We've seen articles on the "new" European Union's Digital Services Act, (DSA) but it is not new, although as of August 23, 2023, there are new "obligations" by large online platforms, which will, without a doubt, affect every internet user no matter what country they live in.
Those platforms are; Alibaba AliExpress, Amazon Store, Apple AppStore, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, X, formally known as Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube, Zalando, Bing, and Google Search.
As always, the devil is in the details.
The Verge describes the DSA in the following manner:
The overarching goal of the DSA is to foster safer online environments. Under the new rules, online platforms must implement ways to prevent and remove posts containing illegal goods, services, or content while simultaneously giving users the means to report this type of content.
Washington Post (Archive link here):
Approved by the European Parliament in 2022, the Digital Services Act (DSA) is a regulation meant to keep consumers safe online as they interact with the platforms and marketplaces that make up the modern web.
How? By forcing the companies behind those platforms and marketplaces to be more transparent about how content or products are algorithmically recommended, and ensuring they “mitigate” the spread of disinformation, offer ways for users to flag “illegal” content and more.
Last but not least, Wikipedia:
..The expressed purpose of the DSA is to update the European Union's legal framework for illegal content on intermediaries, in particular by modernizing the e-Commerce Directive adopted in 2000. In doing so, the DSA aims to harmonize different national laws in the European Union that have emerged at national level to address illegal content....
The reason I used multiple different sources and their descriptions is to make it clear that it is not my opinion, nor my terminology, used in describing this law, that makes Orwell's "84" look like a free new world!
The first thing that caught my attention in those descriptions was the use of the term "illegal content," which none of the sources above adequately explained, so off on the hunt I went.
A website highlighted by Bing called Matheson, explains the terminology in the following manner:
Trusted Flaggers: Platforms must cooperate with designated 'trusted flaggers' to identify and remove illegal content. Illegal content is defined as including any information that in itself or in relation to an activity, is not in compliance with EU or Member State law. The recitals to the DSA provides some illustrative examples of illegal content, such as the sharing of images depicting child sexual abuse.
What happens to these large platforms if they do not comply? They can be fined "up to 6% on their annual turnover in the European Union.
For Google/YouTube (owned by the same company) this won't be an issue because they have been censoring what Americans to see for years, and still doing it.
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