our laws are not yet fit for purpose in the digital world. Our democracies are not ready for the challenges to our liberties and fundamental rights. We often debate these issues, but we still do not have adequate rules at the European level. What we need most here is transparency of algorithm, to hold platforms accountable for the impact on democratic processes and to scrutinise their actions. We need transparency of algorithm to share the data with researchers, for example, at the new European Digital Media Observatory. We need transparency of algorithm to fight disinformation, and we need transparency to help us understand how online spaces have become hotbeds of systemic inequality and discrimination. Women and minorities are deserting the online space more and more often, after extremely violent experiences. We are not just talking about a few isolated cases, but about a problem that is becoming more and more mainstream, and we do not have this transparency of algorithm.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Nicola Procaccini
Political group: ECR
Country: Poland
Language: IT

Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signora Commissaria, come ECR abbiamo chiesto questo dibattito perché sulle piattaforme digitali ormai si svolge la maggior parte delle nostre relazioni in ambito sociale, educativo, economico e politico, e non è possibile negarne la regolamentazione a delle multinazionali private, soprattutto se ciò condiziona le nostre democrazie.  Può piacere o non piacere ciò che dice un semplice cittadino europeo o il Presidente degli Stati Uniti d'America in un determinato momento storico, ma la loro libertà di espressione può essere limitata o soppressa solo se a stabilirlo è un'autorità pubblica, contro la quale eventualmente appellarsi se si ritiene di aver subito un torto. Ciò che è illegale offline deve esserlo anche online, è stato detto poco fa. Giusto. Si tratta infatti della cosiddetta riserva di legge che è alla base dello Stato di diritto.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Niyazi Kizilyürek
Political group: The Left
Country: Croatia
Language: DE

Frau Präsidentin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die sozialen Medien dürfen keine Plattformen für Hass, Rassismus, Desinformation und Hetze werden. Der freie Internet-, Informations- und Kommunikationszugang muss für alle gewährleistet sein und der Zugang zum Internet muss ein öffentliches Gut sein. Ein freies Internet mit demokratisch kontrollierten Plattformen ist also das Gebot der Stunde. Das bedeutet: gemeinsame EU-Regeln, insbesondere eine strenge Antimonopol- beziehungsweise Antikartellkontrolle; aktive Teilnahme der Internetkonzerne; Einbindung der Zivilgesellschaft. Darüber hinaus müssen sich die verschiedenen Plattformen zu verständlich ausgedrückten Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen verpflichten. Die Nutzer müssen auch das Recht auf Mitnahme der Daten und Beziehungen von einem sozialen Netzwerk zum anderen haben. Schließlich ist es höchste Zeit für eine gerechte Besteuerung und Verteilung der enormen Gewinne der Internetgiganten. Die Reichen endlich zur Kasse!
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Kostas Papadakis
Political group: NI
Country: Czechia
Language: EL

Κυρία Πρόεδρε, αλληλοκατηγορίες και άσφαιρες ηθικές κορόνες· όλα είναι εμπορικός πόλεμος για το ποιος θα αποκτήσει προβάδισμα στην ψηφιακή οικονομία. Οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες, η Κίνα ή η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση; Με εφόδιό τους σχετικές ψηφιακές συμφωνίες που υπηρετούν τα συμφέροντα των ομίλων και με πρόσχημα την προστασία των προσωπικών δεδομένων, η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση και οι ΗΠΑ ανταγωνίζονται για τον έλεγχο της μαζικής καταγραφής, φακελώματος, εμπορίας και εκμετάλλευσης δεδομένων από κρατικές και άλλες υπηρεσίες και ομίλους, με κριτήριο τα αστρονομικά τους κέρδη, τα οποία —μάλιστα— είναι πολλαπλάσια εν μέσω πανδημίας. Ταυτόχρονα, συνεργάζονται αποσπώντας και διαβιβάζοντας προσωπικά δεδομένα και πληροφορίες στις πλάτες των λαών, εντείνοντας τον χαφιεδισμό και την καταστολή σε βάρος του εργατικού λαϊκού κινήματος. Όσο τα δεδομένα, η συλλογή και η επεξεργασία τους είναι στην ιδιοκτησία και υπό τον έλεγχο των μονοπωλίων των αστικών κρατών που υπηρετούν την καπιταλιστική εκμετάλλευση, δεν υπάρχει τρόπος προστασίας τους. Η εργατική λαϊκή πάλη και ο αγώνας για την υπεράσπιση των λαϊκών δικαιωμάτων και ελευθεριών συνδέονται άρρηκτα με την πάλη για την ανατροπή αυτής της βαρβαρότητας που μετατρέπει τις τεράστιες επιστημονικές και τεχνολογικές δυνατότητες σε νέα δεσμά σε βάρος των λαών.
Debate: Democratic scrutiny of social media and the protection of fundamental rights
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Speaker: Balázs Hidvéghi
Political group: PPE
Country: France
Language: HU

Tisztelt Elnök asszony! Tisztelt kollégák! Mára mindennapossá vált, hogy az internetes óriáscégek egyetlen gombnyomással törölnek számukra ideológiailag nem tetsző véleményeket. Egy amerikai elnök letiltása – függetlenül személyétől és megítélésétől – teljes mértékben elfogadhatatlan és sérti a demokratikus alapelveket. A nagy közösségi platformok ma már nem egyszerűen szociális hálózatok, amelyek megkönnyítik a kapcsolattartást az ismerőseinkkel, hanem olyan online felületek, amelyek az élet minden területét befolyásolják: az üzleti életet, a közszolgáltatásokat, művészetet, kultúrát, a közbeszédet és így a politikát is. Az utóbbi hónapok fejleményei világosan megmutatják, hogy a technológiai óriáscégek vezetői a szólásszabadságot korlátozó politikai szereplőkké váltak adott esetben.  Szabályok hiányában visszaélnek helyzetükkel: törölnek, moderálnak, cenzúráznak úgy, ahogy épp a kedvük tartja. A politikai véleménykifejezés jelentős része ma már a világhálón zajlik, ezért biztosítani kell, hogy a szólásszabadság az interneten is mindenkor érvényesüljön. A technológiai óriáscégek nem lehetnek a nyilvánosság döntőbírái. A szabad véleménynyilvánítás a demokrácia alappillére és csak kivételes esetben korlátozható és csak törvények alapján. Ha vannak törvényeink, amelyek szabályozzák az írott és elektronikus sajtó működését, akkor ugyanerre van szükség az internet esetében is. Olyan szabályokra van szükség, amelyek rábírják az internetes óriáscégeket a törvényes, átlátható és ellenőrizhető működésre, és nem engedik meg, hogy azok önkényesen saját érdekeik szerint korlátozzák mindannyiunk szabadságát.