Feedback on the Commission’s proposal for a Digital Services Act (DSA)
CSC recognises the need to update the regulation of the digital services market in order to adapt it to the evolving operating environment and to make the market safer and fairer for consumers as well as service providers of different types and sizes. The Commission’s proposal for a Digital Services Act contributes to this endeavour and is therefore highly appreciated.
CSC is particularly pleased to note that the proposal acknowledges the need to evaluate the systemic risks related to very large online platforms and intends to facilitate academic research on this topic by giving vetted researchers access to the data that is needed for performing such evaluation. CSC also warmly supports the proposal’s user-centric approach aiming at providing citizens and business users with more choice as well as more transparency when it comes to advertising, content moderation decisions etc. The aim should be to create an interoperable service ecosystem where the users can freely compare, choose and change service providers according to their needs.
The proposal concerns intermediary services which are divided into different categories in two ways: mere conduit / caching / hosting; and all services / hosting services / online platforms / very large online platforms. In some cases, it may be difficult for service providers to identify which categories they belong to, if any. Therefore, particular attention must be paid to communicating clearly the scope of the regulation to the parties concerned, perhaps by offering further examples of services belonging to each category or making advisory services to this effect available for service providers.
As the enforcement of the regulation will be largely a responsibility of the Member States, it is important to ensure a shared understanding of the way in which to put the enforcement measures into practice. The new European Board for Digital Services can play a major part in ensuring uniform enforcement and must therefore be equipped with adequate powers and resources. Only by guaranteeing harmonised enforcement across the Union will it be possible to reap the full benefits of the new regulation.