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keyboard_tab Digital Service Act 2022/2065 EN

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2022/2065 EN Art. 3 cercato: 'content moderation' . Output generated live by software developed by IusOnDemand srl


expand index content moderation:

    CHAPTER I
    GENERAL PROVISIONS

    CHAPTER II
    LIABILITY OF PROVIDERS OF INTERMEDIARY SERVICES
  • 1 Art. 3 Definitions

  • CHAPTER III
    DUE DILIGENCE OBLIGATIONS FOR A TRANSPARENT AND SAFE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT

    SECTION 1
    Provisions applicable to all providers of intermediary services
  • 1 Art. 14 Terms and conditions

  • SECTION 2
    Additional provisions applicable to providers of hosting services, including online platforms
  • 4 Art. 15 Transparency reporting obligations for providers of intermediary services

  • SECTION 3
    Additional provisions applicable to providers of online platforms

    SECTION 4
    Additional provisions applicable to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders

    SECTION 5
    Additional obligations for providers of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines to manage systemic risks
  • 1 Art. 34 Risk assessment
  • 2 Art. 35 Mitigation of risks
  • 1 Art. 42 Transparency reporting obligations

  • SECTION 6
    Other provisions concerning due diligence obligations

    CHAPTER IV
    IMPLEMENTATION, COOPERATION, PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT

    SECTION 1
    Competent authorities and national Digital Services Coordinators

    SECTION 2
    Competences, coordinated investigation and consistency mechanisms

    SECTION 3
    European Board for Digital Services

    SECTION 4
    Supervision, investigation, enforcement and monitoring in respect of providers of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines

    SECTION 5
    Common provisions on enforcement

    SECTION 6
    Delegated and implementing acts

    CHAPTER V
    FINAL PROVISIONS


whereas content moderation:


definitions:


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Article 3

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

information_society_servicemeans a ‘service’ as defined in Article 1(1), point (b), of Directive (EU) 2015/1535;

(b)

recipient_of_the_servicemeans any natural or legal person who uses an intermediary_service, in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it accessible;

(c)

consumermeans any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his or her trade, business, craft, or profession;

(d)

to_offer_services_in_the_Unionmeans enabling natural or legal persons in one or more Member States to use the services of a provider of intermediary_services that has a substantial_connection_to_the_Union;

(e)

substantial_connection_to_the_Unionmeans a connection of a provider of intermediary_services with the Union resulting either from its establishment in the Union or from specific factual criteria, such as:

a significant number of recipients of the service in one or more Member States in relation to its or their population; or

the targeting of activities towards one or more Member States;

(f)

tradermeans any natural person, or any legal person irrespective of whether it is privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any person acting in his or her name or on his or her behalf, for purposes relating to his or her trade, business, craft or profession;

(g)

intermediary_servicemeans one of the following information_society_services:

(i)

a ‘ mere_conduitservice, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient_of_the_service, or the provision of access to a communication network;

(ii)

a ‘ cachingservice, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient_of_the_service, involving the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of that information, performed for the sole purpose of making more efficient the information's onward transmission to other recipients upon their request;

(iii)

a ‘ hostingservice, consisting of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, a recipient_of_the_service;

(h)

illegal_contentmeans any information that, in itself or in relation to an activity, including the sale of products or the provision of services, is not in compliance with Union law or the law of any Member State which is in compliance with Union law, irrespective of the precise subject matter or nature of that law;

(i)

online_platformmeans a hosting service that, at the request of a recipient_of_the_service, stores and disseminates information to the public, unless that activity is a minor and purely ancillary feature of another service or a minor functionality of the principal service and, for objective and technical reasons, cannot be used without that other service, and the integration of the feature or functionality into the other service is not a means to circumvent the applicability of this Regulation;

(j)

online_search_enginemeans an intermediary_service that allows users to input queries in order to perform searches of, in principle, all websites, or all websites in a particular language, on the basis of a query on any subject in the form of a keyword, voice request, phrase or other input, and returns results in any format in which information related to the requested content can be found;

(k)

dissemination_to_the_publicmeans making information available, at the request of the recipient_of_the_service who provided the information, to a potentially unlimited number of third parties;

(l)

distance_contractmeansdistance_contract’ as defined in Article 2, point (7), of Directive 2011/83/EU;

(m)

online_interfacemeans any software, including a website or a part thereof, and applications, including mobile applications;

(n)

Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_establishmentmeans the Digital Services Coordinator of the Member State where the main establishment of a provider of an intermediary_service is located or its legal representative resides or is established;

(o)

Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_destinationmeans the Digital Services Coordinator of a Member State where the intermediary_service is provided;

(p)

‘active recipient of an online_platformmeans a recipient_of_the_service that has engaged with an online_platform by either requesting the online_platform to host information or being exposed to information hosted by the online_platform and disseminated through its online_interface;

(q)

‘active recipient of an online_search_enginemeans a recipient_of_the_service that has submitted a query to an online_search_engine and been exposed to information indexed and presented on its online_interface;

(r)

advertisementmeans information designed to promote the message of a legal or natural person, irrespective of whether to achieve commercial or non-commercial purposes, and presented by an online_platform on its online_interface against remuneration specifically for promoting that information;

(s)

recommender_systemmeans a fully or partially automated system used by an online_platform to suggest in its online_interface specific information to recipients of the service or prioritise that information, including as a result of a search initiated by the recipient_of_the_service or otherwise determining the relative order or prominence of information displayed;

(t)

content moderationmeans the activities, whether automated or not, undertaken by providers of intermediary_services, that are aimed, in particular, at detecting, identifying and addressing illegal_content or information incompatible with their terms_and_conditions, provided by recipients of the service, including measures taken that affect the availability, visibility, and accessibility of that illegal_content or that information, such as demotion, demonetisation, disabling of access to, or removal thereof, or that affect the ability of the recipients of the service to provide that information, such as the termination or suspension of a recipient’s account;

(u)

terms_and_conditionsmeans all clauses, irrespective of their name or form, which govern the contractual relationship between the provider of intermediary_services and the recipients of the service;

(v)

persons_with_disabilitiesmeanspersons_with_disabilities’ as referred to in Article 3, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council (38);

(w)

commercial_communicationmeanscommercial_communication’ as defined in Article 2, point (f), of Directive 2000/31/EC;

(x)

turnovermeans the amount derived by an undertaking within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (39).

CHAPTER II

LIABILITY OF PROVIDERS OF INTERMEDIARY SERVICES

Article 3

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

information_society_service’ means a ‘service’ as defined in Article 1(1), point (b), of Directive (EU) 2015/1535;

(b)

recipient_of_the_service’ means any natural or legal person who uses an intermediary_service, in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it accessible;

(c)

consumer’ means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his or her trade, business, craft, or profession;

(d)

to_offer_services_in_the_Union’ means enabling natural or legal persons in one or more Member States to use the services of a provider of intermediary_services that has a substantial_connection_to_the_Union;

(e)

substantial_connection_to_the_Union’ means a connection of a provider of intermediary_services with the Union resulting either from its establishment in the Union or from specific factual criteria, such as:

a significant number of recipients of the service in one or more Member States in relation to its or their population; or

the targeting of activities towards one or more Member States;

(f)

trader’ means any natural person, or any legal person irrespective of whether it is privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any person acting in his or her name or on his or her behalf, for purposes relating to his or her trade, business, craft or profession;

(g)

intermediary_service’ means one of the following information_society_services:

(i)

a ‘ mere_conduit’ service, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient_of_the_service, or the provision of access to a communication network;

(ii)

a ‘ caching’ service, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient_of_the_service, involving the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of that information, performed for the sole purpose of making more efficient the information's onward transmission to other recipients upon their request;

(iii)

a ‘ hosting’ service, consisting of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, a recipient_of_the_service;

(h)

illegal_content’ means any information that, in itself or in relation to an activity, including the sale of products or the provision of services, is not in compliance with Union law or the law of any Member State which is in compliance with Union law, irrespective of the precise subject matter or nature of that law;

(i)

online_platform’ means a hosting service that, at the request of a recipient_of_the_service, stores and disseminates information to the public, unless that activity is a minor and purely ancillary feature of another service or a minor functionality of the principal service and, for objective and technical reasons, cannot be used without that other service, and the integration of the feature or functionality into the other service is not a means to circumvent the applicability of this Regulation;

(j)

online_search_engine’ means an intermediary_service that allows users to input queries in order to perform searches of, in principle, all websites, or all websites in a particular language, on the basis of a query on any subject in the form of a keyword, voice request, phrase or other input, and returns results in any format in which information related to the requested content can be found;

(k)

dissemination_to_the_public’ means making information available, at the request of the recipient_of_the_service who provided the information, to a potentially unlimited number of third parties;

(l)

distance_contract’ means ‘ distance_contract’ as defined in Article 2, point (7), of Directive 2011/83/EU;

(m)

online_interface’ means any software, including a website or a part thereof, and applications, including mobile applications;

(n)

Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_establishment’ means the Digital Services Coordinator of the Member State where the main establishment of a provider of an intermediary_service is located or its legal representative resides or is established;

(o)

Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_destination’ means the Digital Services Coordinator of a Member State where the intermediary_service is provided;

(p)

‘active recipient of an online_platform’ means a recipient_of_the_service that has engaged with an online_platform by either requesting the online_platform to host information or being exposed to information hosted by the online_platform and disseminated through its online_interface;

(q)

‘active recipient of an online_search_engine’ means a recipient_of_the_service that has submitted a query to an online_search_engine and been exposed to information indexed and presented on its online_interface;

(r)

advertisement’ means information designed to promote the message of a legal or natural person, irrespective of whether to achieve commercial or non-commercial purposes, and presented by an online_platform on its online_interface against remuneration specifically for promoting that information;

(s)

recommender_system’ means a fully or partially automated system used by an online_platform to suggest in its online_interface specific information to recipients of the service or prioritise that information, including as a result of a search initiated by the recipient_of_the_service or otherwise determining the relative order or prominence of information displayed;

(t)

content moderation’ means the activities, whether automated or not, undertaken by providers of intermediary_services, that are aimed, in particular, at detecting, identifying and addressing illegal_content or information incompatible with their terms_and_conditions, provided by recipients of the service, including measures taken that affect the availability, visibility, and accessibility of that illegal_content or that information, such as demotion, demonetisation, disabling of access to, or removal thereof, or that affect the ability of the recipients of the service to provide that information, such as the termination or suspension of a recipient’s account;

(u)

terms_and_conditions’ means all clauses, irrespective of their name or form, which govern the contractual relationship between the provider of intermediary_services and the recipients of the service;

(v)

persons_with_disabilities’ means ‘ persons_with_disabilities’ as referred to in Article 3, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council (38);

(w)

commercial_communication’ means ‘ commercial_communication’ as defined in Article 2, point (f), of Directive 2000/31/EC;

(x)

turnover’ means the amount derived by an undertaking within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (39).

CHAPTER II

LIABILITY OF PROVIDERS OF INTERMEDIARY SERVICES

Article 14

Terms and conditions

1.   Providers of intermediary_services shall include information on any restrictions that they impose in relation to the use of their service in respect of information provided by the recipients of the service, in their terms_and_conditions. That information shall include information on any policies, procedures, measures and tools used for the purpose of content moderation, including algorithmic decision-making and human review, as well as the rules of procedure of their internal complaint handling system. It shall be set out in clear, plain, intelligible, user-friendly and unambiguous language, and shall be publicly available in an easily accessible and machine-readable format.

2.   Providers of intermediary_services shall inform the recipients of the service of any significant change to the terms_and_conditions.

3.   Where an intermediary_service is primarily directed at minors or is predominantly used by them, the provider of that intermediary_service shall explain the conditions for, and any restrictions on, the use of the service in a way that minors can understand.

4.   Providers of intermediary_services shall act in a diligent, objective and proportionate manner in applying and enforcing the restrictions referred to in paragraph 1, with due regard to the rights and legitimate interests of all parties involved, including the fundamental rights of the recipients of the service, such as the freedom of expression, freedom and pluralism of the media, and other fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Charter.

5.   Providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines shall provide recipients of services with a concise, easily-accessible and machine-readable summary of the terms_and_conditions, including the available remedies and redress mechanisms, in clear and unambiguous language.

6.   Very large online_platforms and very large online_search_engines within the meaning of Article 33 shall publish their terms_and_conditions in the official languages of all the Member States in which they offer their services.

Article 15

Transparency reporting obligations for providers of intermediary_services

1.   Providers of intermediary_services shall make publicly available, in a machine-readable format and in an easily accessible manner, at least once a year, clear, easily comprehensible reports on any content moderation that they engaged in during the relevant period. Those reports shall include, in particular, information on the following, as applicable:

(a)

for providers of intermediary_services, the number of orders received from Member States’ authorities including orders issued in accordance with Articles 9 and 10, categorised by the type of illegal_content concerned, the Member State issuing the order, and the median time needed to inform the authority issuing the order, or any other authority specified in the order, of its receipt, and to give effect to the order;

(b)

for providers of hosting services, the number of notices submitted in accordance with Article 16, categorised by the type of alleged illegal_content concerned, the number of notices submitted by trusted flaggers, any action taken pursuant to the notices by differentiating whether the action was taken on the basis of the law or the terms_and_conditions of the provider, the number of notices processed by using automated means and the median time needed for taking the action;

(c)

for providers of intermediary_services, meaningful and comprehensible information about the content moderation engaged in at the providers’ own initiative, including the use of automated tools, the measures taken to provide training and assistance to persons in charge of content moderation, the number and type of measures taken that affect the availability, visibility and accessibility of information provided by the recipients of the service and the recipients’ ability to provide information through the service, and other related restrictions of the service; the information reported shall be categorised by the type of illegal_content or violation of the terms_and_conditions of the service provider, by the detection method and by the type of restriction applied;

(d)

for providers of intermediary_services, the number of complaints received through the internal complaint-handling systems in accordance with the provider’s terms_and_conditions and additionally, for providers of online_platforms, in accordance with Article 20, the basis for those complaints, decisions taken in respect of those complaints, the median time needed for taking those decisions and the number of instances where those decisions were reversed;

(e)

any use made of automated means for the purpose of content moderation, including a qualitative description, a specification of the precise purposes, indicators of the accuracy and the possible rate of error of the automated means used in fulfilling those purposes, and any safeguards applied.

2.   Paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to providers of intermediary_services that qualify as micro or small enterprises as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC and which are not very large online_platforms within the meaning of Article 33 of this Regulation.

3.   The Commission may adopt implementing acts to lay down templates concerning the form, content and other details of reports pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, including harmonised reporting periods. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 88.

SECTION 2

Additional provisions applicable to providers of hosting services, including online_platforms

Article 34

Risk assessment

1.   Providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines shall diligently identify, analyse and assess any systemic risks in the Union stemming from the design or functioning of their service and its related systems, including algorithmic systems, or from the use made of their services.

They shall carry out the risk assessments by the date of application referred to in Article 33(6), second subparagraph, and at least once every year thereafter, and in any event prior to deploying functionalities that are likely to have a critical impact on the risks identified pursuant to this Article. This risk assessment shall be specific to their services and proportionate to the systemic risks, taking into consideration their severity and probability, and shall include the following systemic risks:

(a)

the dissemination of illegal_content through their services;

(b)

any actual or foreseeable negative effects for the exercise of fundamental rights, in particular the fundamental rights to human dignity enshrined in Article 1 of the Charter, to respect for private and family life enshrined in Article 7 of the Charter, to the protection of personal data enshrined in Article 8 of the Charter, to freedom of expression and information, including the freedom and pluralism of the media, enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter, to non-discrimination enshrined in Article 21 of the Charter, to respect for the rights of the child enshrined in Article 24 of the Charter and to a high-level of consumer protection enshrined in Article 38 of the Charter;

(c)

any actual or foreseeable negative effects on civic discourse and electoral processes, and public security;

(d)

any actual or foreseeable negative effects in relation to gender-based violence, the protection of public health and minors and serious negative consequences to the person’s physical and mental well-being.

2.   When conducting risk assessments, providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines shall take into account, in particular, whether and how the following factors influence any of the systemic risks referred to in paragraph 1:

(a)

the design of their recommender_systems and any other relevant algorithmic system;

(b)

their content moderation systems;

(c)

the applicable terms_and_conditions and their enforcement;

(d)

systems for selecting and presenting advertisements;

(e)

data related practices of the provider.

The assessments shall also analyse whether and how the risks pursuant to paragraph 1 are influenced by intentional manipulation of their service, including by inauthentic use or automated exploitation of the service, as well as the amplification and potentially rapid and wide dissemination of illegal_content and of information that is incompatible with their terms_and_conditions.

The assessment shall take into account specific regional or linguistic aspects, including when specific to a Member State.

3.   Providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines shall preserve the supporting documents of the risk assessments for at least three years after the performance of risk assessments, and shall, upon request, communicate them to the Commission and to the Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_establishment.

Article 35

Mitigation of risks

1.   Providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines shall put in place reasonable, proportionate and effective mitigation measures, tailored to the specific systemic risks identified pursuant to Article 34, with particular consideration to the impacts of such measures on fundamental rights. Such measures may include, where applicable:

(a)

adapting the design, features or functioning of their services, including their online_interfaces;

(b)

adapting their terms_and_conditions and their enforcement;

(c)

adapting content moderation processes, including the speed and quality of processing notices related to specific types of illegal_content and, where appropriate, the expeditious removal of, or the disabling of access to, the content notified, in particular in respect of illegal hate speech or cyber violence, as well as adapting any relevant decision-making processes and dedicated resources for content moderation;

(d)

testing and adapting their algorithmic systems, including their recommender_systems;

(e)

adapting their advertising systems and adopting targeted measures aimed at limiting or adjusting the presentation of advertisements in association with the service they provide;

(f)

reinforcing the internal processes, resources, testing, documentation, or supervision of any of their activities in particular as regards detection of systemic risk;

(g)

initiating or adjusting cooperation with trusted flaggers in accordance with Article 22 and the implementation of the decisions of out-of-court dispute settlement bodies pursuant to Article 21;

(h)

initiating or adjusting cooperation with other providers of online_platforms or of online_search_engines through the codes of conduct and the crisis protocols referred to in Articles 45 and 48 respectively;

(i)

taking awareness-raising measures and adapting their online_interface in order to give recipients of the service more information;

(j)

taking targeted measures to protect the rights of the child, including age verification and parental control tools, tools aimed at helping minors signal abuse or obtain support, as appropriate;

(k)

ensuring that an item of information, whether it constitutes a generated or manipulated image, audio or video that appreciably resembles existing persons, objects, places or other entities or events and falsely appears to a person to be authentic or truthful is distinguishable through prominent markings when presented on their online_interfaces, and, in addition, providing an easy to use functionality which enables recipients of the service to indicate such information.

2.   The Board, in cooperation with the Commission, shall publish comprehensive reports, once a year. The reports shall include the following:

(a)

identification and assessment of the most prominent and recurrent systemic risks reported by providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines or identified through other information sources, in particular those provided in compliance with Articles 39, 40 and 42;

(b)

best practices for providers of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines to mitigate the systemic risks identified.

Those reports shall present systemic risks broken down by the Member States in which they occurred and in the Union as a whole, as applicable.

3.   The Commission, in cooperation with the Digital Services Coordinators, may issue guidelines on the application of paragraph 1 in relation to specific risks, in particular to present best practices and recommend possible measures, having due regard to the possible consequences of the measures on fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of all parties involved. When preparing those guidelines the Commission shall organise public consultations.

Article 42

Transparency reporting obligations

1.   Providers of very large online_platforms or of very large online_search_engines shall publish the reports referred to in Article 15 at the latest by two months from the date of application referred to in Article 33(6), second subparagraph, and thereafter at least every six months.

2.   The reports referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article published by providers of very large online_platforms shall, in addition to the information referred to in Article 15 and Article 24(1), specify:

(a)

the human resources that the provider of very large online_platforms dedicates to content moderation in respect of the service offered in the Union, broken down by each applicable official language of the Member States, including for compliance with the obligations set out in Articles 16 and 22, as well as for compliance with the obligations set out in Article 20;

(b)

the qualifications and linguistic expertise of the persons carrying out the activities referred to in point (a), as well as the training and support given to such staff;

(c)

the indicators of accuracy and related information referred to in Article 15(1), point (e), broken down by each official language of the Member States.

The reports shall be published in at least one of the official languages of the Member States.

3.   In addition to the information referred to in Articles 24(2), the providers of very large online_platforms or of very large online_search_engines shall include in the reports referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article the information on the average monthly recipients of the service for each Member State.

4.   Providers of very large online_platforms or of very large online_search_engines shall transmit to the Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_establishment and the Commission, without undue delay upon completion, and make publicly available at the latest three months after the receipt of each audit report pursuant to Article 37(4):

(a)

a report setting out the results of the risk assessment pursuant to Article 34;

(b)

the specific mitigation measures put in place pursuant to Article 35(1);

(c)

the audit report provided for in Article 37(4);

(d)

the audit implementation report provided for in Article 37(6);

(e)

where applicable, information about the consultations conducted by the provider in support of the risk assessments and design of the risk mitigation measures.

5.   Where a provider of very large online_platform or of very large online_search_engine considers that the publication of information pursuant to paragraph 4 might result in the disclosure of confidential information of that provider or of the recipients of the service, cause significant vulnerabilities for the security of its service, undermine public security or harm recipients, the provider may remove such information from the publicly available reports. In that case, the provider shall transmit the complete reports to the Digital_Services_Coordinator_of_establishment and the Commission, accompanied by a statement of the reasons for removing the information from the publicly available reports.


whereas









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