Digital Service Act Comes into Effect in the EU, Tightening Control Over Big Tech
In the European Union, the Digital Service Act (DSA) comes into effect on Friday, 25th August. This new EU law strengthens oversight over 19 major digital platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, with the aim of combating misinformation and illegal content online, according to a report by Euronews.
According to Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, the large online platforms and search engines have had sufficient time to adapt to the new obligations. Failure to comply with the requirements could result in fines amounting to billions of euros.
The DSA prohibits targeting advertisements at vulnerable categories of people, particularly children.
Now, large platforms and search engines with an audience of over 45 million unique users per month will be required to rigorously monitor the content being posted and pay fees to supervisory authorities.
In case of violations, they could face fines of up to 6% of their annual global turnover. For repeated violations, a complete ban on operations within the European Union is possible.
Currently, the law applies to 19 platforms, including eight social media networks: Facebook (owned by Meta Corporation), TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat.
The law also encompasses five online marketplaces: Amazon, Booking.com, Chinese Alibaba's AliExpress, and German Zalando.
They are joined by mobile app stores Google Play and Apple's App Store, as well as search engines Google and Microsoft's Bing.
Google Maps and Wikipedia round out the list. It is based on the platform's user count.
EU officials state that other companies could be added to the list in the future.
Ahead of the enforcement, platforms have begun deploying new features for European users, marking illegal online content and misleading products, which companies will be obligated to promptly and objectively remove.
Meta has introduced new features and additional transparency measures.
Amazon has established a new channel for reporting potentially illegal products and provides more information about third-party sellers.
TikTok has offered users an "additional reporting option" for content, including advertisements, that they consider unlawful.
Zalando, the German online fashion retailer, has filed a legal suit regarding its inclusion in the DSA list of major online platforms, asserting that it is being treated unfairly. Nonetheless, Zalando is implementing content labelling systems for its website.
Recalling, in May, the EU imposed a record fine of 1.2 billion euros on Meta for transferring European data to the United States, despite the European Court's decision in 2020.