DIGITAL SERVICE ACT - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
News: EU’s
online content rules
What's in the news?
● The
European Union (EU) has confirmed
the names of 19 platforms that will
be subject to its landmark online content rules.
Key takeaways:
● Five subsidiaries of
Google’s parent Alphabet, two Meta units, two
Microsoft businesses, Apple’s AppStore, Twitter, and Alibaba’s AliExpress are
among the entities that the EU has identified.
Digital Services Act (DSA):
● The
rules notified under the Digital Services Act (DSA), aim at overhauling the EU’s social media and
e-commerce rules, and at tightly regulating the way big technology platforms
moderate user content.
Key features of DSA:
● Explore
on the lines Faster removals and provisions to challenge, Greater
responsibility of bigger firms, Direct supervision by the European Commission,
transparency, Identifying advertisements.
Comparison of EU’s DSA with India’s online laws:
● India
had notified extensive changes to its social media regulations in the form of
the Information Technology Rules, 2021
(IT Rules) which placed significant due diligence requirements on large social
media platforms such as Meta and Twitter.
● India
is also working on a complete overhaul of its technology policies and is
expected to soon come out with a replacement of its IT Act, 2000, which is
expected to look at ensuring net neutrality and algorithmic accountability of
social media platforms, among other things.