EU Agrees On Law To Ban Online Advertising And Remove Illegal Content

The European Union has agreed a new law to limit targeted online advertising, remove illegal content, and impose oversight and sanctions on the largest internet platforms. In an all-day meeting on Friday that ended early Saturday morning, the European Parliament and the European Council finalized the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The DSA aims to limit the ability of social media, app stores, and content sharing platforms to target ads. It also requires sites to remove illegal content. The commission will have the right to check the algorithms of the largest sites and search engines, which have more than 45 mln users in Europe, and impose fines of up to 6% of the annual global turnover.

The Digital Services Act also restricts ad targeting to children and ads based on sensitive data such as race or sexual identity. According to Alexandra GEESE, MP for the Green Party, the DSA can become a constitution for the Internet, curbing hate, polarization and disinformation. The new law will be extended to Google, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter.

Image: Digital Russia