Important dates for the DSA. Consideration of Christel Schaldemose’s draft report: 21 june 2021. Deadline for tabling amendments: 1 July 2021. Committee vote: 8 November 2021 [more].

As of March 2021, a group of experts for the Observatory on the Online Platform economy will assist the European Commission in monitoring the online platform economy to inform any policy measure for safeguarding predictable, trusted and fair commercial relations online [more].

Following stakeholder feedback and reactions on their progress reports of July 2020, the EU Observatory for the Online Platform Economy publishes its final reports, which will inform the Commission’s work [more].

EDPS approves of the DSA proposal and recommends additional protections regarding content moderation, targeted advertising and recommender systems in order to further safeguard the general public [more].

“The Digital Services Act defines the responsibilities of all digital actors operating in Europe. And the Digital Markets Act will ensure that the online world remains a space of innovation and accessible to all players, big and small. These are just the first steps, and more are following.” [more]

Zaneta Vegnere, part of the cabinet of Valdis Dombrosvski, chair at the Commissioners’ Group on an Economy that Works for People, had a meeting with Facebook Ireland Limited (FB-I) about the free flow of data, including the DSA, DMA and the Transatlantic cooperation in the field of technologies [more]

The adopted DSA pushes for an increased and clarified set of regulations for digital services. The DSA aims to ensure users’ safety from illegal content, goods and services, and to guarantee fundamental rights’ online protection. The feedback can be given by a wider audience. [more]

The complete control of the companies owning such platforms over the online ecosystems results in imbalanced online market competition, while big companies have become gatekeepers between smaller businesses and consumers. The feedback can be given by a wider audience

[more]

The consultation covered issues such as online safety, freedom of expression, fairness and digital economy. The consultation sought to gather views, evidence and data from people, businesses, online platforms, academics, civil society, and all interested parties to help shape the future rulebook of digital services. [more]

The Commission proposed two sets of regulations – Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. Margrethe Vestager emphasized that the updated set of rules will ensure safe consumption and competition online. (190 characters). [more]

“The DSA is an opportunity to get the legal framework right -to address concerns in the online space while ensuring innovative services can thrive and citizens feel protected. Going forward, we urge policy-makers to keep the delicate balance and the overall purpose of the e-Commerce Directive in mind when considering what is really needed for the future.” [more]

This paper focuses on the potential need for an oversight structure to ensure the effectiveness of the Online Responsibility Framework for internet users. We believe that a robust governance system is required and that oversight is not just advisable, but is a necessary component of the DSA. [more]

This paper focuses on the potential need for an oversight structure to ensure the effectiveness of the Online Responsibility Framework for internet users. We believe that a robust governance system is required and that oversight is not just advisable, but is a necessary component of the DSA. [more]

The Commission sent reasoned opinions to Belgium, Hungary and Romania regarding their failure to notify the Commission with information related to the identification of operators of essential services due 9/11/18. It is needed to assess the consistency different Member States take when identifying operators of essential services [more].

Plenary of European Parliament votes in favor of a report that claims a prohibition of personalised, targeted advertisement within the frame of the Digital Services Act. The Commission intends to work out a proposal which considers this and other reports passed by the European Parliament until the end of 2020 [more].

EU Commission considers a blacklist of banned behavior and a whitelist of obligations in four key services: app stores, marketplaces and social networks, which all come under “online intermediation services; online search engines; operating systems; and cloud services [more].

The EU plans to strengthen public scrutiny of platforms proportionally. Besides ex-ante regulation, an evaluation system is considered. Stakeholders and the public can rank and evaluate platforms according to their record of tax payments or removal of illegal/harmful content in order to improve supervision [more].

Arcep urges the EU to adopt ex-ante regulation on structuring platforms. Arcep proposed a toolkit of “remedies” that draws inspiration from the telecoms sector. If some of these remedies can be applied to every large digital platform, in a targeted, case-by-case and proportionate fashion [more].

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission issued a report on ‘Cybersecurity – our Digital anchor. A European perspective’. It looks at the growth of cybersecurity over the last 40 years and identifies where the EU could improve in this field, for the benefit of businesses and citizens

 [more].

The second edition of this online policy conference, organized by the event management company ForumEurope, gathered several important stakeholders, among which Evelyne Gebhart, Shadow Rapporteur for the DMA Initiative, and Richard Feasey, Senior Advisor of the Centre on Regulation in Europe. The main topics of discussion were the scope and the criteria of the DMA, the proposal’s impact on competition in Europe and the role of the European Commission as enforcement body [more].

The European Commission launched a pilot project in the framework of the Journalism Trust Initiative, coordinated by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF). The aim is to design, test, and launch a self-assessment tool for media outlets online [more].

The public is invited to provide feedback on the Recommendation of 2011 on digitising cultural material and digital preservation. The aim is to propose a more appropriate policy instrument to support the digital transformation of cultural heritage [more].

Luxury goods pressure for a ban of counterfeit goods on social networks. “There shouldn’t be anything controversial about removing illegal goods and it’s in everyone’s interest to address this issue,” said Michelle Gibbons, the director general of the European brands association AIM [more].

The public is asked to provide feedback for 4 weeks in order to identify the scope of the DSA in regulating large online platforms as gatekeepers and ensuring that markets impacted by them remain fair and competitive [more].

While Zuckerberg called for Western democratic governments to set standards for platform regulation around the world, Breton warned him more regulation facing Facebook, should the platform fail to meet concerns about its business practices and its policies on inter alia hate speech and disinformation [more].

This report aims to provide input on the elements which should be included in the DSA from a fundamental rights and data protection perspective. [more]

This report provides recommendations on adapting commercial and civil law rules for commercial entities operating online. [more]

The survey collects public opinion on topics such as disinformation, data sharing and AI. Commissioner Thierry Breton described the findings as a “strong signal” that the EU’s digital strategy is perceived as “the right way to go”. [more].

Statements about the meeting include: “Facebook cannot push away all the responsibility” (Věra Jourová), “it’s not for us to adapt to those companies, but for them to adapt to us” (Thierry Breton) [more].

Ursula von der Leyen becomes president of the European Commission. Her mandate’s priorities included a new Digital Services Act to increase Europe’s liability and safety rules for digital platforms [more].