Internet giants to be brought to account

The European Union has reached an agreement to rein in the world's largest internet companies, requiring them to remove harmful and illegal content and become more transparent.

Under the Digital Services Act, or DSA, the European Commission and EU member states will have access to online platforms' algorithms, and online platforms will have to swiftly remove illegal products, services or content after they have been reported.

The DSA will reinforce protection of minors online such as by imposing additional bans on targeted advertising for minors as well as targeting based on sensitive data. Users will be better informed on how content is recommended to them.

The European Commission said it welcomes the "swift political agreement" reached between the European Parliament and EU member states on the DSA proposed by the commission in December 2020.

Strong signal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the agreement as "historic, both in terms of speed and of substance".

"Today's agreement－complementing the political agreement on the Digital Markets Act last month－sends a strong signal: to all Europeans, to all EU businesses, and to our international counterparts," she said, referring to another agreement reached on March 24 aimed at limiting the market power of big online platforms such as Amazon.

European Commission Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margarethe Vestager, said the agreement will "ensure that platforms are held accountable for the risks their services can pose to society and citizens".

European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said: "With the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are 'too big to care' is coming to an end."

The agreement was reached early on Saturday after 16 hours of intense negotiations. The European Parliament and EU member states will have to formally approve the agreement. Once adopted it will come into force 20 days after its publication, and the rules will start to apply 15 months later.

A delegation from the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee will visit several company headquarters, such as those of Meta, Google and Apple, in Silicon Valley, California, from May 23 to 27 to discuss the DSA and other digital legislation in the pipeline.

But not everyone is satisfied.

Patrick Breyer, a German member of the European Parliament, said that the legislation does not deserve the name "Digital Constitution". He said the ban on using sensitive personality traits, such as a person's political opinion, diseases or sexual preferences, for targeted manipulation and targeting was heavily watered down.