During an exchange of views in the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), which was held on Wednesday 20 March, MEPs posed a number of questions to two representatives of the Commission about the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Roberto Viola, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT), and Rita Wezenbeek, Director of Platforms, responded to the concerns of MEPs, specifically on the issue of illegal content and moderation in the run-up to a major election period.
Roberto Viola gave a reminder at the outset that “the law is in place and the platforms can no longer do as they please”. “We’ve seen some real changes, but there's still a long way to go” before the behaviour of the platforms is beyond reproach.
“We find ourselves in a high-stakes election year and we risk seeing an avalanche of incorrect information on social networks”, worried Maria Grapini (S&D, Romanian) during the discussion. The MEP, supported by several of her other colleagues, asked the Commission’s representatives for there to be specific measures under the DSA to guard against such dangers.
“As long as the content that is posted online is not illegal, there is no legal basis for removing it from the platforms”, admitted Roberto Viola. “However, it is an entirely different story when that content is distorted or created from scratch using artificial engines”.
Rita Wezenbeek provided details on the requirements of the DSA and future discussions between the European Commission and platforms looking at how best to regulate the most sensitive content. As for the Commission, the electoral period is a critical issue for the DSA. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)