Digital Services Act

From 2023, the EU wants to regulate digital services via the Digital Service Act. With this law, it is taking back some control over the digital world. All the news on the EU Digital Service Act from the Table.media editorial team. What is the EU Digital Service Act? The EU Digital Service Act (DSA for short) provides for stricter regulations for digital service providers in the future. The Digital Services Act primarily means that illegal content, goods and services will be removed from online platforms more quickly. This will strengthen users' rights and make internet companies more accountable. The measures of the Digital Service Act not only cover illegal content, but also content that is considered "harmful". This implies fake news. The EU is thus creating a uniform legal framework for digital services and against systematic manipulation and disinformation. The EU Parliament adopted the draft Digital Service Act in January 2022. Negotiations with the EU Commission and the EU member states will now follow. The new internet law will then be binding for digital services from 2023. The negotiating parties have not yet reached an agreement, so news on the Digital Service Act is still pending. The EU's Digital Service Act replaces the E-Commerce Directive, which has been in force since 2000. Until now, there have been major national differences between the individual member states. The EU wants to harmonize these. This is the European Union's response to growing digitalization – after all, digital technology has changed fundamentally since the early '00s. What are the aims of the Digital Services Act? According to the EU Commission, the overarching aim of the Digital Services Act is to improve the protection of fundamental and human rights on the internet. By describing the DSA as a basic law for the Internet, the EU is strengthening the Internet as a fundamental right. At the same time, the Digital Service Act aims to strengthen competition in the European single market. What does the Digital Service Act contain? The most important content of the EU Digital Service Act is the fight against illegal content, services and goods. Things that are prohibited offline should also be prohibited online. In addition, these should be reported and removed more quickly in future to protect EU citizens. With the Digital Service Act, the EU is also improving reporting procedures. This would also strengthen freedom of expression. Users would be informed more quickly about content they have deleted and would be able to defend themselves against it if necessary. For example, social media platforms would be less able to censor content or delete accounts without further ado. What measures does the Digital Service Act entail? In addition to content, the European Union also wants to control algorithms more closely. Major internet giants such as Meta and Google are to make transparent how their algorithms work and to what extent they potentially influence users. Platforms would also no longer be allowed to use personal information for user profiles. Internet companies are therefore generally obliged to be more transparent. Manipulative practices such as the so-called "dark pattern" are being discussed particularly intensively in the course of the DSA. This refers to certain online designs that deceive consumers to their disadvantage. This could be a cookie banner, for example, where the color scheme makes rejection less likely. Such and other maneuvers are to be penalized with up to six percent of annual turnover in the future. What is the content of the European Union's digital strategy? In combination with a second digital law, the Digital Market Act, the European Union wants to break up monopolies on the Internet. At the same time, the EU wants to boost competition. One measure will presumably be that tech giants will no longer be allowed to favor their own offerings. For example, Google would no longer be allowed to pre-install Google applications on Android cell phones. To summarize the Digital Service Act as part of the EU digital strategy, it can be said that the European Union is taking a first step towards regaining control over digital services on the Internet. Who does the Digital Service Act apply to? Basically, all providers on the internet are affected by the EU Digital Service Act. This includes social media platforms and online marketplaces such as Zalando. However, different obligations apply depending on the role, size and range of influence. Influential companies whose online platforms reach more than 10% of the EU population will be subject to particularly strict rules. This includes Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon. What criticism is there of the Digital Service Act? The German Digital Economy Association has criticized the Internet Act. It creates a lack of legal certainty and raises questions about data protection. However, criticism is not only coming from the business community: politicians on the right have criticized that the Digital Service Act's approach to so-called hate speech could massively restrict freedom of expression. Platforms such as YouTube also fear disadvantages. Due to the new transparency rules, the platform would have to send huge numbers of notifications to video creators every day. As a result, the criteria under which videos are classified as harmful would be revealed and the system could be abused with this knowledge. On the other hand, the digital association Bitkom praised the DSA for protecting consumers better. Table.Media provides summaries of the Digital Service Act as well as analyses and classifications. The Table.Media editorial team also provides important news about the Digital Service Act.