On Saturday 23rd March, European Union lawmakers developed an agreement on basic structure of the legislation aimed at reducing the negative impacts of the social media sites and other digital platform.
This agreement was came to picture after the more than 16 hours of negotiations. This new legislation named Digital Services Act (DSA) led by European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to gain some level of control in Alphabet unit Google, Meta, and different US tech giants.
"With today's agreement we ensure that platforms are held accountable for the risks their services can pose to society and citizens." European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager
"With today's agreement we ensure that platforms are held accountable for the risks their services can pose to society and citizens." European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager
“The DSA will upgrade the ground rules for all online services in the EU,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement. “It gives practical effect to the principle that what is illegal offline, should be illegal online. The greater the size, the greater the responsibilities of online platforms.”
According to a summary issued by the European Commission, platforms that reach more than 10% of the EU's population will be subject to independent audits of the efforts to prevent system exploitation, under the DSA. Other actions the bill would take include encouraging online marketplaces to assist in identifying sellers of illicit goods, establishing means for consumers to flag illegal goods, services, or content, and requiring platforms to collaborate with "trusted flaggers."
The DSA is one of two pillars of the EU's big tech-regulation revamp, whose draft was announced initially in December 2020. The Digital Markets Act, the other pillar, obtained preliminary approval last month and is intended to address issues such as anti-competitive behavior. Both measures are still up to a final vote, but no major modifications are expected. The EU has also passed the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which is intended to offer consumers more control over the collecting and sharing of their personal data.
The additional requirements, according to EU legislation, include eliminating illegal content more promptly, explaining to users how their algorithms function, and taking greater action against the spread of misinformation.
Major tech companies have expressed their support to the EU's goals, however they see the specifics of the legislation as the key deciding factors.
"As the law is finalized and implemented, the details will matter," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "We look forward to working with policymakers to get the remaining technical details right to ensure the law works for everyone." In addition to its massive search engine, Google owns top video site YouTube.
Twitter said it looks forward to reviewing the DSA in detail and working with the EU. "We support smart, forward thinking regulation that balances the need to tackle online harm with protecting the Open Internet -- while also understanding that a one-size-fits all approach fails to consider the diversity of our online environment," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.
TikTok said it's also awaiting details on the legislation. The company supports the EU's "aim to harmonise the approach to online content issues" and welcomes the DSA's "focus on transparency as a means to show accountability," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
Amazon pointed to comments made this past June by James Waterworth, its EU public policy director. Waterworth said Amazon supports the DSA "introducing regulated obligations to ensure that services act against illegal content." But such obligations "need to be carefully balanced to provide certainty while allowing flexibility."