Why be interested in a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding an Austrian law on social networks? Because the decision of Thursday, November 9 judging the Vienna text “contrary to Union law” could have indirect consequences on French digital bills. Some see this as another signal that these legislative texts would not comply with certain principles of European law, as Brussels had already argued in two letters addressed to the French executive.
“In the fight against illegal content on the Internet, a Member State cannot subject a provider of a communications platform established in another Member State to general and abstract obligations”, wrote the CJEU on Thursday. It agrees with Google Ireland, Meta Platforms Ireland and TikTok, three platforms established in Ireland, which challenged an Austrian law requiring them to put in place mechanisms for reporting and verifying potentially illegal content.
Indeed, according to the directive on electronic commerce of 2000, digital technology is subject to the “country of origin” principle, which entrusts legislation to the country where the service is headquartered. Exceptions must relate to specific cases and be justified by “the protection of public order, public health, public safety or consumers”writes the court.
However, this decision could “weaken French digital regulations” And “have resounding consequences in France”believe Guillaume Froger, lawyer from the Carve law firm, and Yves-Paul Robert, founder of the communications and lobbying firm Plead (Havas group). “The French legislator’s room for maneuver to regulate the digital sector would be significantly limited. And certain legislation in force today – such as the “influencers” law or the law on digital majority and parental control – could be called into question”they write in a small note analyzing the judgment.
Warnings from the European Commission
The message sent by the CJEU is added to other very concrete warnings already sent directly by Brussels to Paris, regarding three legislative texts in the digital sector. The first two, the law governing the activities of influencers on social networks and the text relating to the digital majority, were the subject of a letter from the European Commission in August. In this letter, cited by the site The Informedthe European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, considered in particular that certain provisions of these texts were either in contradiction with the Digital Services Act (DSA), or duplicated measures already provided for by the European regulation.
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