Konstantinos Kakavoulis and Alexandra Karaiskou represented Homo Digitalis in a meeting with a delegation of Members of the European Parliament visiting Greece.

Together with the MEPs and other civil society partners, we discussed issues related to the use of intrusive technologies in the fields of policing and border security, while we also developed arguments regarding the provisions of the proposed AI Act and the relevant interventions needed to properly regulate the challenges that arise.

The Secretary of the Board of Directors, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, represented Homo Digitalis at the Plenary Session of the Artificial Intelligence Committee of the Council of Europe, CAI.

Specifically, on 21-23/9 we were in Strasbourg to participate in the negotiations for the adoption of a treaty on AI, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law! Homo Digitalis has been participating in relevant meetings of this committee since the first day of its establishment, and of course was also present in meetings of the previous Council of Europe committee on related issues, CAHAI, already in the summer of 2020.

You can find out more about the Council of Europe’s AI Committee here.

The Secretary of the Board, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, represented Homo in two very important meetings in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Specifically, on 15-17/9 we were present at the Colour Of Surveillance conference organized by the organizations European Digital Rights, Digital Freedom Fund, Bits of Freedom & Controle Alt Delete, as well as at the expert meeting organized by the Justice, Equity & Technology (JET) Table of The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to discuss issues related to surveillance and policing of vulnerable social groups!

You can find out more about the Colour Of Surveillance conference here.

You can read more about The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Justice, Equity & Technology (JET) Table and Homo Digitalis’ involvement in it from early 2021 here.

Our member Anastasios Arampatzis participated in a Share Foundation survey on the legal framework in Greece regarding sexual abuse through images.

The Greek legal order, like many neighbouring countries, does not include a comprehensive and clear provision practically protecting survivors of image-based sexual abuse (#imagebasedsexualabuse).

The lack of a directly regulated framework defining and prosecuting the crime as a stand-alone crime as well as #advocacy methods are explored in the comparative study in South Eastern Europe recently published by the SHARE Foundation. The latest development in the Greek reality (Article 346 CC), despite its positive aspect, again includes the crime in a series of offences such as forgery, intensifying the need for an autonomous regulation.

You can read the relevant report and find out about the two countries that recognise sexual abuse through images as a separate criminal offence here.

Last week our members Asimina Koliniati and Manolis Kampitakis (the latter being a member of the Chaos Computer Club) participated in the Freedom not Fear 2022 Conference, which after 2 virtual events returned to Brussels!

The annual conference is organized by Digitalcourage and is a meeting point for many organizations fighting for the protection of our digital rights in Europe. After two days full of workshops around the proposed European legislation on AI, ChatControl, TechAbuse, gender-based violence online and biometric monitoring of migrants, we visited the European Parliament and discussed with MEPs about the issues that concern us.

We would like to thank MEPs Saskia Bricmont, Patrick Breyer and Cornelia Ernst for their hospitality and interesting discussion.

Many congratulations also to Digitalcourage for organizing the event that every year takes the protection of digital rights one step forward!