It should be noted that these regulations still have to go through a series of mechanisms for them to come into force. Now that they are already approved in the European Parliament, it will be necessary for them to also pass through the European Council. Once they are approved in both, the two regulations will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and will enter into force twenty days after their publication. Once published in it, the Digital Services Law it will begin to apply in 15 months or from January 1, 2024, the date that comes later. On the other hand, the Digital Markets Law will begin to apply 6 months after it appears in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Digital Services Act or DSA
What this new norm is looking for is regulate the liability of intermediaries in the digital world. This law consists of a series of regulations that are aimed at these entities that are used by millions of European citizens on a daily basis. Among these entities that we mention we can find the following:
- brokerage services: These offer network infrastructure such as Internet access providers.
- Data hosting services: such as cloud services and web hosting.
- online platforms: bring together sellers and consumers, such as online marketplaces, app stores, sharing economy platforms, and social media platforms.
- Very large online platforms: these plan special risks in terms of dissemination of illicit and harmful content for society.
These laws will apply to all intermediaries that provide their services in the single market, whether they are established in the EU or outside it. Micro and small businesses will have obligations in proportion to their capacities and dimensions, without forgetting their obligation to render accounts.
As we will see just below, one of the objectives of this new Digital Services Law is to improve the mechanisms used to eliminate illegal content, in addition to the effective protection of the fundamental rights of users, including freedom of expression. In addition, the Law introduces a series of measures for the supervision of large platforms that reach at least 10% of the population of the European Union.
Among the measures established in this new Law, these are the highlights:
- Quick removal of illegal content
- More responsible and safe markets, with greater controls on businesses that operate on the Internet
- A stronger fight against fake news
- Transparent content recommendation systems
- Tighter control of targeted advertising
- Possibility of access to its algorithms
- Independent evaluations and audits
Digital Markets Law or DMA
The main objective of this Digital Markets Law is to prevent the so-called gatekeepers impose unfair conditions on companies and end users, as well as guarantee the openness of the most important digital services. Any company that plays a particularly important role in the internal market due to its size and importance is considered a gatekeeper. To be considered an access guard, you must comply with three cumulative conditions: a size that affects the internal market, control of an important gateway between professional users and end consumers and a strong and lasting position in the market.
If one of these gatekeepers does not comply with the rules, the Commission may impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s total annual worldwide turnoveror even 20% in case of repeated infringements, in addition to regular penalty payments of up to 5% of the company’s total worldwide daily turnover.
Among the most important measures proposed by this new Law, we find the following:
- It will be prohibited for companies to give preferential treatment on their platforms to their own services and products to the detriment of third parties.
- The need to have an explicit consent to use targeted advertising.
- Full freedom will be given to use any browser, search engine or virtual personal assistant.
- Messaging services like those from Meta or Apple will need to be open and interoperable with other smaller platforms.
- The mergers and acquisitions that occur will be closely monitored by the Commission to prevent concentrations from occurring that limit digital competition.