The EU Commission is also counting on technical support to enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA). Their main focus is on the protection of minors, the regulation of influencers and their advertising, as well as addictive design with tactics such as “dark patterns”. The Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) called for tenders on Monday to develop a system for collecting large-scale automated evidence of violations and monitoring compliance with platform legislation. The contract is worth 12 million euros.
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The services provided as part of the purchase must be As per tender Contribute to developing EU expertise and capacities in relation to systemic and emerging problems in all Member States and to monitoring the effective implementation of and compliance with the DSA by operators of very large online platforms. The Commission hopes this will provide support for “the activities of enforcement teams”. Operators of very large platforms in the DSA sense must carry out risk assessments and mitigate identified threats, for example to democracy, public safety, fundamental rights and children. These include services from large tech companies such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta or Microsoft, as well as shopping or porn portals.
The winner of the 36-month contract is expected to “establish an early warning system that monitors technological developments and the emergence of new systemic risks or digital threats from platforms in real time”, Euractiv explains. For example, the contractor must also create tools to monitor and prevent recurring risks and to monitor compliance with online advertising regulations. Part should be in accordance with technical specifications Analyzing the “risk of addiction or compulsive use” of social media services. The contractor will also need to analyze “the role of influencers in the sale and promotion of illegal products” and examine “various components of the online experience of minors.”
The EU code of conduct against disinformation should be integrated into the DSA
There is a parallel one to DG CNECT Report on disinformation during the European elections in June published. So no major relevant incidents occurred despite previously strong fears. The Directorate-General nevertheless calls for transforming the existing voluntary code of conduct to combat disinformation into a formal instrument under the DSA. The voluntary commitment launched in 2018, which is overseen by the Commission, aims to set industry standards across the EU. However, the Brussels executive body found several shortcomings in implementation and recently tightened the requirements in 2022.
Signatories to the code include Meta, Microsoft, Google, TikTok and Twitch, as well as advertising organizations and fact-checkers such as Corrective. After Elon Musk takes office, X ends the agreement in May 2023. The Commission already believes that the service generally violates DSA requirements. By integrating the code into the DSA, the Brussels supervisory authority can more closely examine whether and how they are obliged to implement the measures. In addition, the strict sanction provisions of the regulation will apply. DG CNECT also urged finalizing the implementation of the rapid response system from the agreement for future elections.
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