Illegal content on the internet: EU law comes into force – 02/16/2024 – Market

The European Law on Digital Services (LSD) comes into full force this Saturday (17), with a strict set of rules for online platforms, with the aim of more efficiently protecting the population against illegal content.

The standards have already been applied since August to giants in the sector, such as X (formerly Twitter) or TikTok, and to the main services of Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft and Amazon.

Based on this legislation, the EU began a formal investigation against network

With LSD, 22 large network companies – including three pornography sites – came under close surveillance by the European Commission, the EU Executive.

From Saturday, the regulation will be valid for all digital platforms, regardless of their size, supported by a fundamental pillar: everything that is illegal “offline” will also become illegal online.

In this way, all platforms and service providers will be required to offer simple mechanisms to report illegal content and also act “swiftly” to eliminate it.

At the same time, websites dedicated to online commerce will have to control the identity of sellers and block repeat fraudsters, with a special focus on counterfeit products.

They will also have obligations to control advertising to minors.

The company that does not comply with the regulations will be exposed to fines, which can reach 6% of its global annual revenue, and even a possible ban on operating in Europe in case of repeated violations.

Culture change

“The objective is not to impose fines, but for platforms to change their practices. This is how we will measure the success of our legislation”, said Alexandre de Streel, co-director of the research group Center for Regulation in Europe (Cerre).

However, the expert added, in practice the changes “will take time because they cannot be decreed by law, it is necessary to change the culture of people and companies.”

All platforms or services that are not part of the top 22 companies will be under the supervision of the authority in the country of their main establishment.

The most stringent provisions remain reserved for the main, larger companies, which will be directly supervised by the European Commission.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees and revenue of less than 50 million euros (R$268 million) will be exempt from the obligations.

The 22 giants under special observation were designated based on the number of active users in Europe, with a cap of 45 million.

Among the specific obligations, platforms must analyze the risks related to the use of their service and create means to mitigate them.

Companies must also follow stricter transparency criteria, with the obligation to provide access to their algorithms to regulatory agencies. They will also be audited once a year.