Digital Services Act

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a legislative proposal by the European Commission submitted to the European Parliament and the European Council on 15 December 2020. The DSA is one of two proposals of the Digital Services Act package.[1] The second proposal in the package is the Digital Markets Act (DMA) tabled by the European Commission on the same day.[2] The DSA was prepared by the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager and by the European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, as members of the Von der Leyen Commission.[3]

Objective of the DSA

While candidate for President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen proposed in her Political Guidelines for the Next European Commission a "new Digital Services Act".[4] The expressed purpose of the DSA is to update the European Union's legal framework, in particular by modernising the e-Commerce Directive adopted in 2000.[5] In practice, this will mean new legislation regarding illegal content, transparent advertising and disinformation.[6] In June 2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the package to gather evidence open until September 8, 2020.[7][8] Civil society has been calling on EU authorities to ensure that the DSA introduces clear definitions of harmful content in order to address concerns of online violence, including doxing and online gender-based violence faced by users on social media.[9]

New obligations on platform companies

The DSA would improve content moderation on social media platforms to address online violence concerns.[10] The DSA proposal maintains the current rule according to which companies that host other’s data are not liable for the content unless they actually know it is illegal.[11] The DSA would introduce new obligations on platforms to disclose to regulators how their algorithms work, on how decisions to remove content are taken and on the way advertisers target users. Many of its provisions only apply to platforms which have more than 45 million users in the European Union. Platforms including Facebook, Google’s subsidiary YouTube, Twitter and TikTok would meet that threshold and be subjecting them to the new obligations.[12] Companies that do not comply with the new obligations risk fines of up to 6% on their annual turnover.[13]

Next steps

The DSA is currently a legislative proposal. In order to become law it requires the approval by the European Council and the European Parliament, which is expected to take around a year and a half from the time the DSA was proposed by the European Commission in December 2020.[14] In January 2021, the Parliament Internal Market Committee confirmed that the S&D group will lead the DSA in Parliament.[15]

Reactions

It is expected that DSA and DMA will influence parts of how services are provided for Europeans to create a safer and more open Internet.[16]

See also

References
  1. "The Digital Services Act package". Directorate-General CONNECT of the European Commission. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  2. Espinoza, Javier; Hindley, Scott (December 16, 2019). "Brussels'plans to tackle digital 'gatekeepers' spark fevered debate". Financial Times. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  3. "EU Digital Services Act set to bring in new rules for tech giants". BBC News. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  4. Candidate for President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, 'A Union that strives for more: My agenda for Europe' (2019) (PDF).
  5. Stolton, Samuel (2020-08-18). "Digital agenda: Autumn/Winter Policy Briefing". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  6. Espinoza, Javier. "Internal Google document reveals campaign against EU lawmakers". Financial Times.
  7. "Press corner". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  8. "Europe asks for views on platform governance and competition tools". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  9. "Online Violence: Stories from Bulgaria and Spain". EU Scream. October 11, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  10. "The EU's attempt to regulate Big Tech: What it brings and what is missing". European Digital Rights (EDRi). December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  11. "The EU's attempt to regulate Big Tech: What it brings and what is missing". European Digital Rights (EDRi). December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  12. Perrigo, Billy (December 15, 2020). "How the E.U's Sweeping New Regulations Against Big Tech Could Have an Impact Beyond Europe". Time. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  13. Perrigo, Billy (December 15, 2020). "How the E.U's Sweeping New Regulations Against Big Tech Could Have an Impact Beyond Europe". Time. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  14. Tidey, Alice; Lazaro, Ana; Parrock, Jack (December 15, 2020). "Digital Services Act: Brussels vows to 'put order into chaos' of digital world with new tech laws". Euronews. Retrieved December 29, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  15. Stolton, Samuel (2021-01-22). "Digital Brief, powered by Facebook: AI in EU, US tech rundown, Digital Euro plans". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  16. Shead, Sam (2020-12-16). "Facebook criticizes Apple as it welcomes Europe's new tech rules". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
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