[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The European Union (EU) is mandating big tech companies such as Google, Meta Platforms, and Amazon to remove harmful content from their own platforms.
According to major foreign media on the 23rd (local time), EU authorities and members of parliament agreed on the Digital Services Act (DSA) containing these provisions. This is a digital-related bill following the Digital Markets Act, a new EU regulation agreed upon last month to limit the market power of large online platforms. It will be enforced once approved by the 27 EU member states and the European Parliament.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, tweeted on the day, "We have reached an agreement," adding, "Once the Digital Services Act is enforced, the behavior of large online platforms that are 'too big to pay close attention to everything' will no longer be tolerated." Commissioner Breton had previously compared the internet space to a "wild west."
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, tweeted the same day, "The agreement on the Digital Services Act reached today is historic," and evaluated, "The new law will protect online users and guarantee freedom of expression and business opportunities." She emphasized, "What is illegal offline will also be illegal online."
Once this law is enforced, big tech companies will face fines of up to 6% of their revenue if they fail to remove prohibited content such as biased remarks against specific races, genders, or religions, false information, and child sexual abuse images from their platforms. Foreign media expect companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft (MS), Twitter, and TikTok to be subject to this regulation.
The EU explained, "Considering the impact of online information manipulation amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a new provision for crisis response systems has been added," and stated, "This system will analyze the impact of crises and take measures to ensure fundamental rights are protected."
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