<img src="https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/24/0/0/8192/5464/664/0/75/0/5c13172_1692896540264-000-8x737j.jpg" srcset=" https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/24/0/0/8192/5464/556/0/75/0/5c13172_1692896540264-000-8x737j.jpg 556w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/24/0/0/8192/5464/600/0/75/0/5c13172_1692896540264-000-8x737j.jpg 600w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/24/0/0/8192/5464/664/0/75/0/5c13172_1692896540264-000-8x737j.jpg 664w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/24/0/0/8192/5464/700/0/75/0/5c13172_1692896540264-000-8x737j.jpg 700w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/24/0/0/8192/5464/800/0/75/0/5c13172_1692896540264-000-8x737j.jpg 800w" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw" alt="An activist from the environmental NGO Avaaz wearing a mask of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds a banner reading " regulate="" me,"="" during="" an="" action="" marking="" the="" publication="" of="" digital="" services="" act,="" outside="" european="" commission="" building="" in="" brussels,="" december="" 15,="" 2020."="" width="100%" height="auto">

In theory, the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force in the fall of 2022, but its first concrete effects will be felt starting Friday, August 25. From midnight, the 19 largest social media platforms, marketplaces and search engines have to comply with the EU law on digital services, requiring them to better regulate content. For months now, most of these tech giants have been preparing to meet the European regulator's demands. The US-based Amazon and the German Zalando, also affected by the regulation, have gone to court to challenge their inclusion in the list drawn up by the European Commission.

"Other large platforms required to meet these obligations will be designated soon," said the European Commission. Smaller platforms will have to comply with the same rules starting in February 2024. However, they will be monitored not by Brussels, but by the relevant national authorities.

"Europe is now effectively the first jurisdiction in the world where online platforms no longer benefit from a 'free pass' and set their own rules. They are now regulated entities in the same way as financial institutions," said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market who has been at the helm of this legislation. The idea, as he has repeated over and over for several years, is that "what is forbidden in the real world is also forbidden in the virtual world."

"It's a major cultural change, since prior to this, these platforms existed in a deregulated world," said Alexandre de Streel, academic co-director of the Centre on Regulation in Europe and professor of European law at the University of Namur. After Europe, other continents, such as the United States, Asia and Oceania, are likely to adopt DSA-inspired measures.

"Rather than relying on the goodwill of platforms or a clever interpretation of the law, the EU has chosen to restore trust and security in the digital space with clear rights, obligations and guarantees," Breton said.

In concrete terms, from August 25, all the platforms designated by the Commission in April – each of which has at least 45 million users, or 10% of the European population – will be required to implement around 40 measures. The legislation forces them to make their "Terms and Conditions" (where everyone is required to click "I agree") understandable, even to children, as well as having a legal presence on European territory and easily identifiable ways to be contacted.

Above all, the platforms are obliged to send Brussels an initial report assessing the systemic risks they pose to democracy and fundamental rights (in terms of privacy, electoral processes, bans on disseminating illegal content, etc.). "These assessments are extremely important," said German Green MEP Alexandra Geese, "because companies must also propose ways of mitigating these risks. And if the Commission feels that this is not being adequately addressed by the company itself, it can order them to take action."

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