EU rules policing digital content kick in today; harsh punishments for violation
- Digital companies will have nowhere to hide after the EU’s landmark content law enters into full force with the risk of heavy fines for any violations.
Key Highlights
- The new rules, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), kicked in last year for the world’s largest platforms
- Including Facebook and TikTok, but will now apply to all except the smallest companies.
- When the European Union proposed the law in 2020, the objective was simple:
- To tame the wild west online, where Brussels felt companies were not doing enough to block illegal content or acting sufficiently to protect consumers.
- Brussels has already bared its teeth, showing the tech titans that it means business.
- There have been a wave of probes launched by the European Commission to quiz the largest platforms on how they are addressing an array of concerns from consumer protection to children’s activity online.
- So far, the EU has launched formal infringement proceedings against tech billionaire Elon Musk’s X over “illegal content and disinformation”.
- Punishment for violations of the DSA will be harsh.
- Those that breach the rules could be fined up to 6% of their global annual turnover, or even banned in the EU for serious and repeated violations.
- The EU will officially be able to hit companies with sanctions, including fines, for any violations
- The DSA has faced a slew of legal challenges from Amazon and Zalando over their designations as “very large” firms, and from Meta and TikTok over a fee to pay for enforcement.
Prelims Takeaway
- Digital Services Act
- EU