New Digital Services Act (DSA). If you follow the news, you have surely heard of this political agreement which was presented in December 2020 to the European Parliament. Finally, two years later, this new law was approved.
Now that Elon Musk owns Twitter and that it seems that the social network could change a lot in relation to issues such as the so-called freedom of expression misunderstood, this new law reaches the European Union like May water.
It is a law that has a lot to do with the content in line and certain actions on the Internet. For this reason, today that we live in a world where the big network accompanies us wherever we go, it is normal that we wonder if the Digital Services Act can affect us in any way.
Below, we’ll tell you: what this law is really about, who may be affected, what’s illegal now, and whether the DSA can really be an obstacle to free speech or, precisely, the opposite.
What exactly is the Digital Services Act?
Let’s start with the most important, that is, let’s explain what this law consists of. To give you an idea, the key points are:
- Protect internet users
- Set standards for platform accountability in line regarding illegal content
- More transparency for large companies on their algorithms and the data collected
- More responsibility of big companies on illegal content such as hate speech and, also, on misinformation
This means that the EU intends to regulate the activities of companies in line so that its users are better protected when using the Internet. This will include a series of measures against illegal products, services and content. On the other hand, it is the companies that will have more legal responsibility for this protection to be fulfilled.
Who is affected by the Digital Services Act and how?
It will affect any Internet user, whether an individual or a company. However, the former will be more protected and the latter will be those who will have to work with greater responsibility. When we talk about companies, we mean the biggest in the world in line especially, like: Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Amazon or Google.
How will this affect them? First, large companies will also have to submit to annual audits as well as provide access to the data they collect on their platforms to third parties dedicated to research. That means: more transparency in the information they collect.
On the other hand, the famous and mysterious algorithms, those that everything influencer or communication professional in line fight to dominate, they must also be accessible by the authorities. The reason has to do with being able to guarantee a higher level of control and being able to be held responsible if this algorithm misses hate crimes or any other type of illegal content.
Claudia Prettner, legal and policy adviser at Amnesty Tech, explains perfectly in the following paragraph the essence of this law:
“Our most intimate data has long been used to undermine our right to privacy, escalate misinformation, fuel racism and even influence our own ideas and opinions. LSD will finally protect European citizens from intrusive data collection and advertisements that use personal information – such as religious beliefs, political opinion or sexual preferences – in ways we never imagined or intended. .
What makes this new law illegal?
These large digital companies (because the measures will have more or less weight depending on the size of the company) will be responsible for the spread of illegal content. They should have clear procedures in place for their removal in the event that this happens.
The Digital Services Act claims that what is illegal offline be illegal too in line.
It will be illegal not to moderate the content of platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, which is already done, although it is well known to its users that such moderation does not usually work with too much precision. Well, now companies may have to pay the consequences of not exercising proper moderation of content posted on their digital platforms.
On the other hand and, with reference to the previous aspect, digital companies must also moderate against misinformation. And above all, take your responsibilities in this regard. After all, misinformation can have very harmful effects on our society.
Thanks to this law, the use of minors’ data to offer them personalized advertising is prohibited. A measure that aims to protect the youngest Internet users. Ultimately, as Prettner explained about mining our private data, it’s important to keep in mind that while advertising can be a form of manipulation, minors should stick to it. difference.
On the other hand, now users will be able to claim compensation for damages if they are users of the services in line.
Does the Digital Services Act affect free speech? Was this law necessary?
When it comes to content regulation, it seems that the most neoliberal social groups raise their hands to their heads shouting: “Censorship! “. However, it is essential to understand that for freedom of expression to work properly, it is necessary to respect other fundamental rights, such as respect for your right to honor or to your own integrity. It is well known that hate speech violates the fundamental rights of some people, therefore, for freedom of expression to work properly, it must be regulated.
It was a debate very similar to the one that opened up when Twitter has decided to close Donald Trump’s account after the capture of the Capitol in early 2021.
Another debate that is opening thanks to the Digital Services Law is also that of the right to communicate and receive truthful information, a right enshrined in the Spanish Constitution.
When this article of the Constitution was drafted, we certainly did not know that the Internet was going to become a main source of information for the vast majority.
Thus, while the media sees its content legally regulated in order to guarantee the right of citizens to receive truthful information, social networks and other digital platforms are less regulated.
Disinformation, or this avalanche of fake news which certain political parties end up taking advantage of, can have very harmful effects on our society. This flow of unverified and often false information makes us psychologically and socially much more susceptible to manipulation.
If our society becomes a mass of manipulable individuals, then what good is democracy? For this reason, being able to receive truthful information is a right. And, surely for this same reason, the European Union has realized that it should start to intervene, to regulate and to make sure that the companies of digital platforms start to understand themselves as entities responsible for the content that is published there. . After all, the Internet has become for many people the most important source of information in their daily lives.
It is surely one of the many laws to come so that the Internet and the world of social networks will eventually become a much less hostile and fairer world for everyone.
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