Facebook and Google are more than a social network and a search engine but robust platforms; an overarching medium where users inhabit. With this exponential horizon, the companies that run them have mostly been enjoying a monopoly to formulate the rules in these digital platforms. However, it is said that these will lose much of this sovereignty when the rules of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) are enacted. So, not just in Europe, but worldwide, what does this mean for internet users?
The EU aims to change the oversight of large online platforms with the DSA and its sister legislation, the Digital Markets Act, will also be phased in over the coming months. Till date, regulators have tried to fix problems which hovered around the spread of disinformation and violations of antitrust rules. By setting clear rules that online platforms must follow, these new enacted laws will be meant to help them get ahead of the game.
The DSA will apply to all online businesses. However, platforms with more than 45m users in the EU will have to follow extra rules. In April the European Commission showcased the EU’s executive branch segregation of various platforms with respect to “very large online platforms" (VLOPs) and “very large online search engines". This group will include the usual suspects, such as Facebook and Google. Furthermore, the group will also include surprising companies such as Wikipedia, which is a free online encyclopedia, and Zalando, a European e-commerce site.
Some of the crucial information that platforms have to show with regulators on how they moderate content, decide what users see and use artificial intelligence. To check if they are following the rules, they must allow vetted researchers and auditing firms to look at internal data.
Other changes which will be more notable as platforms must now make it easy for users to report content they think is illegal. The said platform has to remove it quickly if it breaks the law and also tell users if their content is removed or hidden, and also explain why.
Further, based on sensitive personal data such as religion and sexual orientation, it should be very critical to carry out ethical targeted advertisements. The law will also prohibit the usage of personal data when it comes to showing ads to children.
