would have to do the same for dodgy products,
such as counterfeit sneakers or unsafe toys.
These systems will be standardized to work the
same way on any online platform.
Germany’s justice minister said the rules
would safeguard freedom of speech online by
ensuring sites can be made to review decisions
on deleting posts. At the same time, they’ll
be required to prevent their platforms being
misused, said Marco Buschmann.
“Death threats, aggressive insults and incitement
to violence aren’t expressions of free speech
but rather attacks on free and open discourse,”
he said.
Tech companies, which had furiously lobbied
Brussels to water down the legislation,
responded cautiously.
Twitter said it would review the rules “in detail”
and that it supports “smart, forward thinking
regulation that balances the need to tackle
online harm with protecting the Open Internet.”
TikTok said it awaits the act’s full details but
“we support its aim to harmonize the approach
to online content issues and welcome the
DSA’s focus on transparency as a means to
show accountability.”
Google said it looks forward to “working with
policymakers to get the remaining technical
details right to ensure the law works for
everyone.” Amazon referred to a blog post from
last year that said it welcomed measures that
enhance trust in online services. Facebook didn’t
respond to a request for comment.
The Digital Services Act bans ads targeted at
minors, as well as ads based on users’ gender,