Breaking free: European digital rights groups start new campaign to reduce dependency on big tech and warn about the risks of deregulation

In the new report, Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future (pdf, 100 pages), the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved into enshittification and how to resist it. The report shows how this phenomenon affects both consumers and society at large, but that it is possible to turn the tide. Together with more than 70 consumer groups and other actors in Europe and the US, we are sending letter to policymakers in the EU/EEA, UK and the US.

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"Many people have the feeling that digital services are simply becoming a little bit worse, and it’s not just something you’re imagining. The changes are the result of deliberate choices, as a part of a process called 'enshittification'”, says Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, director of digital policy in the Norwegian Consumer Council.

"Enshittification often happens through a myriad of small changes that may, in isolation, seem trivial. Cumulatively, they ruin products and services, exploiting both consumers and third-party businesses in the pursuit of profit. Eventually consumers feel locked in because there are no real alternatives. Digital memories, data, functionality, and even connected devices are being controlled by companies that can make any changes they want, at any time. Many of us end up feeling powerless."

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It’s not too late!

The ongoing enshittification trend is not inevitable; luckily for us, enshittification is not a natural law, Myrstad emphasises:

– Technology must work for people. We must take power from the large digital platforms and give it back to users, innovators, and society. It’s not too late to turn the tide. Technology can be a power for innovation and societal good, but only if we make sure that it serves us, not just the largest companies.

In the report, the Consumer Council suggests concrete measures to help rebalance power between consumers and digital service providers:

• Stronger rights for consumers to control, adapt, repair, and alter their products and services,
• Interoperability, data portability, and decentralisation as the norm, so the threshold for moving to different services becomes as low as possible,
• Deterrent and vigorous enforcement of competition law, so that Big Tech companies are not allowed to indiscriminately acquire start-ups, competitors or otherwise steer the market to their advantage,
• Better financing of initiatives to build, maintain or improve alternative digital services and infrastructure based on open source code and open protocols,
• Reduce public sector dependence on big tech, to regain control and to contribute to a functioning market for service providers that respect fundamental rights,
• Deterrent and consistent enforcement of other laws, including consumer and data protection law.

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