The Member States of the European Union, the Commission and the Parliament have agreed on a new legislation to better combat the drifts of the Internet such as hate speeches, misinformation or counterfeiting.
Le Monde with AFP
After several months of negotiations, an agreement was found on Saturday, April 23 between the European institutions on the settlement of digital services (“Digital Services Act”, DSA) which will impose on the large platforms, such as Facebook (Meta) or Amazon , to better eradicate the illegal and dangerous contents online, announced on Twitter the European commissioner at the internal market Thierry Breton, the initiator of the project with his colleague at the competition Margreth Vestacier.
“This agreement is historic,” said the President of the Commission, “Ursula von der Leyen,” Our new rules will protect online users, ensure freedom of expression and opportunities for businesses ” . “The DSA is a world premiere in digital regulation,” said the EU Council, which represents the 27 Member States in a statement. The text “comes to devote the principle that what is unlawful offline must also be illegal online. It aims to protect the digital space against the diffusion of illegal content and to guarantee the protection of fundamental rights of users”.
put an end to the drifts
The Digital Services Regulations constitutes one of the two components of a major plan presented in December 2020 by the European Executive. The first component, the Digital Markets Regulations (“Digital Markets Act”, DMA), which attacks anti-competitive practices, was concluded at the end of March.
The DSA, it updates the e-commerce directive, born 20 years ago when the now giant platforms were still embryonic. Its objective is to end the drifts of the social networks that have often tackled the column: Assassination of the Professor of History Samuel Paty in France after a hatred campaign in October 2020; Assault of protesters on the Capitol in the United States in January 2021, partly planned thanks to Facebook and Twitter …
The dark face of the Internet also concerns the selling platforms invaded by counterfeit or defective products, which can be dangerous like children’s toys that do not respect safety standards. The new Regulation establishes the obligation to withdraw “promptly” any illegal content (according to national and European laws) as soon as a known platform. It also compels social networks to suspend “frequently” users the law, and will require online sales sites to control the identity of their suppliers before offering their products.
Obligations for ” very large platforms “
At the heart of the project, new obligations imposed on “very large platforms”, those counting “more than 45 million active users” in the EU, either around twenty companies, whose list remains To be determined but will include Gafam (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft), as well as Twitter, and probably Tiktok, Zalando or Booking.
These actors must themselves evaluate 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 under the supervision of the European Commission that may impose fines up to 6% of their annual sales in the event of repeated offenses.
“In the context of Russian aggression in Ukraine and the particular consequences on the manipulation of online information, a new article has been introduced to put in place a crisis reaction mechanism,” has Indicated the European Council. This mechanism, activated by the decision of the Commission, will take up “proportionate and effective” measures with respect to the very large platforms that would contribute to spreading false information.