Community Short Facts - March 2022

Digital Services Act

The German Digital Economy Association (BVDW) is highly critical of the final position of the European Parliament on the Digital Services Act (DSA), which has now been adopted in its plenary session. This is because the path taken by the EU Commission with regard to transparency and due diligence obligations has been significantly expanded in a way that is contrary to its purpose. In particular, the MEPs would thus create legal uncertainties in the area of data and privacy protection. The EU Commission's December 2020 proposal for a law on digital services, which BVDW continues to welcome in principle, focused primarily on combating illegal content online and improving the basic principles of the e-commerce directive. In the European Parliament, however, many MEPs have devoted themselves to a wide variety of topics that they would absolutely like to see regulated, and would thus have extended the scope of regulation unduly.