Deadline: 09-Sep-2024
Civitates is launching an open call to support organisations in France and Ireland that can contribute to the national enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and other related EU tech regulations with a focus on improving online public discourse and addressing how technology mediates and changes the way information is accessed, spread and consumed everyday and in key moments for democracy, such as during elections.
The call for proposal is open to civil society organisations working in France and Ireland. These two countries were identified as priority for 2024 based on a series of criteria considering both their relevance for the European platform regulation landscape, potential threats and opportunities in terms of national level regulation, the state of civil society and accessibility of funding.
Funding Information
- The total budget for this call is of €1,000,000.
- Applicants may submit only one proposal per organisation. The maximum amount and duration of the grant is €200,000 for two years.
Approaches and Activities
- Civitates welcomes a variety of approaches and activities from potential grantees. Below is a non-exhaustive list of examples:
- advocacy towards national level governments on the set-up of DSCs or other relevant national-level authorities;
- research, technical analysis and data collection for advocacy, campaigns and enforcement purposes;
- campaigning and public awareness raising activities to encourage users to enforce their rights under the DSA and other related tech regulation;
- campaigning activities that target platforms and/or the European institutions for proper enforcement and better practices, considering the specific national context and issues;
- advocacy towards DSCs and national authorities to initiate investigations and include civil society representatives in the process;
- creating a pipeline of evidence to substantiate regulatory complaints and/or support strategic litigation;
- monitor the work of the DSC and any other relevant national authority to identify, denounce and keep them accountable on any authoritarian use of the DSA and other related EU tech regulations;
- use the complaint mechanisms by individual or representative organisations to initiate judicial proceedings at Member State on illegal/harmful content or suspension, termination or restrictions to accounts;
- building up the trusted flaggers community;
- preparation of reports of national issues in ways in which they can be used by other regulatory or advocacy efforts at EU level, and/or at international and global level.
Eligibility Criteria
- Civitates looks for key civil society organisations working in France and/or Ireland. Civitates regards an organisation as a “key” actor if it:
- is a registered non-profit organisation or can prove that its work has a non-profit nature and any profit from its activities are reinvested in the organisation;
- has a track record of working at national level in France and/or Ireland;
- brings expertise on tech and/or on topics relevant for public discourse (e.g. election integrity, transparency, mental health, political polarisation, racial or gender discrimination, hate speech etc.);
- works in coalition, networks or can prove to collaborate with different stakeholders (CSOs, decision makers, etc).
- Legal registration and physical presence of the team in one of the priority countries is not a mandatory requirement.
- Organisations that have a track record of working both in France and Ireland can submit a single application and elaborate their plans regarding both countries. These organisations will not be automatically preferred to organisations working in a single country.
- Coalitions, networks or other groups of organisations can submit a single application but they need to identify a lead applicant and elaborate their plans as a coalition and how members will individually contribute to the work.
Ineligible
- Political party-affiliated organisations
For more information, visit Civitates.