It’s been a long time coming, but let’s welcome the EU’s new legislation to protect online users
Saturday saw the entry into force of the Digital Services Act throughout the European Union after its approval in April 2022, a legislative package, together with the Digital Markets Act, that Big Tech had lobbied hard against.
The legislation will give Europeans rights not enjoyed in the rest of the world, and will surely end up being imitated on the other side of the Atlantic, as the European Union becomes an exporter of regulation, instead of technology.
From now on, among many other requirements, platforms or search engines with more than 45 million monthly users in Europe will have to provide the kind of online protection long available in the real world against fraudsters, disinformation and manipulation, as well as protecting minors and other users against ultra-targeted advertising, and will have to offer opt-out mechanisms that allow content to be displayed without any type of algorithm. Nor will businesses be able to use dark patterns or confusing mechanisms to obtain user consent for…
