Better fight against calls for murder, pedophile images, disinformation campaigns or counterfeit products… The EU concluded, on Saturday April 23, new “historic” legislation to regulate the Internet.
The text, discussed for almost a year and a half, must make very large digital platforms, such as Facebook (Meta) or Amazon, responsible, by forcing them to remove illegal content and to cooperate with the authorities.
The result of this long-term work is presented as the “Digital Services Act” (DSA) and is one of the two parts of a far-reaching plan presented in December 2020 by the Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, and his counterpart in the Internal Market, Thierry Breton. The first part, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which tackles anti-competitive practices, was concluded at the end of March.
“This agreement is historic, welcomed the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Twitter. “Our new rules will protect users online, ensure freedom of expression and opportunities for businesses.”
Today’s agreement on #DSA is historic.
Our new rules will protect users online, ensure freedom of expression and opportunities for businesses.
What is illegal offline will effectively be illegal online in the EU.
A strong signal for people, business & countries worldwide.
—Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 23, 2022
The DSA updates the e-commerce directive, born 20 years ago when the giant platforms were still embryonic. Objective: to put an end to areas of lawlessness and abuse on the Internet.
Remove illegal content
Regarding social networks, they will have to suspend users who “frequently” provide illegal content such as hate speech and fraudulent advertisements.
For online sales sites, they will have to verify the identity of sellers before authorizing them on their platform and block repeat fraudsters. Random checks on their ads will be carried out. The DSA also prohibits misleading interfaces (known as “dark patterns”) which push Internet users towards certain account settings or certain paid services.
For online platforms, with the exception of micro and small businesses, they will have the obligation to “promptly” remove any illegal content as soon as they become aware of counterfeit products, dangerous to health, in accordance with national and European laws.
Online advertising will also be better regulated. The platforms will thus have to allow each user to know the parameters used to target him and to know who is financing the ad. The text also prohibits targeted advertising aimed at minors and that targeting “sensitive” characteristics, such as political leanings or religious affiliation.
Finally, online platforms will have to publish a report once a year detailing in particular the actions put in place to moderate content. They will have to set up a free complaints system to challenge decisions to withdraw information, suspend or terminate an account.
The Gafam concerned
The project also imposes new obligations on “very large platforms”, those with “more than 45 million active users” in the EU, such as Gafam, as well as Twitter, and perhaps TikTok or Booking.
These players must themselves assess the risks associated with the use of their services and put in place the appropriate means to remove problematic content. They will be imposed increased transparency on their data and recommendation algorithms.
They will be audited once a year by independent bodies and placed under the supervision of the European Commission, which may impose fines of up to 6% of their annual sales in the event of repeated infringements. In particular, the DSA prohibits the use of data on political opinions for the purpose of advertising targeting.
A world first
For the Council of the EU, this text “enshrines the principle that what is illegal offline must also be illegal online”.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the EU on Thursday evening to adopt this new legislation to “support global democracy before it is too late. For too long, tech platforms have amplified misinformation and extremism without accountability,” she said.
The American whistleblower Frances Haugen, who denounced Facebook’s passivity in the face of the nuisances of its social networks, had praised in November the “enormous potential” of the DSA which could become a “benchmark” for other countries, including United States.