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Digital Services Act provisional agreement in EU aims to boost online regulation

An agreement between the European Union Council and European Parliament is dedicating resources towards stronger digital regulation.

TJ Denzer

April 25, 2022 11:35 AM

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In the past couple years, internet privacy and security has taken on exponential difficulty, especially as regulation and the technology to enforce it has failed to keep up. However, a landmark provisional agreement on the Digital Services Act in Europe may boost the region’s online regulatory efforts soon. The Digital Services Act has been agreed upon by the European Union Council and European Parliament, and with it, rules and regulations against digital activity both legal and illegal will be put into play.

The EU Council and Parliament passed a provisional agreement on the Digital Services Act on April 23, 2022, as reported in a press release on the EU Council website. With it, the EU will pursue better regulation and the technology necessary to enforce, especially in regards to “very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs). While regulations will also affect startups, the rules are slightly more relaxed in on that matter in order to not stifle competition and development of new businesses.

The EU Council goes into more detail on the Digital Services Act on its website, laying out the scope and purpose of the act.

The press release goes on to determine what separates VLOPs and VLOSEs from startups and small businesses that would be protected from strict regulation.

The need for online regulation has grown considerably more important over the course of the last few years. Not only is there concern over platforms like Apple and its rules regarding apps, developer rights, and sideloading, but rapidly trending markets like NFTs and cryptocurrency have been a wild west of cyber crime and further issues.

It’s still too early to know if the EU’s Digital Services Act will prove effective in regulating online and digital markets, but the need is most definitely there. Do you think it will matter? Does the US need similar regulation? Let us know in the Shacknews Chatty section below.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.