{"id":37025,"date":"2023-08-31T03:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T22:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37025"},"modified":"2025-04-22T10:15:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T04:45:24","slug":"digital-service-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/digital-service-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Service Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is Digital Services Act (DSA)?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the key features of the Digital Services Act?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the changes big tech has been forced to make?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How does the EU\u2019s DSA compare with India\u2019s online laws?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, the European Union\u2019s groundbreaking <strong>Digital Services Act (DSA)\u00a0<\/strong>came into effect.<\/li>\n<li>As the provisions of this act kick in, a number of companies including Meta, Google, and Snap, have been forced to make changes to their platforms.<\/li>\n<li>These changes include:\n<ul>\n<li>more disclosures on how they use artificial intelligence (AI) to offer personalised content to users, and<\/li>\n<li>allowing the users, the option to opt out of being subjected to digital surveillance by these platforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Digital Services Act (DSA)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Digital Services Act (DSA) is an EU regulation which came into force in EU law in November 2022 and will be directly applicable across the EU.<\/li>\n<li>The act aims to address <u>several issues related to digital services, including online safety, content moderation, and the responsibilities of online platforms<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>The legislation includes new rules for large online platforms, such as social media networks and online marketplaces, to ensure <strong>greater accountability and transparency in their operations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Goals<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>To create a safer digital space in which the fundamental rights of all users of digital services are protected;<\/li>\n<li>To establish a level playing field to foster innovation, growth, and competitiveness, both in the European Single Market and globally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>What are the key features of the Digital Services Act?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Faster removals and provisions to challenge<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Social media companies will have to add new procedures for faster removal of content deemed illegal or harmful.<\/li>\n<li>They will also have to explain to users how their content takedown policy works.<\/li>\n<li>The DSA also allows for users to challenge takedown decisions taken by platforms and seek out-of-court settlements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bigger platforms have greater responsibility<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines, that is platforms, <u>having more than 45 million users in the EU<\/u>, will have more stringent requirements.<\/li>\n<li>Hence, the law avoids a one-size fits all approach and places increased accountability on the Big Tech companies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Direct supervision by European Commission<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>These requirements and their enforcement will be centrally supervised by the European Commission itself.<\/li>\n<li>This is to ensure that companies do not sidestep the legislation at the member-state level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>More transparency on how algorithms work<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP) and Very Large Online Search Engines will face transparency measures and scrutiny of how their algorithms work.<\/li>\n<li>They will be required to conduct systemic risk analysis and reduction to drive accountability about the society impacts of their products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clearer identifiers for ads and who\u2019s paying for them<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Online platforms must ensure that users can easily identify advertisements and understand who presents or pays for the advertisement.<\/li>\n<li>They must not display personalised advertising directed towards minors or based on sensitive personal data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heavy penalties<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The DSA imposes heavy penalties for non-compliance, <u>which can be up to 6 per cent of the company\u2019s global annual turnover<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>Companies that do not wish to abide by the rules cannot function within the EU.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>What are the changes big tech has been forced to make?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Due to the harsh repercussions and the threat of losing a market of around 450 million users, major social media companies have fallen in line.<\/li>\n<li>These companies have announced they will allow more freedom to users in the way they interact with their platforms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meta:<\/strong> The company that operates Facebook and Instagram has said it will <u>introduce non-personalised digital feeds<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Google:<\/strong> The Internet search giant has said it will increase how much information it provides about ads targeted at users in the EU.\n<ul>\n<li>It will also expand data access to third party researchers studying systemic content risks in the region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Amazon:<\/strong> The e-commerce giant sued the EU last month over its classification as a VLOP, which would require the company to comply with the DSA\u2019s stringent norms.\n<ul>\n<li>This was the first legal challenge to the law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>How does the EU\u2019s DSA compare with India\u2019s online laws?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Information Technology Rules, 2021<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In February 2021, India had notified extensive changes to its social media regulations in the form of the Information Technology Rules, 2021 (IT Rules).<\/li>\n<li>These rules placed significant due diligence requirements on large social media platforms such as Meta and Twitter. This included:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Appointing key personnel<\/strong> to handle law enforcement requests and user grievances,<\/li>\n<li>Enabling <strong>identification of the first originator<\/strong> of the information on its platform under certain conditions,<\/li>\n<li>Deploying technology-based measures on a best-effort basis to <strong>identify certain types of content<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Amendments to the IT Rules<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2023, with a view to make the Internet open, safe and trusted, and accountable, the IT Ministry notified the <u>creation of government-backed grievance appellate committees<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>These committees would have the authority to review and revoke content moderation decisions taken by platforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Other laws<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India is also working on a complete overhaul of its technology policies and is expected to soon come out with a replacement of its IT Act, 2000.<\/li>\n<li>This law is expected to look at <u>ensuring net neutrality and algorithmic accountability of social media platforms<\/u>, among other things.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)\u00a0What is European Commission?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union (EU). It is responsible for proposing and enforcing laws, managing the EU&#8217;s budget, and representing the EU on the international stage. The Commission is made up of 27 commissioners, one from each EU member state, appointed for a five-year term by the Council of the European Union and approved by the European Parliament. The Commission is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>What are social media platforms?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Social media platforms are online platforms that allow users to create, share, and exchange information, content, and opinions with others. They typically provide a variety of tools and features that enable users to connect with others, build networks, and engage in online conversations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-sci-tech\/dsa-digitial-services-act-europe-big-tech-8915921\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>DSA: How the pioneering EU law is forcing big tech to reduce digital surveillance<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu\/en\/policies\/digital-services-act-package\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>European Commission<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-sci-tech\/google-meta-apple-on-the-radar-in-eus-online-content-rules-what-are-they-8577538\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Digital Services Act aims to provide clearer and more standardized rules for digital content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}