The European Union’s (EU) new Digital Services Act will apply on Saturday to all online platforms that operate in the community and have more than 45 million users, six months after a transition period.
“February 17 [sábado]The Digital Services Act, the EU regulatory framework which aims to make the online environment safer, fairer and more transparent, begins to apply to all online intermediaries in the Union,” the European Commission recalled this Friday in a statement.
This community legislation came into force in August and applied to 19 online platforms and two very large search engines as they have over 45 million monthly users, but in the meantime three more have been added and all are now “must comply with general obligations” from Saturday.
In a note published this Friday, Brussels recalls that these large platforms “will be monitored at Member State level by an independent regulator who will act as the national coordinator of digital services”, and EU digital service coordinators will be responsible for “ensuring that these platforms follow the rules.”
“Digital Services Coordinators and the Commission will form an independent advisory group, the European Digital Services Council, to ensure that the law is applied consistently and that users across the EU enjoy the same rights, no matter where they are located. Online platforms are being created. “, they say in the institution.
Since late August last year and after an adjustment period, the EU has become the first jurisdiction in the world to have rules for digital platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, which will now be required to remove illegal content.
These obligations stem from the entry into force of the EU Digital Services Act, under which the Commission initially identified 19 very large online platforms with 45 million monthly active users that would be required to comply with the new rules, including AliExpress. Amazon, Apple AppStore, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube and Zalando.
They add two very large search engines such as Bing and the Google search tool.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has added video platforms Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos to the list of sites that must comply with the new Digital Services Act, which requires the removal of illegal content and the protection of minors.
The new Digital Services Act was created to protect the fundamental rights of online users and is an unprecedented law in the digital space that holds platforms accountable for illegal and harmful content, namely misinformation.
Companies that do not comply with this new legislation may face fines proportional to their size, with larger companies subject to penalties of up to 6% of their global turnover.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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