The European Commission has designated big social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok and Twitter, as very large online platforms (VLOPs), which means they will have to follow strict requirements starting this summer. The Commission has published a list of 19 platforms that will have to comply with the rules the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes on companies.
Seventeen are VLOPs, and two are very large online search engines. These networks will be required to swiftly remove illegal content, ensure minors aren’t targeted with personalized ads, and limit the spread of disinformation or harmful content like cyberbullying.
To be designated a VLOP or a very large search engine, companies must reach at least 45 million monthly active users in the EU. The platforms now have four months to comply with the DSA regulations, the essence of which the Commission says is to empower users.
Companies will have to conduct yearly assessments of the risks their platforms pose on a range of issues like public health, children’s safety and freedom of expression.
The companies will have to stop displaying ads to users based on sensitive data like religion and political opinions. AI-generated content like manipulated videos and photos, known as deepfakes, will have to be labelled.
External firms will audit the platforms, and the enforcement team in the Commission will access their data and algorithms to check what’s happening.
If rules are found to be broken, financial fines could reach up to 6% of the companies’ global annual turnover, and in very serious cases, platforms could face temporary bans in the EU.
At the same time, the Commission proposed the DSA as a “comprehensive framework to ensure a safer, more fair digital space for all” in 2020. The pan-European law entered into force in November 2022. The DSA applies to all digital services that connect consumers to goods, services or content.
It creates comprehensive new obligations for online platforms to reduce harms and counter risks online, introduces strong protections for users’ rights online and places digital platforms under a unique new transparency and accountability framework, the Commission says.
