Digital services oversight board to start meeting as EU online platform rules kick in
An EU oversight board responsible for monitoring digital platforms, will meet officially for the first time on Monday ( 19 February). The board, established under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) will, as one of its first tasks, look at guidelines to mitigate risks to electoral processes, the European Commission said today.
The committee, consisting of national regulatory authorities and the European Commission, is supposed to ensure internet users get the same rights, wherever a website is based.
The DSA, proposed by the commission in 2020, imposed stringent transparency obligations on online platforms and marketplaces. As of Saturday, the rules - which already apply to the biggest online platforms - will also affect smaller platforms such as Vinted, Temu and eBay.
The board, which has met unofficially a few times since October 2023, will be consulted on enforcement and advice on investigations.
In December, the commission already started using new DSA powers to investigate social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to find out if it breached EU rules on content moderation.
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Consumers
European consumer and trade organisations are worried about the lack of company preparedness as the rules begin to bite.
A spokesperson for Euroconsumers, a group representing interests in Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Luxembourg, said that slow transposition of the rules into national law could hinder oversight.
“We have wonderful new rules, but without proper enforcement it will just be another piece of paper, something we cannot let happen,” the spokesperson said.
Those comments were echoed by Fernando Hortal Foronda, Digital Policy Officer at BEUC, another
European consumer rights organisation.
“How effective the Digital Services Act is depends on its enforcement. Supervisors at national level need to take their responsibilities seriously and keep consumers’ interests at heart by going after companies that don’t respect the law,” he said.
Guidance
For their part, online platforms say they haven't been given enough guidance.
DOT Europe, an organisation representing Apple, Google, and TikTok, said in a statement that regulators should focus on “facilitating compliance” instead of “immediate enforcement of unclear obligations.”
On Wednesday, the commission said it will further investigate 358 online influencers, after sweeping their social media posts to check compliance with EU consumer law. That may lead to further enforcement action by national authorities.