Digital Services Act Passes Muster in the EU

European lawmakers have reached a deal on the Digital Services Act, which will not be good news for Big Tech companies.

• The Digital Services Act (DSA) is one of two laws proposed by the EU lawmakers to rein in US-based big tech companies and ensure fair competition. A deal has been reached on the passing of this law.
• The DSA would make tech platforms responsible for illegal content including hate speech and revenge porn. It also wants to ban advertising targeted at minors based on their personal data.
• Content moderation on social media is a double-edged sword. When US President Donald Trump was banned on Twitter and Facebook, some accused the companies of misusing their powers.
• Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Twitter, Netflix would be particularly affected with this regulation. Fines would be calculated as a percentage of revenues, and therefore could be potentially steep.
• Some journalists and free speech advocates fear the DSA lacks guardrails to ensure lawful content isn't removed by big tech companies,' which may overreact out of an abundance of caution.
• Others fear that, even if big tech platforms toe the line, less compliant social media or messenger platforms could take their place—and not much would change. Hint: Telegram vs Germany.