EU deals on the Digital Services Act might get finalized by the end of June

As many of you may probably know, big tech companies have been going through a lot of scrutiny in the past couple of years (or even a bit more), especially from EU antitrust regulations and US lawmakers. Now, AppleInsider reports that the European Union’s Digital Services Act could be concluded by the end of June, and it will force tech giants such as Apple, Meta, Google to manage their behavior and how they react to content on their platforms.

EU’s Digital Services Act could be concluded by the end of June

The Digital Services Act was introduced by the European Commission back in December 2020, and it has been discussed by European lawmakers as a way to make tech giants police the content published on their platforms more strictly. If the tech companies fail to comply with the law, they could be fined by the EU as much as 6% of their global turnover.Mor specifically, the Digital Services Act is focused on illegal and harmful content published on giant platforms, and it will require platform holders to take such posts and content down in a prompt manner. This includes a large area of online platforms such as online marketplaces, social networks, content-sharing platforms, digital stores like the App Store and Google Play, and many other online services. However, in order for the proposed legislation to become law, it has to reach a deal with EU member countries, which is usually a long process. But it could probably go quicker than that this time. EU lawmaker Christel Schaldemose is the one who is steering negotiations on that topic and stated that a deal could be made by the end of June.

Schaldemose also stated that in terms of the negotiations, lawmakers are keen to increase how much the owners of big online platforms have to accomplish in blocking harmful content. This includes banning the so-called dark patterns, and to regulate companies based on where they are registered.

For those of you who don’t know, dark patterns are tricks that websites and apps use to make you do something you didn’t mean to, like buying or signing up for something. In regards to such dark patterns, Schaldemose also stated that “We go into the business models of platforms. The Council is not so willing to go that far,” which pretty much means there is some difference of opinions on the topic. “The Council wants the ban only for online marketplaces. Parliament wants a ban on all platforms.”, she added.

On top of that, lawmakers are also keen to ban targeted advertisements for minors. What’s more, targeted ads based on sensitive data such as sexual orientation or political beliefs might also get banned by the Act.

That’s not the only legislation that the European Parliament has been working on. Parallel with the Digital Services Act, the EU introduced the Digital Markets Act, aiming to increase competition and limit anti-competitive practices by the big tech companies.

Measures included in the Digital Markets Act include forcing Apple and Google to allow users to uninstall pre-installed apps on their devices, as well as forcing them to eliminate self-preferencing in search results. On top of that, these companies should provide more transparency over advertising metrics.

Back in late 2021, progress on both of these legislations, the DSA and the DMA slowed down. So far, the Digital Markets Act is behind the Digital Services Act in terms of negotiations.

The US has also been working on some proposals for legislation. Recently, a proposed bill that could make Apple allow sideloading on iPhones and iPads proceeded to be debated by the full Senate.