Bird & Bird‘s article discusses the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force on November 16, 2022, as Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. The DSA is an amendment and update to the eCommerce Directive, aiming to prevent illegal and harmful online activities while enhancing user rights. Member States are currently in the process of transposing the DSA into national law, with a deadline of February 17, 2024, when it will apply to all intermediary service providers. While the DSA is not applicable in the UK, the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA), addressing similar themes, received Royal Assent on October 26, 2023.
Bird & Bird’s Digital Services Act Tracker focuses on both the DSA and the UK’s OSA, providing crucial information for businesses to monitor the introduction of national laws implementing the DSA and the status of the OSA. The tracker includes details about the appointment of Digital Service Coordinators, who play a key role in supervising and enforcing the DSA, especially for very large online platforms and search engines. Trusted flaggers, appointed from February 17, 2024, by Digital Service Coordinators, are given a special status to report illegal content through a dedicated channel, demanding prioritized responses from platforms.
The article emphasizes the transformative nature of the DSA, necessitating significant changes for intermediary service providers in areas such as terms and conditions, transparency, internal processes, procedures, and user interfaces. Users are granted enhanced rights under the DSA, including the right to receive a statement of reasons when their content is restricted or removed and access to a newly required complaint-handling system.
The Bird & Bird DSA Implementation Tracker serves as a resource for businesses, providing information on the status of national implementation legislation, UK legislation addressing similar subjects, and the progress of national implementation processes. It acknowledges that the information may not be fully complete or up-to-date, but it offers a comprehensive overview of the regulatory landscape surrounding the DSA and the OSA.
In summary, the article outlines the significance of the DSA, its impact on intermediary service providers, and the parallel developments in the UK through the OSA. The Bird & Bird Digital Services Act Tracker is positioned as a valuable tool for businesses to stay informed about the evolving regulatory framework and ensure compliance with the DSA and related legislation.
