EU unveils landmark law to force Big Tech to combat illegal content
- The Digital Services Act will require platforms to swiftly remove harmful content as soon as they are aware of its existence
- A top EU official said the ‘time of big online platforms behaving like they are too big to care is coming to an end’
The Digital Services Act (DSA) – the second part of a massive project to regulate tech companies – aims to ensure tougher consequences for platforms and websites that host a long list of banned content ranging from hate speech to disinformation and child sexual abuse images.
EU officials and parliamentarians finally reached agreement at talks in Brussels on the legislation, which has been in the works since 2020.
“Yes, we have a deal!,” European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton tweeted.
“With the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ is coming to an end. A major milestone for EU citizens,” said Breton, who has previously described the internet as the “Wild West”.
“Today’s agreement on DSA is historic,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.