News hardware Internet: the EU adopts strict rules, what does it change for you on Instagram, TikTok…

Anything that is prohibited offline must be prohibited online

Under discussion since 2020, the new
digital services legislation
(Digital Services Act – DSA) was finally adopted by the European Union as a whole, namely the Member States, the Commission and finally the Parliament, which all agreed to enact an online environment principle safe and responsible.

After the RGPD and the DMA, responsible respectively for protecting personal data and attacking anti-competitive practices, the DSA is therefore a 3 major rule of regulation of the net which tends to protect users, in the same way as they are. in real life. Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market and former Minister of Economy and Finance, sums it up as follows: “Anything that is prohibited offline, must be prohibited online”.

What are the main objectives of the DSA?

At the heart of this regulation, new restrictions and above all obligations for very large platforms with more than 45 million active users within the European Union. This should initially concern about twenty companies, starting with the famous GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft) but also Tik Tok, Instagram or Twitter with regard to social networks or even e-commerce like Zalando or Booking to recite nobody else but them.

Concretely, all these companies will have to protect their users by themselves assessing the risks related to the operation and use of their services, but also put all the necessary means in place to respond quickly and effectively to a problem or a threat.

For social networks, the objective is simply to put an end to the many excesses that pollute the discussion channels and which have been able to push adolescents to suicide or to eradicate campaigns and hateful comments. The new law will force to withdraw “promptly” any form of illegal, discriminatory or hateful content as well as suspend and report the authors to the authorities.

Still according to Thierry Breton, “With great power comes great responsibility”.

E-commerce also in the sights of the DSA

If social networks are the first targeted by these measures, the big e-commerce players like Amazon, Zalando, Booking, etc. are also under the obligation to review their operation and their policy, by adopting new measures which aim to protect consumers, in particular by obliging these sites to check the identity and the goods of their suppliers before offering them for sale on their platforms. Exotic Market Places that sell non-EU certified products are particularly in the crosshairs of the commission.

Source: European Commission

All companies targeted by the DSA will be placed under the supervision of the European Commission and will be subject to an audit once a year by independent bodies. In the event of serious and repeated breaches, companies are exposed to penalties of up to 6% of their overall turnover as well as bans on operating within the EU.

The final word for Thierry Breton: “With the DSA, the days when large digital platforms could behave as they pleased due to their power are over.“Amen.