What is the EU's Digital Services Act?

The new regulation aims to clean up the Internet for people living in the European Union

Image by Hans from Pixabay (with added blue filter)

At a glance, The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a regulation in EU law to update the Electronic Commerce Directive 2000 in regards to illegal content, transparent advertising, as well as disinformation.

Below is an implementation timeline:

Image credit: European Commission

Here are a few key points:

• Online platforms have until February 17 to declare how many Europeans use their services.

• Under the supervision of the European Commission, platforms and search engines with over 45 million EU users will be required to comply with requirements beginning this summer, including removing illegal content, limiting disinformation, and better protecting young users

• So far, the biggest platform is YouTube with 401.7 million active monthly users. The biggest search engine is, of course, Google Search with 332 million active monthly users.

• Fines of up to 6% of worldwide revenue and possibly a ban from participating in the EU market will be enforced if major violations are repeated.

This is an ambitious plan from the EU and it will be interesting to see how Big Tech companies will adapt in the long run.