EU Commission urges six member states to appoint authorities for DSA enforcement

3 months ago 22

The European Commission has initiated infringement procedures for Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden, asking them to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), according to a Friday (26 July) press release.

In a formal notice to these countries, the Commission urged them to adhere to the DSA, the EU’s landmark content moderation law.

The Commission said these countries have either neglected to appoint the necessary Digital Services Coordinators, failed to grant these authorities the essential powers to perform their duties, or both. The countries had until 17 February to appoint the authorities.

Digital Services Coordinators are officials responsible for enforcing the DSA in each EU country. They monitor online platforms, handle user complaints, and ensure that these platforms comply with the Act’s rules within their jurisdictions.

Member states now have two months to address the issues raised by the Commission. If they do not respond adequately, the Commission may proceed with issuing reasoned opinions.

This is not the first instance of issues arising with Digital Services Coordinators. Already in January, it was expected that some countries would miss the deadline for appointing the Coordinators.

By the start of February, only Hungary, Italy, and Spain had appointed such authorities. Also in February, members of the European Parliament expressed their concerns about the independence of Hungary’s appointed authority to enforce the DSA.

The DSA considers platforms or search engines with over 45 million monthly users in the EU as VLOPSs, or very large online search engines (VLOSEs). They include social media networks Instagram and TikTok, search engines such as Google Search and Bing, and e-commerce sites like AliExpress and Zalando.

The DSA aims to create a safer digital environment by assigning responsibility to online actors, including how to deal with illegal content including dangerous goods and harmful content like hate speech.

[Edited by Eliza Gkritsi/Zoran Radosavljevic]