The European Union is preparing to adopt a first-of-its-kind law on digital services, a draft of which has been discussed by the European Parliament. The initiative aims to make the Internet safer for citizens, protect them from illegal content, including unsafe or unauthorized products, while ensuring their freedom of expression online. This was announced by Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the European Commission.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, noted that a new system of control over the Internet is being created on four points. Clear rules are proposed for the removal of anything illegal from the digital space, be it goods, services or content, based on the simple principle that “what is forbidden offline must also be forbidden online.
New risk-based obligations are also being introduced on major platforms, similar to prudential rules for banks. The EC will have supervisory and sanctioning powers: fines of up to 6% of annual turnover or even temporary exclusion from the internal market in case of serious and lasting violations.
The EC also plans to introduce transparency measures on platforms to understand the mechanisms that target users with certain content or advertisements.
The EC will ensure that all of these rules are applied uniformly across the EU to prevent platforms from operating from countries that are considered more “benign. The rules apply to all players, European or not.