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by Martin Coulter
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – More than a dozen of the world’s biggest tech companies face unprecedented legal scrutiny as the EU’s sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces new rules on content moderation, user privacy and transparency. implements.
From Friday, several internet giants – including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms, Apple’s online app store and a handful of Google services – will face new obligations in the EU to prevent the spread of harmful content, some user- Including banning or limiting targeting. practice, and sharing certain internal data with regulators and relevant researchers.
The EU is seen as the global leader in tech regulation, with more comprehensive legislation such as the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act forthcoming. The bloc’s success in enacting such laws will likely influence the introduction of similar regulations around the world.
But researchers have questioned whether these companies have done enough to meet lawmakers’ expectations.
For now, the rules only apply to the 19 biggest online platforms, which have more than 45 million users in the EU. However, from mid-February, they will be applicable across various online platforms, regardless of size.
Any company found to be in breach of the DSA can be fined up to 6% of its global turnover, and repeat violators can be banned from operating in Europe altogether.
Reuters asked each company designated under the DSA to discuss the changes they have made. Most pointed to public blog posts on the matter, declined to comment further, or did not respond at all.
The two companies initially selected for regulation – e-commerce giant Amazon and German fashion retailer Zalando – are currently challenging their inclusion on the list in court.
“We can expect platforms to fight back with full force to protect their practices,” said Kingsley Hayes, head of data and privacy litigation at law firm Keller Postman. “Especially when new compliance regulations encroach on their core business model.”
stress testing
Over the past few months, the European Commission said it had offered to conduct DSA “stress tests” with 19 platforms.
A spokesperson for the commission said such tests assessed whether these platforms could detect, detect and mitigate systemic risks such as disinformation.
At least five platforms have participated in such trials – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat. In each case, the commission said more work needed to be done to prepare for the DSAs.
Now, as the rules go into effect, research published Thursday by nonprofit Echo shows that Facebook was still approving online ads containing harmful content.
The organization submitted 13 ads containing harmful content for approval, including one inciting violence against immigrants and another calling for the assassination of a prominent Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
Acko said Facebook approved eight of the submitted ads within 24 hours and rejected five. The researchers removed the ads before they were published, so no Facebook users saw them.
In response to the Echo research, Meta said, “This report was based on a very small sample of ads and is not representative of the number of ads we review daily around the world.”
This year Global Witness, another non-profit, claimed that Facebook, TikTok and Google’s YouTube have approved all ads that incite violence against the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in Ireland.
Responding to Global Witness research, both Meta and TikTok said at the time that hate speech had no place on their platforms, and that they regularly review and improve their processes. Google did not respond to a request for comment.
tricky business
Although none of the named companies have said they will disobey the DSA, Amazon and Zalando have disputed their inclusion on the list.
In July, Amazon filed a legal challenge at the General Court in Luxembourg, Europe’s second largest, arguing that larger rivals in these countries had not been designated.
It also just introduced a number of new features as part of its DSA compliance program, such as a new channel for users to report incorrect product information.
Fashion retailer Zalando mounted a similar legal challenge, arguing that because only 31 million monthly active users on its platform shopped from third-party sellers, it fell below the 45 million user threshold.
It will soon become clear, Hayes said, whether any of the named companies have “evaded their legal responsibilities”. “Meeting these obligations will be a difficult task for any platform with a large user base.” (Reporting by Martin Coulter; Editing by Josie Cao)
Source: finance.yahoo.com
