  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.
