The move is the latest bid by the commission to rein in powerful digital companies, which Vestager accuses of monopolistic practices that tilt the market, perpetuating their dominance while reducing consumer choice and squeezing out competition. “The Digital Markets Act will more specifically target the economic behaviour of companies that have become systemically relevant. Digital gatekeepers will have to respect a number of well-defined prohibitions and obligations to avoid unfair behaviour from digital gatekeepers,” they write. But the Digital Services Act will increase responsibilities on such intermediaries “wherever they are in the EU” to remove on illegal content. The act will better define what constitutes illegal content, including hate speech, terrorism, child pornography, and the sale of illegal or counterfeit products, and set out what action must be taken against it.

Source: The Irish Times December 06, 2020 17:03 UTC