Digital Services Act: Document pool
The upcoming DSA will revise the rules contained in the E-Commerce Directive of 2000 that affect how intermediaries regulate and influence user activity on their platforms, including people's ability to exercise their rights and freedoms online.
In her political guidelines, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has committed to “upgrade the Union’s liability and safety rules for digital platforms, services and products, with a new Digital Services Act” (DSA). The upcoming DSA will revise the rules contained in the E-Commerce Directive of 2000 that affect how intermediaries regulate and influence user activity on their platforms, including people’s ability to exercise their rights and freedoms online. This is why reforming those rules has the potential to be either a big threat to fundamental rights rights or a major improvement of the current situation online. It is also an opportunity for the European Union to decide how central aspects of the internet will look in the coming ten years.
A public consultation by the European Commission is planned to be launched in May 2020 and legislative proposals are expected to be presented in the first quarter of 2021.
In the meantime, three different Committees of the European Parliament have announced or published Own Initiative Reports as well as Opinions in view of setting the agenda of what the DSA should regulate and how it should achieve its goals.
In this document pool we will be listing relevant articles and documents related to the DSA. This will allow you to follow the developments of content moderation and regulatory actions in Europe.
Last update: 8 June 2020
Table of content
EDRi’s analysis and recommendations
Legislative documents
Blogposts and press releases
EDRi members’ publications
Other
Key policymakers
Key dates
EDRi’s analysis and recommendations
- EDRi Position Paper on the Digital Services Act: Platform Regulation Done Right (9 April 2020)
- Joint Report:Civil society calls for evidence-based solutions to disinformation (19 October 2018) with Access Now and Civil Liberties Union for Europe
- EDRi response to European Commission E-Commerce Directive Consultation (10 November 2010)
Legislative documents
European Commission
- Public consultation announced for June 2020
- Legislative proposals announced for Q1/2021
European Parliament
- Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO)
- Lead Report: 2020/2018 (INL) Legislative initiative procedure – Digital Services Act: Improving the functioning of the Single Market – Draft
- Legal Affairs Committee (JURI)
- Lead Report: 2020/2019 (INL) Legislative initiative procedure – Digital Services Act: Adapting commercial and civil law rules for commercial entities operating online – Draft
- Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE)
- Lead Report: 2020/2022 (INI) Own-initiative report procedure – Digital Services Act and fundamental rights issues posed – Draft
EDRi’s blogposts and press releases
- The impact of competition law on your digital rights (19 February 2020)
- Online content moderation: Where does the Commission stand? (18 December 2019)
- Interoperability: A way to escape toxic online environments (04 December 2019)
- Content regulation – what’s the (online) harm? (9 October 2019)
- CJEU ruling on fighting defamation online could open the door for upload filters (3 October 2019)
- E-Commerce review: Safeguarding human rights when moderating online content (4 September 2019)
- E-Commerce review: Mitigating collateral damage (27 August 2019)
- E-Commerce review: Technology is the solution. What is the problem? (11 July 2019)
- E-Commerce review: Opening Pandora’s box? (20 June 2019)
- Fighting defamation online – AG Opinion forgets that context matters (19 June 2019)
- Answering guide for European Commission’s “illegal content consultation” (13 June 2018)
EDRi members’ publications
- Access Now,Guide: how to protect human rights in content governance (3 March 2020)
- Access Now, Can we rely on machines making decisions for us on illegal content? (26 February 2020)
- Access Now, Who should decide what we see online? (20 February 2020)
- Homo Digitalis, Shedding light on the Facebook content moderation centre in Athens (4 December 2019)
- Epicenter.works, Platform Regulation – an attempt at a fundamental rights based proposal
- Panoptykon, “SIN vs Facebook”: First victory against privatised censorship (17 July 2019)
- Panoptykon, SIN v Facebook: Tech giant sued over censorship in landmark case (8 May 2019)
- Panoptykon, Who (really) targets you? (29 April 2020)
- Bits of Freedom, You cannot post “a bag of bones” on Facebook (27 February 2019)
- Bits of Freedom, Women on Waves: How internet companies police our speech (29 August 2018)
Other
- Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC), Making the Digital Services Act work for consumers (30 April 2020)
Key policymakers
- Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO)
- Rapporteur INL: Alex AGIUS SALIBA (S&D)
- Shadow Rapporteurs: Alexandra GEESE (Greens), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew), Eugen JURZYCA (ECR), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (GUE), Pablo ARIAS ECHEVERRÍA (EPP)
- Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE)
- Rapporteur INI: Kris PEETERS (EPP)
- Shadow Rapporteurs: Cornelia ERNST (GUE), Marina KALJURAND (S&D), Moritz KÖRNER (Renew), Patrick BREYER (Greens), Patryk JAKI (ECR)
- Legal Affairs (JURI)
- Rapporteur INL: Tiemo WÖLKEN (S&D)
- Shadow Rapporteurs: Angel DZHAMBAZKI (ECR), Emmanuel MAUREL (GUE), József SZÁJER (EPP), Karen MELCHIOR (Renew), Patrick BREYER (Greens)
Key dates
- European Commission’s consultation: June 2020
- European Commission’s legislative proposal: Q1 2021
