The European Parliament has voted 83% in favour of a report on the Digital Services Act by Socialists and Democrat MEP Alex Agius Saliba. The report is based on the principle that “what is illegal offline is also illegal online” and calls for future-proof rules on digital services, including online platforms and marketplaces, and for a binding mechanism to tackle illegal content online.
It was important that laws regulating digital services reflected the reality we were living in, Agius Saliba said. This meant that all companies would conform with laws.
“Our SMEs are at a competitive disadvantage when third companies are not operating with laws,” he added. Agius Saliba was speaking during a press conference by the European Parliament Liaison Office on the European Parliament plenary session.
Fellow S&D MEP Josianne Cutajar said “We cannot talk about justice in the digital sphere without speaking about data. It’s basically today’s oil.”
She refuted ideas that regulation could kill innovation.
Turning to concerns on Artificial Intelligence – another topic being debated in the European Parliament – Cutajar said the definition of operator had to be widened. “The operator is not always physically present now,” she noted.
It was important that laws regulating this sector ensured responsibility was not just on paper, but that there was effective remedy and compensation for victims of Artificial Intelligence, she said.
