Shaping Europe's Digital Future: How Can Citizens Influence Policy?

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Regulating the digital universe is one of the most complex challenges of the contemporary age. The deterritorial nature of digital technologies, the rapidity with which they develop and the extreme heterogeneity of the actors involved make it difficult to develop a stable and shared regulatory framework. Yet it is precisely because of this complexity that there is a strong need for a broader involvement of citizens (and residents in Member States) in the decision-making processes shaping the European digital space. Instruments such as the ECI, the European Citizens’ Panels and other forms of participatory and deliberative democracy therefore play a central role. 

Of course, to participate (and do it seriously) you must, first of all, understand: This is a challenging challenge that urgently needs to be addressed in order to enable informed and efficient participation, namely the fight against digital illiteracy. According to data published by Eurostat in February 2024, around 45% of Europeans aged 16-74 lack basic digital skills, while almost 7% have never used the internet (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20240222-1). Without a serious and comprehensive European digital training and inclusion plan, the risk is that the digital economy will develop unevenly, reinforcing social asymmetries and excluding large sections of the population from the possibility of fully exercising their citizenship rights.

Admittedly, the regulation of systems using artificial intelligence is a crucial point. Professions such as voice actor, graphic artist, illustrator or composer are now exposed to the real risk of being replaced by algorithms capable of reproducing voice, images or music, without adequate economic or moral recognition. 

In the context of policies regulating the digital environment, a further aspect worthy of attention concerns the minimum age for access to social networks. This proposal has a personal meaning for me. During my childhood, I spent many hours in front of the computer, often out of boredom, lacking tools to interpret what I saw and interacted with. In retrospect, I recognise that early access to the digital world, and social media in particular, requires an emotional and cognitive maturity that I lacked (and that is the case for many younger people). Digital education should accompany the entry into these spaces in a gradual manner.

 The minimum age for access to social media should be set at 15 or 16 years, as already proposed or discussed in some Member States. In Spain, for example, the possibility of raising the minimum age for access to social networks to 16 years (https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2025/03/25/elevar-a-16-anos-la-edad-para-abrir-cuentas-en-las-redes-sociales-y-castigar-los-deepfakes-claves-de-la-ley-de-menores-en-el-entorno-digital-cadena-ser)is being discussed, while in France the possibility of providing explicit parental consent for children under 15 years of age is being considered (https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2023/03/04/francia-no-ai-social-network-prima-dei-15-anni-la-proposta-di-legge-tutela-dei-giovanissimi/7085600). The aim of these proposals is not to punitively restrict access to digital, but rather to accompany young people on a more aware and secure path. The risks of early and unguided use of social media – from exposure to inappropriate content to cyberbullying, from digital addiction to online hate speech – require careful and balanced responses. 

In the light of what has been said, perhaps we should stop telling the digital as something false with respect to social reality, since it is now rooted in the social fabric and deeply affects its development. Therefore, if we aspire to a digital future that reflects our values, it is essential to participate, listen, contribute and speak out. 

Like democracy, the digital future also needs to be participated and lived.