Recommender systems are used to provide relevant suggestions on various matters. Although these systems are a classical research topic, knowledge is still limited regarding the public opinion about these systems. Public opinion is also important because the systems are known to cause various problems. To this end, this paper presents a qualitative analysis of the perceptions of ordinary citizens, civil society groups, businesses, and others on recommender systems in Europe. The dataset examined is based on the answers submitted to a consultation about the Digital Services Act (DSA) recently enacted in the European Union (EU). Therefore, not only does the paper contribute to the pressing question about regulating new technologies and online platforms, but it also reveals insights about the policy-making of the DSA. According to the qualitative results, Europeans have generally negative opinions about recommender systems and the quality of their recommendations. The systems are widely seen to violate privacy and other fundamental rights. According to many Europeans, these also cause various societal problems, including even threats to democracy. Furthermore, existing regulations in the EU are commonly seen to have failed due to a lack of proper enforcement. Numerous suggestions were made by the respondents to the consultation for improving the situation, but only a few of these ended up to the DSA.

翻译：推荐系统被用于在各领域提供相关建议。尽管这些系统是经典研究课题，但公众对其认知仍存在知识缺口。由于推荐系统已知会引发多种问题，公众意见同样至关重要。为此，本文对欧洲普通公民、民间社会组织、企业及其他群体对推荐系统的认知进行了定性分析。研究数据集基于近期欧盟（EU）颁布的《数字服务法案》（DSA）公开咨询所提交的答复。因此，本文不仅回应了关于新技术与在线平台监管这一紧迫议题，还揭示了DSA政策制定的内在洞察。定性分析结果表明，欧洲人对推荐系统及其推荐质量普遍持负面看法。这些系统被广泛认为侵犯隐私及其他基本权利。许多欧洲人认为，这些系统还引发了各类社会问题，甚至对民主构成威胁。此外，欧盟现行法规因缺乏有效执行而被普遍视为失效。咨询答复者提出了诸多改善建议，但仅有少数最终被纳入DSA。