This text, which has been discussed for nearly a year and a half, should make massive digital platforms, for example Facebook (Meta) or Amazon, responsible by forcing them to remove illegal content and collaborate with authority.

This agreement is historicEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to Twitter: Our new rules will protect users online, ensure freedom of expression and opportunities for businesses.

The Regulation of Digital Services (Digital Services ActDSA) is one of two parts of a major plan presented in December 2020 by Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, and her Internal Market counterpart Thierry Breton.

The first part, the regulation of the digital market (Digital Markets LawDMA), which discusses anti-competitive practices, was completed at the end of March.

ang Digital Services ActDSA, he updates the directive on electronic commerce, which was born 20 years ago when giant platforms were still embryonic. Goal: to end areas of lawlessness and abuse on the Internet.

The plethora of social networks often hits the headlines. Assassination of history professor Samuel Paty in France after a hate campaign in October 2020; attacks by protesters against the Capitol in the United States in January 2021, partly planned thanks to Facebook and Twitter …

Remove immediately any illegal content

The dark side of the Internet also has to do with sales platforms being attacked by counterfeit or defective products that could prove dangerous, such as children’s toys that do not meet safety standards.

The new regulation stipulates an obligation to withdraw immediately any illegal content (according to national and European laws) once a platform is aware of it. This forces social networks to suspend infringing users often the law.

ang Digital Services ActDSA will force online sales sites to verify the identity of their suppliers before offering their products.

It also prohibits fraudulent interfaces (dark pattern) directing Internet users to certain account settings or to certain paid services.

GAFAM, Twitter …

At the heart of the project, new obligations imposed on massive platformsthe important ones more than 45 million active users in the EU, i.e., approximately twenty companies, the list of which remains to be determined but which includes GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft), as well as Twitter and perhaps TikTok or Booking.

These players must personally assess the risks associated with using their services and implement appropriate measures to remove problematic content. They will impose greater transparency on their data and on their recommendation algorithms.

They are audited once a year by independent bodies and placed under the supervision of the European Commission, which can impose fines of up to 6% of their annual sales in the event of repeated violations.

ang Digital Services ActDSA the use of political opinion data for advertising targeting purposes is specifically prohibited.

This text is the world’s first in terms of digital regulation, which underlined in a press release the Council of the EU, which represents the 27 Member States of the Union. He upholds the principle that illegal offline should also be illegal online.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked the EU on Thursday night to adopt this new law support global democracy before it’s too late.

” For too long, tech platforms have fostered misinformation and extremism irresponsibly. “

History is currently unfolding! For the first time, the public will be able to ask independent questions about the operation platform, cheered American whistleblower Frances Haugen, who denounced Facebook’s futility in the face of the nuisances of its social networks.

A reference for other countries

Come on, USA, now let’s gohe added, saying he believes that Digital Services ActDSA can be a benchmark for other countries.

In the context of the war in Ukraine, lawmakers added crisis response mechanism to act proportional and efficient against massive platforms that would contribute to disinformation campaigns, the European Council said.

For its part, the lobby of large digital companies, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), said on Saturday that it estimated thatsome important details has to be clarified so that the final law allows all businesses, large and small, to comply with the rules of conduct.