EU Proposes Digital Services Act to Balance Content Moderation and Free Speech
The European Union's new Digital Services Act (DSA), proposed on December 15, 2020, seeks to balance content moderation and freedom of expression. It aims to replace the e-Commerce Directive and define rules for digital services in the EU.
The DSA focuses on illegal content, products, and services to prevent legal uncertainty. However, it challenges the 'country of origin' principle, which could fragment the EU Single Market and create more red tape for national businesses.
The DSA proposes EU-wide harmonization of the 'notice-and-action' mechanism and voluntary 'own-initiative' investigations for digital intermediaries. It maintains the ban on general monitoring obligations for these services. The act also encourages more transparency from digital intermediaries, but EU policymakers must balance this with the protection of operators' trade secrets.
Several EU member states have developed parallel initiatives, such as Germany's Network Enforcement Act and France's amendment to the draft legislation on political separatism. The success of the DSA will depend on its enforcement, and the implementation period should be extended to allow for substantial changes from digital intermediaries. Concerns include the potential disencouragement of digital services from scaling up due to heavy burdens on 'very large online platforms'.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a significant step towards harmonizing content moderation rules across the EU. It aims to balance freedom of expression with the need to combat illegal activities online. However, its success will rely on effective enforcement and striking the right balance between transparency and the protection of trade secrets.
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