EP Briefing – Digital services act

The rules governing the provision of digital products and services in the EU have remained largely unchanged since the adoption of the e-Commerce Directive in 2000, while digital technologies and business models continue to evolve rapidly and new societal challenges are emerging, such as the spread of counterfeit goods, hate speech and disinformation online. Against this backdrop, in December 2020, the European Commission tabled a new legislative proposal on a digital services act to amend the e-Commerce Directive and set higher standards of transparency and accountability, to govern the way platform service providers moderate content, advertising and algorithmic processes. Parliament has already voiced strong support for revision of the EU rules applicable to online actors. EU lawmakers will now assess whether the Commission’s proposal is an appropriate response to the challenges identified and will work towards defining Parliament’s own position on the proposal, which is the first step in the EU’s interinstitutional legislative process. First edition. The ‘EU Legislation in Progress’ briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.

Read the briefing (PDF)