Brussels The EU Commission wants to subject the 19 largest Internet providers to strict new rules. In addition to US industry giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and several offers from Google, the companies also include the German fashion retailer Zalando. The Chinese video platform Tiktok also has to adapt to the tightened regulations in Brussels.
“With size comes responsibility,” said EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on Wednesday. Companies have until August 25 to meet the requirements. Breton announced that the Commission will help companies to implement it.
A stress test of the new control systems was agreed with Twitter boss Elon Musk for the end of June. Tiktok also agreed to a stress test. In the future, the selected online services will be legally classified as “Very Large Online Platforms”, or Vlops for short.
With the decision, the Commission is applying the Digital Services Act (DSA), which was passed last year, for the first time. The DSA is supposed to be a kind of basic law for the Internet.
Brussels has feared for some time that fake news and hate speech have found an ideal place to spread on online platforms. In some Facebook groups or Twitter bubbles, conspiracy theories emerge and hatred escalates – at the expense of the community. Breton warned that the Facebook parent company Meta had to take more action against disinformation.
>> Read here: Truth instead of anger: how the EU is now taming the internet
With the DSA, the EU is choosing a different path than the federal government with the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG). Instead of restricting or even banning certain statements, such as insults or threats, the EU wants to use the DSA to encourage the platforms to use their influence responsibly and to influence the algorithms according to which postings are sorted.
The Commission will be given more responsibility for regulation on the Internet.
(Photo: REUTERS)
The EU member states continue to decide which content is covered by freedom of expression and which is not. An attempt to reach a consensus on this among the 27 states would have been doomed to failure.
The DSA is highly respected worldwide. Politicians from the Democrats in the USA see him as a role model for possible regulation in their own country.
What will change for users of social networks?
All social networks must disclose the criteria they use to display content to their users. Anyone who scrolls through a YouTube feed or reads Twitter messages must be able to roughly understand how the sorting of this content came about. In addition, there are regulations for advertising: Criteria according to which advertising is played out to a specific target group must be recognizable. Targeting advertising to children is prohibited.
In the future, there will also be a ban on ads that are created on the basis of sensitive data such as skin color. In addition, companies must improve child and youth protection and give parents more control over what their children see online.
What distinguishes the big platforms?
Websites with at least 45 million active users are classified as vlops, i.e. “very large online platforms”. The following are initially affected: Alibaba Aliexpress, Amazon Marketplace, Apple App Store, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter, Wikipedia, Youtube and Zalando. Bing and Google Search are considered “very large online search engines”.
In the future, users on these platforms must be able to choose a sorting of the content that is not based on a personal profile that the platform has made of them. Such sorting is already offered on Twitter and Facebook, but not on Instagram and Tiktok.
>> Read here: Europe’s cartel watchdog Margrethe Vestager is fighting Google with new weapons
In addition, providers must disclose information about their algorithms to scientists and authorities. This should enable a better understanding of the dynamics in social networks.
Depending on the provider, users can already select a sorting of the posts that is not based on their personal profile.
(Photo: dpa)
In addition, the platforms must submit risk reports on a regular basis. This is intended to force them to assess the danger of fake news and hate speech and to react to it if necessary. Breton spoke of companies having to take account of the “threats to society” they posed.
The platforms have to implement the new requirements within four months.
How does the Commission intend to enforce the new rules?
In the future, the EU Commission will be responsible for the very large platforms. The supervision of the smaller social networks, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the Member States. If the platforms do not comply with the new requirements, the supervisory authorities can impose penalties.
>> Read here: EU Commissioner Breton threatens Twitter boss Musk with license withdrawal
These can amount to up to six percent of global sales. If the company repeatedly breaks rules, it can even lose its operating license in Europe.
The implementation of the complex DSA provisions is also a test for the Commission. Therefore, the authority also wants to get expertise from outside. To this end, she founded the “European Center for Algorithmic Transparency”, which is intended to collect technical knowledge and help the Commission to identify risks.
More: The EU regulates the Internet – and presents the best law that could happen to the digital