Last straight line for the Digital Services Act (DSA): the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached an agreement on Friday night on this text initially presented at the end of 2020.
The text provides several obligations for digital service platforms to protect their users.
End of trialogue
This agreement paves the way for a promulgation of the text and puts an end to the trialogue stage, the phase of negotiation between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The text must now be approved at technical and linguistic level, before a final formal approval of the text by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.
Once this approval has been obtained, the text will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the official journal of the EU, then the rules laid down by the DSA will apply 15 months later.
The main provisions planned by European legislators under the DSA relate to various areas, ranging from algorithmic transparency to the removal of illegal content and new rules on online advertising.
New obligations for platforms
In its press release announcing the agreement, the European Parliament thus presents the new rules introduced by the DSA according to three distinct purposes:
The first part concerns the “accountability of online platforms” and provides for several measures aimed at encouraging regulated players to disclose information to the supervisory authorities on the operation of their recommendation algorithms, to ensure the rapid removal of illegal content and to ensure safeguards are in place to respect fundamental rights online. The DSA intends, for example, to prohibit the use of “dark patterns” – service designs aimed at misleading users about the content.
The second part aims to offer a “safer” space for users, by informing them about the use that will be made of their personal data to display targeted advertising, as well as about the recommendation systems used by the platforms.
Finally, a third component focuses mainly on dangerous content and misinformation, asking the major platforms to assess the risks and submitting to audits each year. Finally, the text provides for emergency provisions, which may be imposed on the largest platforms in times of crisis.
Heavy penalties considered
To ensure the goodwill of the platforms concerned, the DSA provides for penalties of up to 6% of turnover for online platforms and search engines.
Smaller companies will have additional time to apply the new rules, in order to facilitate their compliance.