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Edward J. Snowden, via video link, at the Stuttgart Peace Prize ceremony in Germany last year.Credit Thomas Kienzle/European Pressphoto Agency

FRANKFURT — Not long ago the Internet was seen as a clear-cut force for democracy, a way to disrupt state media monopolies and an enabler for citizen uprisings like the Arab Spring.

But in the established democracies of Europe the mood has shifted. The Internet is increasingly seen as a threat to freedom and democracy, a way for governments and companies to spy on citizens or manipulate their behavior.

What people in places like China or Myanmar see as a venue for free speech has become, for many privacy-conscious Europeans, a potential tool of repression.

In a poll commissioned by the European Commission and published in June, 81 percent of respondents said they had only partial or no control over the information they provide online. Only about half trusted European institutions to protect their personal information, and only about a fifth of those surveyed said they trusted online businesses.

Growing European ambivalence about the online world, and the tension between free speech and privacy, has political consequences. It comes amid a debate about changes to European Union data protection rules, which are getting their first overhaul since 1995.

Some citizen groups are pushing for more privacy safeguards, which could lead to tougher restrictions on what kind of information companies can collect online and how they use it. Businesses fear the unexpectedly strong opposition could undercut attempts to harmonize regulations that govern the Internet, which they say is needed to make Europe more hospitable to digital start-ups.

“The Internet is positive for democracy,” said Maryant Fernández Pérez, an advocacy manager for European Digital Rights, a political action group based in Brussels. But, she added, “The negative part is that it creates threats to fundamental rights.” She said that proposed European Union rules did not do enough to protect personal privacy.

Qualms about privacy have not prevented Europeans from using the Internet. A survey last year for the European Commission found that 78 percent of respondents had gone online in the previous three months. In the United States, the comparable figure is 87 percent. In Denmark and some other Scandinavian countries, Internet usage is higher than in the United States. The European Union average was pulled down by poor member countries like Bulgaria and Romania, where only a little more than half of those surveyed had been online recently.

European views toward the Internet probably started turning negative in 2013 after Edward J. Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency in the United States, disclosed documents that showed widespread surveillance of electronic communications.

In addition, the inspirational images of the Arab Spring, with activists using Facebook and Twitter to spread democracy in Egypt or Tunisia, have been overshadowed by sinister uses of the Internet by radical groups like ISIS, which posts videos of beheadings and other atrocities in Iraq and Syria.

“People are taking privacy more and more seriously and see it as more of a concern than a few years ago,” said Bart-Jan van Dijk, vice president at EuroISPA, an industry group that represents European Internet service providers.

He attributed the increased concern to not only the Snowden revelations but also to the growth of social media, and the degree to which people are sharing photos and other aspects of their lives online. “The mere fact that people share more and more personal information on the Internet made them more aware,” he said.

As a result, attempts to rewrite European data protection rules — which are stricter than those in the United States — have run into more opposition than expected. While privacy is a big issue in the United States and other places where Internet usage is strong, Europeans may be especially sensitive. The European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees that “everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her.”

In April, 66 advocacy groups from Europe and other regions wrote a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, accusing the commission of breaking a promise that the new standards would not be less stringent than the 1995 standards. In July, an aide to Mr. Juncker replied with assurances that the commission would honor its earlier commitments.

Business groups fear that citizen opposition will undermine attempts to unify European data protection rules. Fragmented national regulations make it more difficult for companies to operate in multiple countries and may be one of the reasons Europe has never been able to rival Silicon Valley in its ability to spawn digital start-ups or technology giants.

The European Commission estimates that harmonizing rules on data protection and eliminating red tape would save businesses 2.3 billion euros a year, or $2.6 billion.

European views of the Internet could turn positive again if citizens see it can be used as a tool to promote democracy.

In Finland, one of the most technology-savvy countries in the world, an online platform known as Open Ministry lets citizen groups propose legislation to Parliament. The platform takes advantage of a 2012 law that gives citizen proposals the same status as legislation introduced by a member of Parliament, provided backers have collected at least 50,000 signatures (which can be digital signatures) within six months.

“Normally citizens are complaining about everything,” said Joonas Pekkanen, a founder of Open Ministry. “Finally there is a way to not only complain but also do something. That is much more constructive.”

The Open Ministry played an important role in legislation that last year legalized same-sex marriage in Finland. Now Mr. Pekkanen is working on other ways of increasing citizen participation in government.

The relationship between democracy and the Internet is “a work in progress,” said Anthony Zacharzewski, director of The Democratic Society, an organization in Brighton, Britain, that is also working on ways to connect citizens and government digitally.

“There is a lot of suspicion of governments and a lot of suspicion of governments using the Internet,” he said.

People would see the Internet as a force for democracy, Mr. Zacharzewski said, if there were better ways for them to take part in decision-making. For that reason, he said, the platforms that connect citizens to government must be neutral and nonpartisan.

“Governments on their own can’t make this work. You need open institutions in that middle space who can hold the ring in a fair way,” Mr. Zacharzewski said. “The trust issue is huge.”