BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Parliament gave initial approval yesterday to the Digital Services Act, a new EU-wide policy to increase liability for “illegal and harmful content” on online platforms.
Supporters of the DSA, which was originally proposed over a year ago, contend that it will help stop “hate speech” on high-profile platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube, by penalizing threats, insults, discrimination or sexual harassment.
The Washington Post called the DSA a piece of legislation “that could transform the way major technology companies operate, requiring them to police content on their platforms more aggressively and introducing new restrictions on advertising, among other provisions."
The Post dubbed the act “the most aggressive attempt yet to regulate big tech companies as the industry comes under greater international scrutiny” and pointed out that the DSA “could serve as a model for lawmakers in the United States who say they, too, want to rein in the businesses’ digital practices.”
“The version approved Thursday would force companies to remove content that is considered illegal in the country that is it viewed,” the report noted.
