European Union institutions agreed on the final text of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in 2022, after two years of heated negotiations. Its main aim is to tackle illegal content online. One year later, some rules, particularly those related to the biggest online platforms, have already entered into application, while the remaining rules will be effective as of February 2024.
Throughout the current European Commission’s mandate, the DSA was one of the most important milestones in the EU digital policy agenda, alongside the Digital Markets Act – establishing rules to ban certain anti-competitive behaviours online; the Artificial Intelligence Act – introducing risk-based obligations for AI systems; and broader rules on the governance and re-use of non-personal data.
Once fully applicable, the file is set to become a new legal framework for platform regulation in the EU and beyond. But what will be its impact on combating disinformation at home and abroad, such as in the Asian continent?
This article, written by our Digital Policy Officer Sofia Calabrese for ADRN, focuses on how, despite its scope being limited to illegal content, the Digital Services Act can also be effective in addressing online disinformation and its potential impact beyond the EU, in particular on potential regulatory regimes on disinformation in Asia.
