The European Union has found a deal “historical” for the Digital Services Act (DSA). At dawn on Saturday 23 April, the Council and the European Parliament reached a political agreement to secure the internet. Hate speech, discrimination, access to fundamental rights, the web giants will have to deal with new rules.
The DSA is the European Digital Services Act. Its main objective is to better regulate content and platforms on the internet, to protect European citizens and make the web fairer. ” Today’s agreement on DSA is historic. What is illegal offline will be illegal online in the EU said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
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The Digital Services Act, a historic agreement
This text concerns a wide range of companies and platforms. Are particularly affected, companies offering network infrastructures, such as operators, as well as online platforms, such as marketplaces, application stores, or social networks. The DSA also applies to cloud services and of course to large platforms and companies defined as gatekeepers, including the current GAFAM.
The DSA agreement is historic in several respects. First, it is a new stone brought to the regulation of digital space. The DSA has a sister text, for which an agreement was reached a few weeks before, the DMA (Digital Market Act). What are the differences between the two? The DMA is part of a logic of prevention and preservation of competition. It more clearly defines which platforms are systemic. Some, by their size, the presence on many markets and the large number of consumers, represent real gateways to the Internet. To prevent them from harming markets and consumers, the DMA lays down a number of rules that apply only to these giants, these famous gatekeepers.
The DSA, for its part, focuses on the content delivered by or rather on these gatekeepers with obligations proportionate to their size. Thus, the largest companies would be obliged to share data with European regulators, while only a few rules of transparency and cooperation with the authorities apply to the smallest of them. This text therefore represents an unprecedented regulation of the Internet.
Then, the procedures for the Digital Services Act and the DMA went quickly, very quickly even, for the European Union: they were almost adopted in just 15 months. It is in line with the GDPR, on December 15, 2020, that the European Commission, through the voices of Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton, presented these two regulatory texts for the digital space. As a reminder, it took 4 years for the GDPR to be adopted.
” Yes, we have an agreement! With DSA, the days of big online platforms behaving like they’re too big to care are coming to an end. “, reacted the European commissioner Thierry Breton.
Yes, we have a deal!
With the #DSAthe time of big online platforms behaving like they are “too big to care” is coming to an end.
A major milestone for ??citizens.
Congratulations to the European Parliament & Council and thank you to the great EU team working countless hours! pic.twitter.com/jmCoZMQ3lO
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) April 23, 2022
What are the rules set by the DSA?
The DSA arouses less the ire of the major platforms than the DMA. The text does indeed include some positive points for them, such as preventing each European country from implementing its own legislation. However, this regulation and its rules concern giants such as Facebook, Twitter or Google, but not only.
Because of its importance, the DSA includes a number of key measures. Among them, some aim to fight against discrimination and illegal content. Platforms and search engines will have to remove illegal content quickly. They should also make it easier for users to report such content. The DSA also provides for the implementation of a traceability system on marketplaces, to best monitor sellers of illegal products. Finally, any national authority may request the removal of illegal content, regardless of where the platform is present in Europe.
Platforms will also need to be more transparent about how their algorithms work. An expected measure and which refers to the algorithms of social networks, often singled out for problems of discrimination and control.
User rights and their protection are one of the priorities of this regulation. Finished therefore the conditions of use of ten pages and made up of small lines. Users should be able to better understand these conditions, which should be simpler and more readable. Users will be able to challenge moderation more easily and the rules for suspending an account will need to be more specific. Also note the ban on targeted advertising aimed at children.
In the event of non-compliance with the DSA, the companies concerned can be fined up to 6% of their worldwide turnover. The fine may be accompanied by a ban on operating on the European Union market in the most serious cases. This text still needs to be formally adopted, now that a provisional agreement has been reached between the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. It should then come into force on January 1, 2024.