What are the new European digital regulations?

Over the last few years, the EU has implemented several regulations concerning online services like the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Terrorist Content Online (TCO) Regulation. Find out how your business will be impacted in our Resource Centre

When will the DSA be implemented?

The Digital Services Act will apply to you depending on what type of online service you are. For most online intermediaries, it will start applying in February 2024. However, for a select group of services, known as Very Large Online PlatformsAn online platform refers to a digital service that enables interactions between two or more sets of users who are distinct but interdependent and use the service to communicate via the internet. The phrase “online platform” is a broad term used to refer to various internet services such as marketplaces, search engines, social media, etc. In the DSA, online platforms… More, the DSA could be applicable as early as June 2023.

What are content moderation tools?

Content moderation tools are software applications used by content moderators to help them perform their duties. There are different types of tools available in the market such as AI based detection tools and workflow process tools that optimise and automate processes and facilitate communication between stakeholders. Many established companies build their own workflow tools to suit their own processes for lack of commercially available options.

What is "safety by design"?

Safety by designThe principle of incorporating safety considerations into the processes, governance architecture, design, and functionality of online spaces to protect those most at risk. More is an approach to developing a product with safety of users as one of its foundational cornerstones. Safety is integrated in the design and development phase to pre-empt abuse of the product later on, reducing the need for reactive remedies.

Why is quality assurance in content moderation important?

Quality Assurance (QA) in content moderation is becoming increasingly important as regulation around content moderation, like the DSA, becomes more prevalent. Besides being a best practice, QA is needed to demonstrate to authorities that a company is applying its policies, controlling its processes and, where appropriate, executing improvement mechanisms.

Utopia: DSA scope in focus: I have a comments section, does the DSA apply to me?

Does having a comments section qualify my services as a hosting service?

In short: Yes. Having a comments section on your platform qualifies your services, at minima, as a hosting serviceA hosting service enables individuals, companies and other service providers to host websites, databases, applications.
Within the meaning of the DSA, a hosting service offers the storage of user-generated content. This includes for example filesharing, social media, video-sharing platforms as well as marketplaces. More. More precisely, a hosting service in the meaning of the DSA is a service that stores user generated content (UGC). Perhaps owing to the fact that the definition is rather simple, it also encompasses a whole host of services, which are very different in type, size and business model. The category includes webhosting companies like AWS or GoDaddy, file storage and sharing like Dropbox, marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba, as well as social media services like Facebook. Because there are no exemptions based on size or type of the service, hosting services also include some services, which may come as a surprise, such as the comments sections of online newspapers and blogs as well as user reviews on e-commerce websites.

Does a comments section also qualify my services as an “online platform”?

Short answer: It depends.

Read the full version of the blog on Utopia.

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Further articles

DSA Compliance

Codes of Conduct and the Digital Services Act

For the better part of a decade, as regulators took a backseat in platform regulation, voluntary initiatives to promote action to curb online harms flourished. Codes of conduct served as a way to encourage platform action, transparency, and accountability in areas like terrorist content, hate speechHate speech is any form of communication, whether written, spoken

Tremau 2023.05.22.

DSA Compliance