The European Union agreed on new digital regulations Saturday that will force tech giants to police illegal content on their platforms more aggressively, or else risk billions of dollars in fines.
The Digital Services Act is a landmark piece of legislation that aims to address illegal and harmful content by getting platforms to quickly take it down.
Digital giants would be limited in how they target users with online ads. The DSA would stop platforms from targeting users based on their gender, race or religion. Children will not be targeted with ads.
Dark patterns, deceptive tactics designed to push people toward certain products and service, will be banned.
Tech companies will be required to take down illegal material such as hate speech and child sexual abuse. Under the new rules, e- commerce marketplaces like Amazon have to prevent the sale of illegal goods.
Failure to comply with the rules can result in fines of up to 6% of global annual revenues. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, could face a penalty of as much as $7 billion based on sales figures in 2021.
The Digital Markets Act was approved by EU institutions last month. Both have the threat of hefty fines. The DSA is all about making sure platforms get rid of toxic content quickly.
The law will affect user-generated content sites.
Competition abuses and data privacy have been the subject of a long history of complaints by the city.
The bloc has levied over 8 billion euros in fines against Google for antitrust violations, as well as active investigations into Amazon, Apple and Meta.
The General Data Protection Regulation was introduced in the EU in order to give consumers more control over their information.
As policymakers in Washington wrestle with the question of how to rein in the power of large tech companies and get them to clean up their platforms of harmful content, it came as a result. On Thursday, former President Barack Obama said the tech industry needs regulation.
For too long, tech platforms have amplified misinformation with no accountability.
I urge our allies to push the Digital Services Act across the finish line and bolster global democracy before it's too late.
The implementation of the EU's new rules is not clear. Critics say that implementing such measures will cause technical burdens and raise questions about what is acceptable online.
New laws in the U.K. designed to tackle unsafe content have been heavily criticized by some in the tech industry due to a vague description of the material.
This could limit the freedom of expression online. The British government said it won't require legal free speech to be removed, and that the content will be protected.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
