What you need to know
- The EU is set to unveil a massive new law on Friday.
- It will force large companies like Apple to police illegal content on their platforms.
- Measures will include the end of targeting users based on religion, gender, or sexual preferences, and platforms like Facebook will no longer be allowed to target children with adverts.
A new report says the EU is set to unveil a major new law on Friday that will force big tech companies like Apple to police illegal content on their platforms.
The EU is poised to unveil a landmark law on Friday that will force Big Tech to police their platforms more aggressively over illegal content, marking the latest move by regulators to curb the power of large technology groups.The controversial practice of targeting users online based on their religion, gender or sexual preferences will be banned under the Digital Services Act, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.
The DSA sets out how companies like Apple will have to keep their users safe online, and will see "dark pattern" techniques that dupe people into unwillingly clicking on internet content banned.
Children are also a focus of the new law:
As part of the deal, which will be agreed in Brussels between member states, the European Commission and the European parliament, children will be subject to new safeguards, meaning online platforms such as YouTube or TikTok will need to explain their terms and conditions in a way a minor can understand. Companies such as Facebook parent Meta will not be able to target minors with advertising under the new rules.
Other measures include mechanisms to tackle misinformation and propaganda, the need for which has been highlighted by COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Interestingly, big tech companies themselves will have to fund the supervisory fees that are paid to ensure they're keeping up with the policy, with a bill of around 20-30 million euros expected. Fines for failing to comply could reach 6% of global turnover.
Also affected will be search engines, with companies like Google forced to assess and mitigate the risk of spreading disinformation on their platforms.
You can read the full report here.
