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：推荐系统用于在各类事务中提供相关建议。尽管这些系统是经典的研究课题，但目前关于公众对其认知的了解仍十分有限。由于已知这些系统会引发多种问题，公众意见尤为重要。为此，本文对欧洲普通公民、民间社会团体、企业及其他群体关于推荐系统的认知进行了定性分析。所研究的数据集基于近期欧盟（EU）颁布的《数字服务法案》（DSA）征询过程中提交的回复意见。因此，本文不仅有助于解决关于新技术和在线平台监管的紧迫问题，还揭示了DSA政策制定的内在洞见。定性分析结果显示，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，这些系统还导致多种社会问题，甚至包括对民主的威胁。此外，欧盟现行法规因缺乏有效执行而被普遍视为失效。征询受访者提出了大量改进建议，但仅有少数最终被纳入DSA。