On January 29, 2020, the European Commission's Work Programme 2020 was published. Under the second priority - 'A Europe fit for the digital age'-  the Commission announced its intention to put forward a new Digital Services Act in order to reinforce the single market for digital services and help provide smaller businesses with the legal clarity and level playing field they need.

While the E-Commerce Directive has been the cornerstone of the Internal Market for the last twenty years, Members of the European Parliament ́s Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee noted that the Digital Single Market is affected by increasing fragmentation in tackling illegal content online, difficulties to promote market entry and consumer welfare, and ineffectiveness of enforcement and cooperation between Member States.

At the same time, MEPs say the EU must set standards to regulate online platforms. It is mainly about forward-looking rules for digital services, including online platforms and markets, and a binding mechanism to fight illegal content online.

The EP believes that the principle ‘illegal in life - illegal online’ as well as consumer protection and user safety should become the guiding principles of the Digital Services Act. In addition, MEPs want to give users more control over online content. They want to enable them, among other things, to disable the content selection option, as well as free them from algorithms. Targeted advertising must be regulated more strictly.

(WBJ)