On Wednesday 17 November, the Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) will discuss the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council’s compromise proposal for a political agreement in principle (‘general approach’) on the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 12828/2) at the next Competitiveness Council on 25 November.
In this new compromise text, the Presidency of the EU Council provides, among other things, clarifications concerning the removal of problematic content by major online platforms.
The text states that “the speed and quality of processing of notices” should go “beyond the benchmarks set by established best practices” and that platforms should commit to processing “a majority of valid notifications for the removal of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours”.
The document adds that other types of illegal content may “require longer or shorter timelines for processing of notices, which will depend on the facts, circumstances and types of illegal content at hand”.
Regarding access to data, the new version of the compromise text would ensure that major platforms and search engines will not be able to prevent researchers who meet the appropriate criteria, when the data is publicly available, from conducting research that could contribute to identifying or understanding systemic risks.
In addition, the text confirms that a Digital Services Coordinator of destination, responsible for monitoring the application of the DSA, may request that a Services Coordinator of establishment take investigative or enforcement action against a provider under its jurisdiction.
However, the text specifies that where such a request is made by a single Digital Services Coordinator, it must be based on “well-substantiated evidence showing the existence of an alleged infringement with negative impact on collective interests of the recipients of the service in its Member State or having a negative societal impact”.
This aspect was discussed on 28 October when the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council presented another version of its compromise text on Chapters 4 and 5 of the proposed DSA Regulation (see EUROPE 12823/10).
There are also a number of points that complement the previous versions of the compromise texts presented by the Council Presidency regarding sanctions.
On this point, the text maintains its approach and recalls that these will have to take into account “the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the violation, in view of the public interest pursued, the scope and kind of activities carried out, as well as the economic capacity of the infringer”.
However, the new compromise text states that Member States will have to “ensure that the imposition of fines or periodic penalty payments in respect of infringements should in each individual case be effective, proportionate and dissuasive” through “national rules and procedures”.
See the document: https://bit.ly/3qC2ngs (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)