On Tuesday 26 September, the European Commission launched the transparency database which, as part of the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13244/4), will be used to gather information on the reasons why the very large online platforms and search engines remove or restrict access to certain content.
This database, set up in accordance with the provisions of Article 24 of the DSA, will be open to the public. Initially, statistics on the removal and restriction of content will be available to everyone, as will the ability to carry out more in-depth research into the reasons why platforms have removed or restricted access to content.
Over the coming months, the Commission will be drawing on feedback from users to complete the database’s functionalities.
For the time being, only the largest online platforms are obliged to submit data to the content moderation database. This provision will be extended to all providers of hosting services and online platforms from 17 February 2024, with the exception of micro and small businesses.
The DSA rules have been in force since 25 August this year. To date, 17 digital companies and two search engines have been designated as very large online platforms and very large online search engines (see EUROPE 13235/1). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)