Today, the Commission adopted the first designation decisions under the Digital
Services
Act<https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act-package>
(DSA), designating 17 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and 2 Very Large
Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) that reach at least 45 million monthly active
users. These are:
Very Large Online Platforms:
* Alibaba AliExpress
* Amazon Store
* Apple AppStore
* Booking.com
* Facebook
* Google Play
* Google Maps
* Google Shopping
* Instagram
* LinkedIn
* Pinterest
* Snapchat
* TikTok
* Twitter
* Wikipedia
* YouTube
* Zalando
Very Large Online Search Engines:
* Bing
* Google Search
The platforms have been designated based on the user data that they had to
publish by 17 February 2023.
Next steps for designated platforms and search engines
Following their designation, the companies will now have to comply, within four
months, with the full set of new obligations under the DSA. These aim at
empowering and protecting users online, including minors, by requiring the
designated services to assess and mitigate their systemic risks and to provide
robust content moderation tools. This includes:
* More user empowerment:
* Users will get clear information on why they are recommended certain
information and will have the right to opt-out from recommendation systems
based on profiling;
* Users will be able to report illegal content easily and platforms have
to process such reports diligently;
* Advertisements cannot be displayed based on the sensitive
data<https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/legal-grounds-processing-data/sensitive-data/what-personal-data-considered-sensitive_en>
of the user (such as ethnic origin, political opinions or sexual orientation);
* Platforms need to label all ads and inform users on who is promoting
them;
* Platforms need to provide an easily understandable, plain-language
summary of their terms and conditions, in the languages of the Member States
where they operate.
* Strong protection of minors:
* Platforms will have to redesign their systems to ensure a high level
of privacy, security, and safety of minors;
* Targeted advertising based on profiling towards children is no longer
permitted;
* Special risk assessments including for negative effects on mental
health will have to be provided to the Commission 4 months after designation
and made public at the latest a year later;
* Platforms will have to redesign their services, including their
interfaces, recommender systems, terms and conditions, to mitigate these risks.
* More diligent content moderation, less disinformation:
* Platforms and search engines need to take measures to address risks
linked to the dissemination of illegal content online and to negative effects
on freedom of expression and information;
* Platforms need to have clear terms and conditions and enforce them
diligently and non-arbitrarily;
* Platforms need to have a mechanism for users to flag illegal content
and act upon notifications expeditiously;
* Platforms need to analyse their specific risks, and put in place
mitigation measures – for instance, to address the spread of disinformation and
inauthentic use of their service.
* More transparency and accountability:
* Platforms need to ensure that their risk assessments and their
compliance with all the DSA obligations are externally and independently
audited;
* They will have to give access to publicly available data to
researchers; later on, a special mechanism for vetted researchers will be
established;
* They will need to publish repositories of all the ads served on their
interface;
* Platforms need to publish transparency reports on content moderation
decisions and risk management.
By 4 months after notification of the designated decisions, the designated
platforms and search engines need to adapt their systems, resources, and
processes for compliance, set up an independent system of compliance and carry
out, and report to the Commission, their first annual risk assessment.
Risk assessment
Platforms will have to identify, analyse and mitigate a wide array of systemic
risks ranging from how illegal content and disinformation can be amplified on
their services, to the impact on the freedom of expression and media freedom.
Similarly, specific risks around gender-based violence online and the
protection of minors online and their mental health must be assessed and
mitigated. The risk mitigation plans of designated platforms and search engines
will be subject to an independent audit and oversight by the Commission.
A new supervisory architecture
The DSA will be enforced through a pan-European supervisory architecture. While
the Commission is the competent authority for supervising the designated
platforms and search engines, it will work in close cooperation with the
Digital Services Coordinators in the supervisory framework established by the
DSA. These national authorities, which are responsible as well for the
supervision of smaller platforms and search engines, need to be established by
EU Member States by 17 February 2024. That same date is also the deadline by
which all other platforms must comply with their obligations under the DSA and
provide their users with protection and safeguards laid down in the DSA.
To enforce the DSA, the Commission is also bolstering its expertise with
in-house and external multidisciplinary knowledge and recently launched the
European Centre for Algorithmic
Transparency<https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_2186>
(ECAT). It will provide support with assessments as to whether the functioning
of algorithmic systems is in line with the risk management obligations. The
Commission is also setting up a digital enforcement ecosystem, bringing
together expertise from all relevant sectors.
Access to data for researchers
Today, the Commission also launched a call for
evidence<https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13817-Delegated-Regulation-on-data-access-provided-for-in-the-Digital-Services-Act_en>
on the provisions in the DSA related to data access for researchers. These are
designed to better monitor platform providers' actions to tackle illegal
content, such as illegal hate speech, as well as other societal risks such as
the spread of disinformation, and risks that may affect the users' mental
health. Vetted researchers will have the possibility to access the data of any
VLOP or VLOSE to conduct research on systemic risks in the EU. This means that
they could for example analyse platforms' decisions on what users see and
engage with online, having access to previously undisclosed data. In view of
the feedback received, the Commission will present a delegated act to design an
easy, practical and clear process for data access while containing adequate
safeguards against abuse. The consultation will last until 25 May.
Background
On 15 December 2020, the Commission made the
proposal<https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2347> on
the DSA together with the proposal on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) as a
comprehensive framework to ensure a safer, more fair digital space for all.
Following the political
agreement<https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_2545>
reached by the EU co-legislators one year ago, in April 2022, the DSA entered
into force<https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_6906> on
16 November 2022.
The DSA applies to all digital services that connect consumers to goods,
services, or content. It creates comprehensive new obligations for online
platforms to reduce harms and counter risks online, introduces strong
protections for users' rights online, and places digital platforms under a
unique new transparency and accountability framework. Designed as a single,
uniform set of rules for the EU, these rules will give users new protections
and businesses legal certainty across the whole single market. The DSA is a
first-of-a-kind regulatory toolbox globally and sets an international benchmark
for a regulatory approach to online intermediaries.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_2413
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