The EU wants a squeeze on online platforms
Better protection for consumers from illegal, counterfeit and unsafe products Stricter rules for targeted advertising and more controls on content online Compliance with future EU rules by foreign service providers On the basis of these principles, Parliament is calling for an intervention that updates regulations that are now twenty years old, considered inadequate to be able to regulate the current state of things on a Web which has now profoundly changed.
The requests of the European Parliament
The request of the Parliament is therefore argued along various lines, with which the Commission is asked for a legislative approach much more radical so that Europe can speak out against the power - often without real borders - that platforms are assuming thanks to their popularity among users. Inevitably, every action will be the subject of a dispute with the United States, the headquarters of the most used platforms in Europe, but this is a subsequent phase that will follow the decisions that the Commission will take.These are the requests made by the European Parliament with a large majority vote:
Stricter rules for dealing with illegal online content
"All digital service providers operating from third countries will be required to comply with the rules on digital services, when their services are also aimed at consumers or users within the EU. MEPs call for a binding "notification and action" mechanism to be established so that users can notify intermediaries of potentially illegal content or activities. This will help intermediaries to react quickly and be more transparent in relation to actions taken against potentially illegal content. Users must be able to appeal through a national dispute resolution body, reads "Stricter rules for dealing with illegal content online
" Platforms should avoid introducing filters on uploaded content or any form ex ante content control, for harmful or illegal content. The final decision on whether or not content is legal or not should be made by an independent legal body and not by private companies "Stricter rules for dealing with illegal content online
" Parliament affirms that the principle that "this that it is illegal offline it is also illegal online ”, as well as consumer protection and user safety, should become the guiding principles of digital services legislation. Online brokerage services and platforms need to improve their ability to detect and remove false claims and tackle dishonest traders, such as those selling fake medical devices or dangerous products, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic "More strict rules for dealing with illegal content online
“MEPs want to give users greater control over the content they are exposed to online, by allowing them to disable automatic content selection, and make them less dependent on algorithms. Targeted advertising must be more strictly regulated in favor of less invasive and contextualized forms of advertising that require less data and do not depend on a previous interaction of users with content. The Commission is also invited to consider options for regulating targeted advertising, including a phasing out leading to a ban "Stricter rules for dealing with illegal content online
" MEPs also stress the problematic nature of "micro-targeting" based on characteristics that expose physical or psychological vulnerabilities, as it spreads hate speech and disinformation, and ask for transparency regarding the monetization policies of online platforms "
