European Union: What will change with the Digital Services Act?

The Digital Services Act (DSA) regulates the activities of digital service providers within the EU from this Saturday. The new rules, together with the Digital Markets Act, are intended to create more protection for Internet users within the European Union. The DSA applies in all EU member states without the need for further national implementation by the member states.

All questions at a glance: Who is affected by the new DSA rules?
What changes for users as a result of the DSA? Does the DSA prohibit personalized advertising?
Could the DSA make it easier to identify fake news?
How should the DSA requirements be monitored and enforced? Who is affected by the new DSA rules?

All companies that offer digital services in the EU must adhere to the rules in the DSA. Specifically, the law affects internet providers, hosting providers, cloud services, social networks, messengers and online marketplaces.

More rules apply to online platforms than to hosting providers. The strictest rules must be followed by “very large platforms”. These are companies that have more than 45 million monthly users, which means they reach more than ten percent of people in the EU.

What changes for users as a result of the DSA?

The DSA gives internet users concrete rights to be able to defend themselves against online platforms or other users. Online platforms must provide appropriate complaint procedures.

For example, companies must remove sexual violence against children or terrorist propaganda more quickly than before. They should also prevent the spread of false information and partially disclose the algorithms behind the prioritization of content and personalized advertising.

In addition, content or user profiles on online platforms cannot now simply be deleted. In the future, providers will have to explain openly and comprehensibly why they have deleted content or accounts. Users of the online platform can then have this decision-making process reviewed through legal means.

“This law will curb surveillance advertising, hate, hate speech and disinformation, it will strengthen the rights of users and hold online platforms accountable like never before,” said digital expert and deputy chair of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, Alexandra Geese. “This is the first important step to defend our democracy against the business practices of Google, Meta, TikTok and Co..”

Online marketplaces such as Amazon or Ebay are obliged to remove counterfeit products or dangerous toys as much as possible and to warn buyers. In addition, companies must regularly report to the EU Commission to what extent their platforms endanger mental health or freedom of expression.

Does the DSA prohibit personalized advertising?

The DSA also contains new rules for online advertising. Article 24 of the DSA prohibits targeted advertising that exploits the data of minors. In the future, adults will no longer be allowed to be shown advertising based on sensitive personal data. These include, for example, health data and all information that suggests sexual orientation, political opinions or religious beliefs.

Could the DSA make it easier to identify fake news?

False or misleading information about politics could affect people’s opinions and voting behavior. Especially when they are presented as truth by a seemingly neutral authority such as a search engine.

An investigation by AlgorithmWatch and AI Forensics shows that a third of the answers from Microsoft’s AI-powered search engine Bing Chat to questions about the elections in Bavaria, Hesse and Switzerland in October 2023 contained factual errors. The misinformation included incorrect election data, outdated candidates or even fabricated scandals.

AlgorithmWatch now plans to request information about internal data from Microsoft based on the new rules. “Through the DSA we can access data that was previously inaccessible for our research,” said Oliver Marsh of AlgorithmWatch, according to a statement. “This may allow us to see the true extent of the disinformation through Bing Chat and see whether Microsoft’s countermeasures have made a difference.”

How should the DSA requirements be monitored and enforced?

Enforcement of the requirements of the Digital Services Act is primarily the responsibility of the member states. Only the monitoring and enforcement of the DSA against very large online platforms and search engines is carried out by the EU Commission.

EU member states must designate responsible bodies for the enforcement of the DSA. The authorities should then be able to take action against provider violations and impose appropriate penalties. In Germany this is probably the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA).

However, it will still take some time until all coordination offices are fully operational – including in Germany. The Federal Network Agency will probably not be legally appointed as Digital Services Coordinators until April or May. In Germany, the DSA will be implemented in the future through the planned Digital Services Act.

If the companies do not comply with the requirements, they face a penalty of up to six percent of their global annual turnover.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) regulates the activities of digital service providers within the EU from this Saturday. The new rules, together with the Digital Markets Act, are intended to create more protection for Internet users within the European Union. The DSA applies in all EU member states without the need for further national implementation by the member states.

SOURCE