EU parliament to adopt Europe’s sweeping new internet rules. The European Parliament already has voted in the favor of adopting the digital services act and also the digital markets act.
EU Parliament to Adopt Europe’s Sweeping New Internet Rules
On Tuesday, The European Union is reported to be getting closer to implementing its planned overhaul plan in regulating big tech and the internet. And the European Union with that being said has agreed to now adopt the new digital services package.
The package is made up of two pieces of legislation which are the Digital Services Act, one which protects the rights of internet users, and secondly, the Digital Markets Act, one which is designed to create fair and open competition in the digital circle. The pair of laws together propose a set of new rules for all digital services, and this is inclusive of social media and online market space and places.
The majority of the European Parliament Voted Huge In Adopting the Laws
On Tuesday morning in Strasbourg, France, the majority of the members of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting both laws in a vote. The DSA on Tuesday passed with 539 votes in favor and with 54 against and 30 abstentions reported. And the DMA on the other hand passed with 589 votes in favor with 11 votes against and 31 abstentions also reported.
And now the next step in the long EU legislative process is for both laws to be accepted and adopted by the Council of the European Union. And after that time, they are expected to come into effect in the fall.
Commissioner for internal market, Thierry Breton in a statement said, ‘10 years ago, a page was turned on ‘too big to fail’ banks. Now — with DSA and DMA — we’re turning the page on ‘too big to care’ platform.’
The two laws now being adopted are the union’s biggest effort as of now in holding big tech companies accountable for their actions with great penalties for companies that fail to comply. It is reported that with the laws in place, big tech companies could face fines of close to 10% of their revenues globally for breaches in regards to DMA and then 6% for breaches in regards to DSA which could amount to billions of dollars.
Europe Has Shown Great Commitment to Regulating the Internet
As various countries all over the globe struggle with how well they can regulate the internet, Europe on its own has shown consistent leadership in this area by creating and putting laws in place to govern Big Tech and to also secure the right of internet users in the online space.
Not all of these efforts however are unanimously considered to be successful by tech companies and their critics. But one thing to note here is that they are enormously influential in regards to shaping the policies of tech companies and also pushing other countries, including the US, into cooking up laws of their own.
How the New Laws Will Affect Big Tech Companies
There are many ways in which the new laws could directly influence the actions of tech companies over the next couple of years. The Digital Markets Act is the attempt by the European Union to even the playing field and gain an edge among tech companies, regardless of their size.
And the act could also force tech companies to make messaging apps interoperable. The DSA would prohibit some types of ads on these platforms, and in the process, prevent targeted ads that are aimed at children or tailored to people’s ethnicity or even their sexual orientation.
Breton on Tuesday also added ‘We are finally building a single digital market, the most important one in the ‘free world. The same predictable rules will apply, everywhere in the EU, for our 450 million citizens, bringing everyone a safer and fairer digital space.’
