Take the image of a TGV launched at full speed. After years of immobility, Europe is pressing the accelerator to validate a new set of rules distributed in two texts (DMA and DSA) which will soon be imposed on essential digital platforms.
After the DMA (Digital Markets Act) approved last month, the DSA (Digital Services Act) must be examined in plenary session, this Wednesday, January 19, by the European Parliament and put to the vote on Thursday. The desire, under the impetus of France in particular, is to move quickly.
The objective, therefore, is to set legal rules in our digital space because, roughly speaking, until today, the digital giants have done pretty much what they wanted.
The considerable stake is proportional to the pressure exerted by Google, throughout Europe, for a few days, with massive lobbying directed towards the European deputies who very largely voted in favor of the 1st part of this regulation, mi -December. It was then the law on digital markets, the DMA (Digital Markets Act). Its goal: to put an end to the unfair commercial practices of the major online platforms.
It is now the turn of the DSA (Digital Services Act), in other words the legislation on digital services, to pass in plenary session before the European Parliament. The two texts are complementary and almost inseparable but in their daily operation, it is with the DSA that the GAFAs (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and the other platforms) have the most to lose.
The DSA, in fact, concerns the services and in particular the algorithms of the search engines which will have to share their data with the researchers in order to “to allow a control of their operation and to better understand the evolution of online risks“ according to the press release from the European Parliament: can we imagine Coca-Cola having to reveal the recipe for its soda?
It also covers the removal of illegal content and the moderation of harmful content. In the line of sight: disinformation and the protection of citizens and consumers, in the extension of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which came into force on May 25, 2018 in the 27 Member States and which manifests itself, for the large public, by these windows which ask for your agreement to install cookies, these small computer programs which memorize your personal information and the progress of your navigation on the Internet.
Are targeted by the DSA: social media and all digital giants. Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Twitter and the others are never mentioned by name, but the text defines a set of criteria that characterizes the “gatekeepers”, the gatekeepers, in other words the essential players with specific obligations.
The DSA also sets a framework for the targeted advertising that is at the heart of the business model of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and many others, and it obliges these qualified international companies to “very large platforms“ to provide at least one content recommendation system that is not based on the profile of each user. In reality, only micro and small businesses will escape the DSA rules.
What will Google, Apple, Facebook and the others risk if they do not comply with this future regulation, if it comes into effect? The DSA provides for a maximum fine of 6% of annual turnover. The DMA specifies a minimum of 4% of total turnover, and up to 20%, ie double what had been proposed (10%) at European Commission level.
In the case of holdings like Alphabet with Google, it even opens the door to the dismantling of the entity. In short, the end of an era, potentially by early 2013 at the latest, for GAFA and other digital giants.