The EU is set to unveil a new law that will force Big Tech to police online content and keep users “safe.” The new law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), might be agreed upon by the member states, the European Parliament, and European Commission on Friday (April 22).
The DSA will set rules stipulating how online platforms should keep users safe. It will ban the targeting of users based on their sexuality, gender, and religion. Manipulative techniques of tricking people into certain actions will also be banned.
To fight “misinformation,” the DSA will force platforms to disclose the steps they are taking to handle the spread of falsehoods and misinformation.
The rules will apply to large platforms with more than 45 million users in Europe. These platforms will also pay for the enforcement of the law, between €20 million and €30 million annually.
Source: Reclaim the Net
Austria Blocking RT and Sputnik, Failure to Comply Now Punishable by Law and Can Result in €50,000 Fine
An amendment to the Audiovisual Media Services Act (AMD-G) came into force last Thursday (April 14) as announced in a broadcast. This is relevant for the blocking of the Russian state media RT and Sputnik imposed by the EU. Violations can result in a fine of up to 50,000 euros.
KommAustria [the Austrian regulatory authority that has jurisdiction over broadcasting and audiovisual media] is responsible for enforcing the RT and Sputnik ban. The technical distribution of Sputnik and RT in different language versions as well as the offering of the content in and on all radio, retrieval and streaming platforms including social media are now punishable by law.
Evasion attempts are also sanctioned. The EU imposed the ban on RT and Sputnik in response to the war in Ukraine. This is intended to ban “poisonous and harmful disinformation in Europe,” as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained in February.