The DSA proposal and Italy

Ilaria Buri (Institute for Information Law, IViR – University of Amsterdam) The Italian position on the DSA proposal After the presentation of the DSA and DMA proposal in December 2020, the European Policies Department and the Ministry of Economic Development were identified as the governmental departments respectively responsible for the definition of the Italian position […]

The DSA proposal and the Netherlands

Joris van Hoboken (Institute for Information Law, IViR – University of Amsterdam) The position of the Netherlands on the DSA proposal The Netherlands supports the revision of the ECD framework and the main policy objectives and overall choices made by the European Commission in the proposal for the DSA. It attaches weight to the economic […]

The DSA and the risk-based approach to content regulation: Are we being pulled into more advanced automation?

Bengi Zeybek*   Introduction Given the size of platforms, the scale at which they operate, and the immense amount of user content created and shared online, automated tools are an integral part of platforms’ content moderation and curation processes. Platforms use automated tools to identify and analyse content in order to enforce their terms of […]

Platform research access in Article 31 of the Digital Services Act – Sword without a shield?

In September 2021, the Verfassungsblog and the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition co-hosted an online symposium, “To Break Up or Regulate Big Tech? Avenues to Constrain Private Power in the DSA/DMA Package”. “The concentration of private power in the digital realm is not tenable – on this there is consensus. It extends across […]

Using Terms and Conditions to apply Fundamental Rights to Content Moderation: Is Article 12 DSA a Paper Tiger?

In September 2021, the Verfassungsblog and the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition co-hosted an online symposium, “To Break Up or Regulate Big Tech? Avenues to Constrain Private Power in the DSA/DMA Package”. “The concentration of private power in the digital realm is not tenable – on this there is consensus. It extends across […]

The DSA Proposal’s Impact on Digital Dominance 

In September 2021, the Verfassungsblog and the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition co-hosted an online symposium, “To Break Up or Regulate Big Tech? Avenues to Constrain Private Power in the DSA/DMA Package”. “The concentration of private power in the digital realm is not tenable – on this there is consensus. It extends across […]

In between illegal and harmful: a look at the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use of online platforms in the light of the DSA proposal and the fundamental right to freedom of expression (Part 2 of 3)

By Britt van den Branden, Sophie Davidse and Eva Smit*   This blog is part two of three. See part 1 here. Part 3 will follow soon. In part one of this blog series, we showed that the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use (hereafter: CG and ToU) of six well known very large online […]

In between illegal and harmful: a look at the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use of online platforms in the light of the DSA proposal and the fundamental right to freedom of expression (Part 1 of 3)

By Britt van den Branden, Sophie Davidse and Eva Smit*   This blogpost is part one of three. Blogposts 2 and 3 will follow soon. Just before last year’s Christmas day, the European Commission published a proposal for a Digital Services Act (DSA). The proposal introduces a new range of harmonised obligations for digital services […]

The Digital Services Act and Its Impact on the Right to Freedom of Expression: Special Focus on Risk Mitigation Obligations

Joan Barata This blog post synthesises the main arguments and conclusions developed in a report commissioned to the author by the Plataforma en Defensa de la Libertad de Información (PDLI), fully available here.   Introduction The UN Human Rights Council declared in its resolution 32/13 of 1 July 2016 that “(…) the same rights that […]

Online advertising: These three policy ideas could stop tech amplifying hate

    By Catherine Armitage, Johnny Ryan and Ilaria Buri The relationship between the spread of harmful content and the business models that fund it is a preoccupation for many policymakers today. Political momentum is building around the idea that banning ‘surveillance advertising’ could be the answer. This has translated into a variety of different […]