The Click Trap – How pop-up ads undermine democracy and what it means for EU Digital Policy

  • Screening+Discussion
  • Cinema
  • Thursday 22.05 — 11:50 - 13:05

Join film maker Peter Porta, People versus Big Tech and Global Witness for a screening of ‘The Click Trap’ a documentary about the underlying business model of the internet – digital advertisement – and how it links to global disinformation flows, privacy breaches and online scams. Following the screening a panel discussion will explore how  existing EU policies such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can be used to tackle these issues - and how ordinary citizens can be part of the fight back against the ever-expanding surveillance of social media and advertising companies, how

Questions to be answered?

  • How does the advertisement-based business model of major online platforms drive disinformation flows and privacy breaches?
  • How can we ensure that existing policies and regulators’ powers are protected against geopolitical pressures and used to protect Europeans’ rights?
  • How can citizens unshackle themselves from the surveillance-based advertising model of major tech companies?

Peter Porta

Peter Porta (Barcelona, 1982) is an award-winning director and writer, with strong experience in documentary film. Recent projects include directing 2x30-minuteepisodes of the Olympic Channel’s award-winning docuseries, Against All Odds, which aired globally on NBC, Eurosport and beIN. Peter was also director and cinematographer on the short documentary, The Jesse Daniels Story (2019) which has screened at festivals internationally and won several awards. His first feature documentary film, The Click Trap is a coproduction between Polar Star Films (Spain), RTVE (Spain) and Yuzu Films (France). Peter is first and foremost a storyteller, having spent many years honing the skills that allow him to bring any narrative to life on screen. Peter has applied these skills both tohis work in documentary film, as well as to his commercial projects. He has an extensive background directing high-profile television adverts, music videos and global campaigns for prestigious brands and agencies. He is also an accomplished cinematographer and editor, often undertaking both roles in both professional and personal projects. The diversity of the projects Peter undertakes means he is comfortable working closely with his subjects, conducting interviews, adapting and delivering projects under strict time constraints, and getting the most out of his distinctive visual approach, which can be seen throughout his work

Ava Lee

Ava Lee is a campaigner from the investigative, campaigning organisation Global Witness. For the last five years, she has built and led a team of investigators, researchers, advocates and comms specialists working to combat some of the biggest harms caused by Big Tech companies.

This has included exposing how Meta’s job advertising algorithm discriminates along gender lines, breaching equalities legislation, and a series of investigations that have demonstrated how companies including Meta, TikTok, X and Youtube are unprepared to deal with incitement to genocide and violence (in Myanmar and Ethiopia), and are equally unprepared to deal with serious electoral misinformation ahead of significant elections (including in the US, Brazil, Kenya, UK, South Africa, Ireland and India). For the last year, she has also headed up a climate disinformation unit - with work including exposing a bot network supporting Azerbaijan’s COP presidency. Her team’s work has been featured across all of the major wires and top-tier publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC, AP, PA and AFP.

Alex Lawrence-Archer

AWO

Alex Lawrence-Archer is a UK solicitor specialising in strategic litigation at the intersection of data protection/privacy law, public law, AI and new technologies. He acted for Tanya O’Carroll in O’Carroll v Meta – a case regarding the right to object to online direct marketing – which settled out of court in early 2025.

Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal

EDRi - Belgium

Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal, PhD, is a policy advisor at European Digital Rights (EDRi) and an expert in data protection and privacy, with a focus on commercial surveillance and the multidimensional virtual harms caused by online tracking. She also specialises in online freedom of expression, examining the role of security forces in content governance.