On Tuesday 20^th October the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of a report on the Digital Services Act on which Maltese Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba was rapporteur for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee.

The report passed through the EP after a two-hour debate in which 83 per cent of MEPs indicated their approval.

It enshrines the principle that “what is illegal offline is also illegal online” and calls for future-proof rules on digital services, including online platforms and marketplaces, as well as a binding mechanism to tackle illegal content online.

Mr Agius Saliba said, “No more free passes for online platforms. The EU must set global standards regulating platforms such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google. “If you are not paying for the product, then you are the product. Digital services must be built on trust, choice, and a high level of protection, fully integrating users’, consumers’, and SMEs’ concerns.” 

The Maltese MEP continued, “The digital transformation has profoundly changed the functioning of the global economy and society, and those changes require an update to improve the situation in several areas.

The current EU rules for digital services have remained largely unchanged since the e-commerce directive was adopted twenty years ago. With the upcoming package, the European Union aims to shape the digital economy at EU level as well as setting the standards for the rest of the world, as it did with data protection.

A binding “notice-and-action” mechanism must be set up so that users can notify online intermediaries about potentially illegal online content or activities. This would help online intermediaries to react quickly and be more transparent regarding the actions they have taken on potentially illegal content. Users should be able to seek redress through a national dispute settlement body.

The European Parliament calls for a strict distinction to be made between illegal content and harmful content (the legal liability regime should concern “illegal content” only as defined in EU or national law).

Platforms should not use upload filters or any form of ex-ante content control for harmful or illegal content. The final decision on whether content is legal or not should instead be taken by an independent judiciary and not by private undertakings, say MEPs.

Harmful content, hate speech and disinformation should be dealt with through enhanced transparency obligations and by helping citizens to acquire media and digital literacy regarding the dissemination of such content.

Specific rules for big platforms, scope covering foreign service providers, high consumer protection against illegal, counterfeit, unsafe products and stricter conditions for targeted ads, and more control for users over what they see online are key messages in the report.

“With this report, we aim to shape the digital economy and set standards for the rest of the world. Online platforms have become the new utilities of our time. They should not be deciding what we can say and read online. Their permanent surveillance, tracking and policing of the internet and our lives must stop. It is time to take control and safeguard public interests, fundamental rights, and protect users and consumers.”

The approved report will now be submitted to the European Commission for consideration in its upcoming Digital Services Act, due to be presented in December.