New obligations and bans have been placed on the digital giants to limit their abuse of power; The European Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a major EU regulation that calls for order “far westfrom the internet.
The new legislation was already the subject of an agreement between co-legislators in the spring and must still receive final approval from member states in the coming weeks. As a global pioneer, Europe can inspire other countries, including the United States.
The Digital Regulation consists of two texts presented by the Commission in December 2020 and negotiated for just over a year. On the one hand, the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), which should stop Gafam’s anti-competitive practices: Google, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Amazon and Microsoft. On the other hand, Digital Services Regulation (DSA), which aims to regulate online content by forcing major platforms to respect laws and cooperate with regulators.
The first was approved by 588 votes (11 against, 31 abstentions), and the second by 539 votes (54 against, 30 abstentions) at the plenary session held in Strasbourg during the voting of the members of the European Parliament.
“New sheriff in town!»
“Digital became a bit like a western, there were no real rules to the game, but now there’s a new sheriff in town.DSA rapporteur, Danish MEP Kristel Schaldemos (S&D, Social Democrats) announced on Monday evening.
DMA marks a change in philosophy in combating abuse of large platforms.
After years of ineffectually pursuing the crimes of these multinationals in endless court proceedings, Brussels wants to go above and beyond by imposing twenty rules on them that must be respected under compelling fines. The purpose: to act quickly and efficiently before abusive behavior destroys the competition.
“No longer the European Commission, but the companies themselves must prove that they allow free competitionstressed German MP Andreas Schwab (EPP, right), DMA rapporteur.
The legislation establishes Commission oversight of all domains of these giants, regardless of the size of the target, to limit the capture of innovation and innovation aimed at destroying a competitor.
Google, in particular, will be prohibited from showing any preference in its search engine results over its own services, as it is accused of doing with the online sales site Google Shopping. The new law would also prevent Amazon from using data generated by corporate customers on its websites to better compete with them.
Independent audits
The second part, DSA, aims to put an end to the excesses of social media that often make headlines. The text also applies to sales platforms that are filled with fake or defective products that could be dangerous, such as children’s toys that do not meet safety standards.
The new regulation will require the rapid removal of any illegal content (according to national and European laws) as soon as the platform becomes aware of it. This will force social networks to suspend offending users.”often“law.
The DSA will force online sales sites to verify the identity of their suppliers before offering their products.
It is compellingvery large platforms“the counters”more than 45 million active users» in the EU to assess the risks associated with the use of their services and take appropriate measures to remove problematic content. They will be forced to be more transparent about their data and recommendation algorithms.
They will be checked once a year by independent organizations and placed under the supervision of the European Commission.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.