A new working paper from the CAIDA GMI3S project summarizes key aspects of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), providing insight into how the EU plans to regulate large online platforms and services.

The DSA is intended to create a safer and more transparent online environment for consumers by imposing new obligations and accountability on companies like Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon. The regulations target issues like illegal content, disinformation, political manipulation, and harmful algorithms. Systemic societal risks, like disinformation and political influence campaigns, are a major focus of the regulations.

Some key takeaways from the DSA overview:

• Very large online platforms and search engines face the most stringent requirements, like risk assessment audits, transparency reporting, and independent oversight.
• The rules apply to any company offering services within the EU market, regardless of where they are based. This prevents tech giants from circumventing the law.
• The Act establishes clear legal definitions and penalties around illegal content like hate speech, terrorist propaganda, and child sexual abuse material.
• Covered platforms must assess and mitigate these and other systemic threats. They are expected to assess how the design and implementation of their service, and manipulation and use of it, including violations of terms of service, contribute to such risks.
• Providers serving advertising must clearly identify its sponsor (who paid for it on and on whose behalf), and the main parameters used to its target audience, and where applicable, how to change them.
• Providers of recommendation systems must provide the main parameters including the most important criteria determining what is recommended, and the reasons for the importance of these criteria.
• A critical component is requiring platforms to provide access to data for vetted independent researchers studying systemic risks and harms. This enables evidence-based analysis of problems and solutions.

The DSA signals that the EU is taking a hard line on enforcing accountability and responsible practices for dominant online platforms that have largely operated without oversight. The success of the regulations will depend on effective coordination and enforcement across the EU’s member states. However the Act provides a potential model for balancing innovation and consumer protection in the digital marketplace. Consumers may benefit from transparency and accountability of manipulative algorithms, more control over data, and protections against online harms.

Importantly, the data access mandate signals the EU’s commitment to leveraging academic expertise in shaping a healthier digital ecosystem. Researchers will be able to investigate systemic issues like algorithmic bias, political polarization, misinformation dynamics, and the mental health impacts of social media.

This DSA working paper provides valuable context on this ambitious attempt to regulate the digital economy.

 
To read further:

• CAIDA’s working paper from the CAIDA GMI3S project, summarizing points of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) related to how academic research can support this emerging public policy landscape.
• Ars Technica article suggesting that big tech companies do not appear ready to meet the DSA’s transparency and compliance requirements.