Big Tech companies must be more transparent about their advertising and less algorithmic in content in order to comply with Europe's newest tech-focused law.
The European Union is scheduled to implement the Digital Services Act into law on Friday. This law, which the EU passed in the fall of 2022, will be one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation involving advertising and the internet to date. The DSA bans targeted advertising aimed toward children, and using sensitive data involving one's ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion is forbidden. It also holds tech companies accountable for "harmful and illegal" content, requires them to be more transparent about their content moderation and algorithms, and strengthens the tracing of traders on online marketplaces.
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Now, companies like Facebook, Google, and TikTok have to update their practices in Europe to accommodate the demands of the DSA.
Transparency
The affected platforms were required to take action to remove the detrimental effects of algorithms and content moderation and to ensure their behavior was clear and transparent to the user.
Google announced on Thursday that it was expanding its Ads Transparency Center to comply with DSA requirements. "We will increase data access for researchers looking to understand more about how Google Search, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play, and Shopping work in practice, and conducting research related to understanding systemic content risks in the EU," Laurie Richardson, Google VP of Trust and Safety, wrote.
Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg announced on Tuesday that users in the EU will have new options for viewing content on its platforms. This includes turning off an artificial intelligence-powered newsfeed to allow users to view content chronologically.
"We're now giving our European community the option to view and discover content on Reels, Stories, Search, and other parts of Facebook and Instagram that is not ranked by Meta using these [AI recommender] systems," Clegg wrote.
Snapchat reported that advertisers will no longer be able to use marketing tools to target teenagers in the union or the United Kingdom.
The Chinese video platform TikTok announced on Aug. 4 that it was implementing a version of the "For You" feed that would allow users to view content in Europe without the algorithm determining it.
Labeling
The 19 affected companies would be labeled by the DSA as "Very Large Online Platforms." At least 19 companies have been declared VLOPs, although some have challenged it. Amazon and the fashion outlet Zalando challenged the categorization in court. Amazon claimed in a June suit that they were "unfairly singled out" by the DSA.
The DSA was passed alongside the Digital Markets Act in September 2022. The DMA offers a set of rules to regulate the "gatekeepers," companies with substantial economic impacts over the digital marketplace. The EU has identified seven companies as gatekeepers, including Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Meta.
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Stress Tests
The affected Big Tech companies consented to EU officials running stress tests on their platforms to see how they would respond to any particular threats the platforms face. This includes determining how the platforms respond to child sexual assault material, Russian propaganda, and fake news. At least five platforms were tested, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat. Twitter's compliance is a slight surprise because its owner, Elon Musk, holds a less restrictive view regarding misinformation. At least one EU regulator has warned Musk about how such views would clash with the 27-country union.