Big tech companies like Google and Facebook parent Meta will have to police their platforms more strictly to better protect European users from hate speech, disinformation and other harmful online content under landmark EU legislation approved.
FILE - The logo of Google is displayed on a carpet at the entrance hall of Google France in Paris, Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. European Union officials are nearing agreement on a set of new rules aimed at protecting internet users by forcing big tech companies like Google and Facebook to step up their efforts to curb the spread of illegal content. EU officials were negotiating over the final details of the new legislation, dubbed the Digital Services Act, on Friday, April 22, 2022.
“With the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ is coming to an end,” said EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. The EU’s new rules should make tech companies more accountable for content created by users and amplified by their platforms’ algorithms. “The DSA is nothing short of a paradigm shift in tech regulation. It’s the first major attempt to set rules and standards for algorithmic systems in digital media markets,” said Ben Scott, a former tech policy advisor to Hillary Clinton who’s now executive director of advocacy group Reset.
Tech companies, which had furiously lobbied Brussels to water down the legislation, responded cautiously. The Digital Services Act bans ads targeted at minors, as well as ads based on users' gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. It also bans deceptive techniques companies use to nudge people into doing things they didn’t intend to, such as signing up for services that are easy to opt into, but hard to decline.
Experts said the new rules will likely spark copycat regulatory efforts by governments in other countries, while tech companies will also face pressure to roll out the rules beyond the EU’s borders.
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