Digital Services Act takes effect for large online platforms
Creating a safer digital space with new rules on privacy, security and data sharing
Today the Digital Services Act (DSA) comes into force for large online platforms, including Amazon, Google and TikTok.
From now on, 19 platforms and search engines with at least 45 million users will have to comply with the DSA rules concerning data collection, privacy, disinformation, online hate speech and more. The law aims to give users of those platforms, including minors, more rights and influence over their accounts and ensure a high level of privacy and security.
What are the new obligations? The large online platforms will have to identify, analyse and mitigate a wide array of systemic risks, ranging from how disinformation can be amplified on their services, to the impact on the freedom of speech. They are also obliged to carry out their first annual risk assessment and share it with the European Commission.
In terms of data protection, the DSA introduces two new restrictions concerning targeted advertising. First, it bans targeted advertising of minors based on profiling. Second, it bans targeted advertising using special categories of personal data, such as sexual orientation or religion.
What’s more, to increase transparency and accountability, the large platforms will have to give access to publicly available data to vetted researchers. The European Commission will further specify the conditions for sharing of data and the purposes for which the data may be used.
Would you like to know more about the DSA? Read the DSA fact page or check out the Q&A sheet.
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