Elain Brown Tech 07.06.2022 01:Jul AM EDT

EU Passes Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act — What Does That Mean for Big Tech?

The EU has recently passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Both of these pieces of legislation, which are tied to one another, have the same overarching goal: to address some of the most pressing new challenges facing internet and social media corporations.

While the DMA is focused on eliminating anti-competitive business activities, the DSA is working to improve the transparency of online content moderation.

The EU's Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act

The two bills that have recently been passed oblige big tech companies to provide clear standards for how they operate their services in the UK.

The two measures aim to address the societal and economic implications of the technology industry for their citizens.

The two bills aim to address the societal and economic effects of the tech industry by setting clear standards for how they operate and provide services in the EU, in line with the EU's fundamental rights and values.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) establishes definite requirements for big tech companies, such as social media platforms or online marketplaces, to combat the dissemination of unlawful, illegal, and harmful content online.

The requirements that these companies need to abide by are tailored to the scope and reach of how these platforms can affect society.

The EU's Imposed Obligations

According to the European Parliament, the law passed will require companies to put in measures that will safeguard their users from spreading illegal content online. While also respecting data protection, freedom of expression, and fundamental rights.

Additional obligations that these companies would also need to abide by are increased measures of accountability and transparency. For example, providing detailed information about how these platforms moderate content and use algorithms.

Another thing these laws will mean is the prohibition of particular forms of targeted advertising, like those directed against children or advertisements based on sensitive data. A ban will also be placed on so-called "dark patterns" designed to influence the decisions of users.

Lastly, as part of the new obligation, these companies are now required to ensure the safety of their products and services. Efforts should also be made to do random checks to determine whether or not illicit content has reappeared.

Limitation and Scope

The EU's newly passed laws have scopes and limitations. This does not include all leading tech companies.

According to Gizmodo, companies that are affected are the ones that have an estimated cost of more than €75 billion (about $77 billion) or a yearly gross revenue of more than €7.6 billion.

If a tech company has a monthly user base of 45 million and has 10,000 annual business users, they are considered gatekeepers and are under the rule of law.

Gizmodo states, "These corporations and others that are large enough to qualify as "gatekeepers," will be prohibited from preferring or mandating their own services on their hardware."

Some of the examples of these gatekeepers are China's giant e-commerce store, Alibaba, Amazon, Google, Apple, and Meta are also included.

These laws also mean that all pre-installed software or applications that come as a default on a device will need to have the ability to be uninstalled.

Communication or messaging platforms will need to be compatible across all of the different platforms in order to interoperate properly.