Media invitation - Main contents

Under the title "Defending Democracy in the Digital Age," a thousand notable authors from all over the world published an international appeal at the end of last year. The authors, from more than 80 countries, complained that essential fundamental rights like the presumption of innocence and the right for privacy in the digital world are being abrogated, and they demanded an end to data abuse and mass surveillance.

On 15 April, the authors Juli Zeh, Eva Menasse and Priya Basi will be handing over this petition to the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.

Martin Schulz stated:

"I support the intention of this appeal, and I am looking forward to meeting the initiators. In this time of digital change, there is an urgent need for action so that undesirable developments, which endanger our rights of freedom and our pluralistic societies, can be corrected. On the European level, we need to defend our high standards of data protection, and, at the same time, we have to establish the technological preconditions so that Europe is technologically independent of other states and multinational companies."

The petition will be handed over at 11:00am on 15 April in the reception area of the President's floor (15th floor LOW-building). Afterwards, the authors and the President will answer questions from the media. You are cordially invited.