19 online businesses and search engines, including Bing and Google, have been named by the EU Commission as those that must abide by new transparency and accountability rules by August. New content filtering guidelines under the Digital Services Act will apply to 19 significant online platforms and search engines.
Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs), both of which have more than 45 million users in the EU, are subject to a special regime according to legislation that was passed last year.
The 17 businesses that the EU Commission classified VLOP in its announcement on Tuesday include Amazon Store, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Bing and YouTube. Wikipedia and Google Search are the VLOSEs.
The businesses that the Commission has listed will have until August 25 to adhere to the DSA's entire new set of requirements. These commitments cover a range of features aimed at empowering users, such as the option to reject recommendation systems based on user profiles; enhancing the protection of children; implementing more stringent content moderation procedures to assist combat misinformation; and enhancing transparency and accountability.
The designated platforms and search engines must demonstrate to the EU Commission by the deadline in August that they have successfully modified their systems, resources, and business practices to become compliant. They also need to have established an independent system of compliance and completed and submitted to the Commission their first annual risk assessment.
Fines of up to 6% of a company's global revenue will be assessed for noncompliance with the DSA.
The DSA, which was passed by the European Parliament in April 2022, establishes new guidelines for internet firms on how to protect European users against online misinformation and unlawful goods, services, and content.
New EU rules for internet giants
In addition to outlining duties to safeguard children and combat misinformation, the law forbids user targeting based on their sexual orientation, gender, or religion, the use of so-called "dark patterns" to deceive users, and deceptive web design that tempts them to click on online content against their better judgment.
Margrethe Vestager, the competition commissioner for the Commission, made comments that were uploaded alongside the statement. According to him, the whole logic of the regulations is to ensure that technology serves for people and the societies. The Digital Services Act will increase platforms' and search engines' accountability and transparency in meaningful ways while giving users more control over their online lives. The designations announced today are a significant step in that direction.