Consumers and companies have even more rights and power in relation to global digital giants.
In February this year, the EU’s Digital Services Regulation (DSA) came into force, and few people know about the rights it brings.
The aim of the regulation is to promote the reliability of online services, improve the protection of fundamental rights in social media and increase the transparency of advertising and algorithms, among other things.
The regulation brings more power to, for example, SMEs in the service sector, for which visibility on online platforms such as Google Maps or Instagram is a significant factor in terms of income generation. Every consumer also gets more power.
Since February, if the service closes your account without reason or removes your published content, the user, be it a consumer or a company, has the right to know what has been done, why and the opportunity to complain.
If the issue is not resolved with the online platform, you can contact the communications authority Traficomin.
The platforms also have greater obligations than before to control the content that is published on their platforms. The platforms are responsible if they distribute content that is illegal or negatively affects basic rights and civil debate, such as the spread of disinformation or if the platforms have inauthentic use, i.e. bots. The platforms also have an obligation to protect minors, for example with child locks and age verification.
A consumer or company can report this kind of content directly to the platform. If the matter is not resolved, you must turn to the authorities.
The consumer can even report activities that are too addictive. The consumer can also control the algorithms, i.e. the recommendation systems of the platforms.
The regulation broadly applies to all kinds of online platforms, providers of internet connections and cloud services. However, the obligations are not equally strict for all companies.
The strictest obligations apply to 24 very large online platforms and search engines, such as Tiktok, Facebook, Google’s Maps, Search and Play platforms, Amazon, Temu, X, Shein, Youtube and Instagram, as well as adult entertainment websites.
The commission has already started investigations into the legality of the activities of X, Tiktok, Aliexpress, Facebook and Instagram.
So far, there is still little evidence of the real benefits of the digital services regulation, because consumers and companies are just beginning to understand their new rights in the digital age.
The regulation’s effectiveness also depends a lot on consumers’ and companies’ own activity. There are supervisory authorities in Brussels and in each member state, but only consumer and business complaints actually make things progress on a larger scale.
Problems with social media and the internet, such as disinformation, e-commerce scams, overly addictive content, have been talked about for years. Finally, users have more power and online platforms have more responsibility.