European Parliament adopt Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act
The European Parliament adopted the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. The former imposes obligations on service providers to combat illegal content, while the latter focuses on large platforms by regulating practices like targeted advertising and data access. The Council of the European Union will make the final decision on formal adoption of the acts.
The European Parliament put both the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to a final vote and has now adopted both acts. The DSA sets clear obligations for digital service providers to make “what is illegal offline, should be illegal online”, with extra obligations for Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and very large search engines. New obligations include strengthening reactive mechanisms against illegal content and goods, increasing traceability and checks on traders on online marketplaces, enhancing transparency and accountability of platforms, and banning misleading practices and certain types of targeted advertising. The DMA has a specific focus on large online platforms, or the “gatekeepers”, setting out a list of do’s and don’ts for them. Gatekeepers now have to enhance third-party interoperability with their own services and allow business users to access the data that they generate. Gatekeepers could no longer engage in targeted advertising without consent, self-preferencing and dark patterns. The Council of the European Union will determine if the two acts are formally adopted next.
Sources: European Commission, European Parliament
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