The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament’s committee on internal market and consumer protection (IMCO), led by S&D MEP Christel Schaldemose, voted in favour of the new legislation that will regulate the services provided to Europeans on digital platforms. The S&D Group is unanimous on the need to update the rules, more than twenty years after the adoption of the current European legislation in the year 2000. According to the Socialists and Democrats, technologies have developed so much and digital services have become such a part of everyone’s daily lives that it is their duty to protect the best interests of European consumers, protect the use of their data and create a level playing field for big, small and medium businesses. 

Christel Schaldemose MEP, the European Parliament’s negotiator on the Digital Services Act and the S&D spokesperson on the internal market and consumer protection, said:  

“The Digital Services Act brings the EU’s tech legislation into the 21st century. We have fought for years to protect our natural environment from pollution but we have been too slow to acknowledge that we also need to protect our online environment from pollution in the form of the spread of illegal products, harmful algorithms and the harvesting of personal data. For too long the online sphere has been a Wild West, treated as if somehow disconnected from our internal market rules and our everyday lives. This stops here. With today's vote in IMCO we have reaffirmed the European Parliaments longstanding commitment to safeguarding EU citizens and consumers everywhere – online as well as offline.

“No more targeted online ads directed at minors. And no more dark patterns making it too cumbersome to delete your account or too unclear what data you have consented to sharing. We are opening up the black box of algorithms and recommender systems, forcing online platforms to rethink their business model to create less online pollution. On very large online platforms you should have a choice of recommender system, so you decide how your feed is fed. And all platforms have to assess the risks their algorithms pose – including the risks of promoting self-harm, hate speech, disinformation or illegal products. The platforms must assess the risks and plan how to mitigate them. At the same time we are introducing new obligations on online marketplaces to take adequate measures to identify and remove illegal products.

“Finally we are introducing a new right for remedies and compensation for both consumers and businesses towards platforms that infringe their due diligence obligations in the DSA. With our suggestions we are one step closer to ensuring that what is illegal offline is also illegal online.”

Following the adoption of the Digital Services Act in the European Parliament’s committee on internal market and consumer protection today, the document will be adopted by all the Members of the EP during their plenary session in January 2022. Then Christel Schaldemose will go on to negotiations on behalf of the European Parliament with the Member States of the European Union and the European Commission under the French Presidency of the Council of the EU.