Europe’s Regulations for Tech Giants Google, Facebook, TikTok and Others to Take Effect – Explaining the Details

Some of the largest technology companies, including Google, Facebook, and TikTok, are currently confronting a significant initiative in Europe aimed at purifying the online content that users come across.

The first phase of the European Union’s ground-breaking new digital rules comes into effect this week. The Digital Services Act is part of a technology-focused code drawn up by the 27-nation bloc, which has long been a world leader in cracking down on tech giants.

The DSA, which the major platforms must begin on Friday, is designed to keep users safe online and prevent the spread of harmful content that is either illegal or violates the platform’s terms of service, such as promoting genocide or anorexia. It also aims to protect the basic rights of Europeans, such as privacy and freedom of speech.

Some online platforms, which could face billions in fines if they don’t comply, have already started to make changes.

Here’s a look at what’s happening this week:

WHICH PLATFORMS ARE AFFECTED?

So far 19. They include eight social media platforms: Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat.

There are five online stores: Amazon, Booking.com, China’s Alibaba AliExpress and Germany’s Zalando.

Mobile app stores Google Play and Apple’s App Store are targeted, as well as Google Search and Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

Google Maps and Wikipedia complete the list.

what about OTHER ONLINE COMPANIES?

The EU list is based on figures provided by the platforms. Those with at least 45 million users, or 10 percent of the EU population, face the highest level of regulation under the DSA.

However, Brussels insiders have pointed out some notable omissions from the EU list, including eBay, Airbnb, Netflix and even PornHub. The list is not final and it is possible that other platforms may be added later.

All companies providing digital services to Europeans will eventually have to comply with the DSA. However, they have fewer obligations than the biggest platforms and still have six months before they have to respond.

Citing uncertainty related to the new rules, Meta Platforms, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has postponed the launch of its Twitter rival Threads in the EU.

WHAT IS CHANGING?

Platforms have started introducing new ways for European users to report illegal online content and dodgy products, which companies must remove quickly and objectively.

DSA “will have a significant impact on the experience Europeans have when they open their phone or turn on their laptop,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s head of global affairs, said in a blog post.

Meta’s current tools for reporting illegal or violating content are easier to use, Clegg said.

Amazon opened a new channel to report suspected illegal products and provides more information about third-party merchants.

TikTok gave users an “additional reporting option” for content, including advertising, that they believe is illegal. Categories such as hate speech and harassment, suicide and self-harm, misinformation or fraud and scams help them identify the problem.

Then a “new dedicated team of moderators and legal experts” will determine whether the flagged content is either against its policies or illegal and should be removed, according to the app from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

TikTok says that the reason for the removal will be explained to the publisher of the material and the person who reported it, and decisions can be appealed.

TikTok users can turn off systems that recommend videos and posts based on what the user has previously watched. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat users have similar options. Such systems have been accused of leading social media users to increasingly extreme posts.

The DSA prohibits the targeting of advertisements to vulnerable groups of people, including children.

Snapchat said advertisers can’t use personalization and optimization tools for teens in the EU and UK. Snapchat users 18 and older would also gain more transparency and control over the ads they see, including “details and insights” into why they’re being shown certain ads.

TikTok made similar changes, preventing users between the ages of 13 and 17 from receiving tailored ads “based on activity on or off TikTok.”

IS THERE A STOP?

German online fashion retailer Zalando has launched a legal challenge to its inclusion in the DSA’s list of the largest online platforms, claiming it is being treated unfairly.

Nevertheless, Zalando is launching content notification systems on its website, even though there is a small risk of illegal material appearing among its highly curated collection of clothes, bags and shoes.

The company has supported the DSA, said Aurelie Caulier, Zalando’s director of EU public affairs.

“It’s going to make a lot of positive changes” for consumers, he said. But “in general, Zalando does not have the systemic risk (that other platforms do). That’s why we don’t think we fall into that category.”

Amazon has brought a similar case to the EU’s highest court.

WHAT HAPPENS IF COMPANIES DON’T FOLLOW THE RULES?

Officials have warned tech companies that violations could result in fines of up to 6 percent of their global revenue – which could run into billions – or even a ban from the EU. However, don’t expect to be immediately penalized for individual infractions, such as not removing a particular video promoting hate speech.

Instead, DSA is about whether tech companies have the right processes in place to reduce harm to users of their algorithmic recommendation systems. Basically, they need to let the European Commission, the EU’s executive body and leading digital enforcer, look under the hood to see how their algorithms work.

EU officials “are concerned on the one hand about user behavior such as bullying and spreading illegal content, but they are also concerned about the way platforms operate and how they contribute to negative impacts,” said associate professor Sally Broughton Micova. at the University of East Anglia.

This also includes looking at how the platforms work with digital advertising systems that could be used to profile users for harmful material such as disinformation, or how their streaming systems work that could be used to instantly distribute terrorist content, said Broughton Micova, who is also an academic. central director at the Center on Regulation in Europe, a Brussels-based think tank.

Large platforms need to identify and assess potential system risks and whether they are doing enough to mitigate them. These risk assessments must be completed by the end of August, after which they will be independently audited.

Inspections are expected to be the main tool for verifying compliance – although the EU’s plan has been criticized for a lack of detail, leaving it unclear whether the process will work.

what about the REST OF THE WORLD?

Changes in Europe can have global effects. Wikipedia adjusts some policies and changes its terms of use to provide more information about “problematic users and content”. These changes are not limited to Europe, but “will be implemented globally,” said the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the community-powered encyclopedia.

“The rules and processes that govern Wikimedia projects worldwide, including any changes in response to the DSA, are as general as possible,” it said in a statement.

Snapchat said its new reporting and complaints process for illegal content or flagging accounts that violate its rules will be rolled out first in the EU and then globally in the coming months.

It will be difficult for tech companies to limit changes related to DSA, Broughton Micova said, adding that digital ad networks are not isolated to Europe and that social media influencers can have a global reach.

The rules apply to “multi-channel networks that operate globally. So there will be a ripple effect when you have some kind of mitigations that are put in place,” he said.