Public organisations call attention to the Dutch Parliament for public access to information and public control of digitisation

Digitisation is changing our society and our organisations. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, the use of algorithms and big data, and the growing influence of large technology companies on our daily lives, offer opportunities on the one hand. For example, Dutch people now have more opportunities than ever to take note of information and media offerings. But there are also major risks, for example in the area of the findability and recognisability of reliable information, and in the protection of our privacy and data. Public access to information and public control of digitisation must therefore be high on the government's agenda. In a letter to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Digital Affairs, NPO, the KB, PublicSpaces, SURF and Kennisnet, Netwerk Mediawijsheid and Beeld & Geluid point out the urgency of this task.

Attention to preconditions

Our organisations are driven by shared public values such as the reliability and authenticity of information, equal treatment and the protection of civil rights and pluriformity. In our letter we therefore ask politicians to guarantee the preconditions within which these public values can be protected. In particular, we ask the committee to pay attention to:

• Encouraging digital literacy and media literacy among all Dutch citizens
• Regulations so that you can see and verify where information and media offerings come from
• Supporting the development of algorithms based on public values
• Regulations about the visibility (prominence) and recognisability of public and reliable content for all Dutch citizens
• The exploration of alternatives to the dominant commercial platforms in the digital domain
• The exploration of public alternatives for broadcasting technologies and hardware relevant to the digital space

Read the letter about public access to information and public control of digitisation (pdf in Dutch)