Tech Brief: E.U. Unveils Landmark Legislation to Police Big Tech

The European Union has approved groundbreaking rules to police Big Tech platforms witht the goal fo regulating illegal and harmful content online, while also imposing transparency requirements on content recommendation algorithms and limiting the targeting of ads to minors. Called the Digital Services Act (DSA), the measures go beyond Meta, Google and Amazon to place requirements on internet providers, cloud hosting, app stores, domain name registrars and smaller social media and e-commerce companies. In addition to algorithmic transparency for personalised recommendation algorithms, the sweeping effort seeks a mechanism for users to easily flag illegal content online, redress content moderation decisions and bans targeted advertising based on an individual's religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. The DSA, which is now subject to formal approval, is expected to come into force as early as 2024. "With the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are 'too big to care' is coming to an end," Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said, adding it could result in companies facing "sanctions of up to 6% of global turnover or even a ban on operating in the E.U. single market in case of repeated serious breaches."