It’s no news the European Union has been working on digital security and internet motorization, taking us while back when article 13 was approved. Internet being a wild place with little or no motorization the rules on content management and privacy have been tightening up to provide everyone a safer environment. This is where The Digital Services Act comes in the picture.
DSA is a new legislative framework to tackle challenges like the sale of fake products, spreading of hate speech, cyber threats, limiting of competition and market dominance. To put it plain and simple is what will help moderating all type of content that may be malicious or predatory in EU servers and give all user better protection. With that, comes bag of rules the European commission wants to implement.
With this new set of rules EU want to implement some things will change, such as, Tech companies will be held more responsible for content on their platforms, with requirements to beef up flagging and removal of illegal content like hate speech or dodgy goods and services sold online.
Online platforms will have to be more transparent about their algorithms on the recommendation system (we’re talking about either videos, posts, products, etc). And there was also the proposition of giving users the option of turning recommendations off or using third-party systems.
Of course, this is not as easy as it sounds, and the European commission can’t turn rules into law out of thin air. It needs to be approved by member countries first. And that’s the discussion on the table right now.
Danish lawmaker Christel Schaldemose says she’s optimistic and a deal will be made before the end of June. This said deal will be regarded to proposed tech rules forcing online platforms to better police the internet despite differences in their approach.
How will this affect Big Tech exactly? Well, once those rules become a practice in Europe, Tech companies will be forced to apply them on their services The new law will affect platforms and online intermediaries used by hundreds of millions of Europeans on the daily. They include social, app stores, video and music sharing platforms like YouTube and Spotify, online accommodation sites like Airbnb, and other digital marketplaces. Companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft Netherlands’ Booking and China’s Alibaba will be the target of these laws.
Nothing has been settled until now, but most likely will be the future of platforms and online intermediaries.
Carolina São Marcos
