“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 impact assessment report analyses three problems: the increasing risks and harms online, the uncoordinated and ineffective supervision of online platforms in the EU and how member states regulating digital services at national level creates new challenges in the international market [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]

“We encourage a content moderation discussion that emphasises the difference between illegal and harmful content and highlights the potential of interventions that address how content is surfaced and discovered. Included in this is how consumers are offered real choice in the curation of their online environment.” [more]

These guidelines complement the ranking transparency requirements under the EU Platform-to-Business Regulation (P2B). According to Executive VP Margrethe Vestager, these guidelines will “increase fairness in the online platform economy, which drives innovation and welfare for millions of Europeans” [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]

Kristie Pladson: “Unfair practices will help Google destroy its competition before the EU can approve antitrust legislation, a group of businesses has warned. The tech giant says it’s just giving people what they want.” [more]

Karan Bhatia: “At Google, we put innovation and continuous improvement at the heart of everything we do.  While we support the ambition of the DSA to create clear rules for the next 20 years that support economic growth, we worry that the new rules may instead slow economic recovery.” [more]

The European Commission and the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union welcome the political will expressed by all 27 Member States on the next generation cloud for Europe. This secure and competitive cloud offering is essential to provide the trustworthy data processing infrastructure and services that public administrations, businesses and citizens require in Europe [more].

23 September 2020 marked an important milestone for internet users with disabilities. The Web Accessibility Directive has to be implemented by the public sector across the EU, so public websites are accessible for persons with disabilities [more].

Microsoft states any regulation must carefully balance competing interests. It should avoid interventions that could hinder innovation and harm consumer welfare, and it should include procedural and substantive safeguards that protect the rights of defence of those impacted [more]

Google seeks clarification regarding tech company responsibilities and urges the EU to adopt a regulatory approach tailored to the range of services offered by the tech industry [more].

“The independent expert group of the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy has published […] three draft progress reports, and are seeking stakeholder feedback” (until 8 September 2020). They will provide evidence for the Commission’s work on the Digital Services Act [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]

The central topic of the meetings was “Telecon – Preserving the smooth functioning of the internet” [more].

The procedure aims to ensure that the regulation is consistent across the European Union and are applicable to the consultation of the DSA. The consultation mainly targeted the NRAs and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), but it was also open to third-party feedback. [more].

President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the need for more transparency in social media in her op-ed “Shaping Europe’s digital future”: “Big commercial digital players must accept their responsibility, including by letting Europeans access the data they collect.” [more].

In a new white paper, Facebook presented a new regulatory framework in governing online content that strikes the balance in minimizing harm and upholding freedom of speech [more].

Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, committed not to question or modify the limited liability that digital services companies have over content posted on their platforms [more].