A year ago, the European Commission proposed a European framework for digital services and markets, the “Digital Services Act” and “Digital Markets Act”. The two projects regulating the online environment aim to prohibit illegal practices of digital giants. They could come into force as early as 2022.
On December 15, 2020, the European Commission published the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), two draft regulations establishing a new regulatory framework on the online practices of platforms and digital giants.
These new rules aim to make the online environment safer for consumers and restore fair competition in digital markets that have been skewed by some of the unfair practices of large online platforms.
The two projects have a triple societal, economic and competitive objective: to fight against the dissemination of illegal or harmful content; to ensure that digital markets remain innovative and open to competition; and to ensure that commercial relations between the major players and their business partners remain balanced and fair.
“The rules governing the provision of digital services in the EU have remained largely unchanged since the adoption of the e-commerce directive in 2000, while digital technologies and business models continue to evolve rapidly and new societal challenges emerge, such as the spread of counterfeit goods, hate speech and misinformation online,” said the European Parliament, which is behind these initiatives.
“The DMA is an ambitious and innovative text that has the potential to create a true standard that can be transposed globally.”
Franz Fayot
Putting an end to the irresponsibility of the Internet giants
The Digital Services Act establishes a framework of responsibilities for digital platforms with regard to the significant risks they pose to their users in the distribution of illegal, dangerous or counterfeit content and products. Their services (intermediaries, hosting services, online platforms) are particularly targeted.
The public authorities will be able to control the algorithms used by the major platforms, for example.
The Digital Markets Act establishes a new regulatory model based on a system of graduated asymmetric obligations harmonized at the EU level, adequately targeting the largest Internet players. The aim is to ensure transparency, accountability and regulatory oversight of the EU’s online space,” the EU institution continues.
For example, the text prohibits large online shopping platforms from prioritizing their own services or products over competitors. Another provision obliges them to share certain data with their business users, for more transparency regarding online advertising.
“Ambitious and innovative”
On November 25, Luxembourg’s Minister of Economy Franz Fayot met with his European counterparts in Brussels at a “Competitiveness Council” to approve the dual draft.
“The DSA will set a new European standard for more effective regulation of Internet content and greater accountability of platforms in the fight against the amplification of harmful content online,” he said. “The DMA is an ambitious and innovative text that has the potential to create a true standard that can be transposed globally.”
According to the Minister, the harmonization of rules is essential for Luxembourg, “to address pan-European issues and to deepen the functioning of the Internal Market.” These regulations should be adopted by the beginning of 2022.
