keyboard_tab Digital Service Act 2022/2065 EN
BG CS DA DE EL EN ES ET FI FR GA HR HU IT LV LT MT NL PL PT RO SK SL SV print pdf
- 2 Art. 3 Definitions
- 2 Art. 14 Terms and conditions
- 5 Art. 28 Online protection of minors
- 1 Art. 34 Risk assessment
- 1 Art. 35 Mitigation of risks
- 1 Art. 44 Standards
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER II
LIABILITY OF PROVIDERS OF INTERMEDIARY SERVICES
CHAPTER III
DUE DILIGENCE OBLIGATIONS FOR A TRANSPARENT AND SAFE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
SECTION 1
Provisions applicable to all providers of intermediary services
SECTION 2
Additional provisions applicable to providers of hosting services, including online platforms
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
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
- information society service
- recipient of the service
- consumer
- to offer services in the Union
- substantial connection to the Union
- trader
- intermediary service
- mere conduit
- caching
- hosting
- illegal content
- online platform
- online search engine
- dissemination to the public
- distance contract
- online interface
- Digital Services Coordinator of establishment
- Digital Services Coordinator of destination
- active recipient of an online platform
- active recipient of an online search engine
- advertisement
- recommender system
- content moderation
- terms and conditions
- persons with disabilities
- commercial communication
- turnover
- Mere conduit
- Caching
- information 34
- shall 31
- service 26
- means 25
- including 20
- large 18
- very 17
- in article 15
- recipients 14
- online_platforms 14
- services 13
- measures 13
- risks 11
- recipient_of_the_service 11
- particular 10
- online_search_engines 10
- providers 9
- rights 9
- specific 9
- terms_and_conditions 9
- providers 9
- systemic 9
- enshrined 9
- provided 8
- minors 8
- referred 7
- such 7
- intermediary_services 7
- through 7
- which 7
- risk 7
- adapting 7
- whether 7
- person 7
- commission 7
- systems 6
- union 6
- provider 6
- intermediary_service 6
- online_platform 6
- request 6
- standards 6
- fundamental 6
- they 6
- pursuant 6
- article 6
- relation 5
- online_interface 5
- more 5
- from 5
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:
|
| (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:
|
| (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 28
Online protection of minors
1. Providers of online_platforms accessible to minors shall put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security of minors, on their service.
2. Providers of online_platform shall not present advertisements on their interface based on profiling as defined in Article 4, point (4), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 using personal data of the recipient_of_the_service when they are aware with reasonable certainty that the recipient_of_the_service is a minor.
3. Compliance with the obligations set out in this Article shall not oblige providers of online_platforms to process additional personal data in order to assess whether the recipient_of_the_service is a minor.
4. The Commission, after consulting the Board, may issue guidelines to assist providers of online_platforms in the application of paragraph 1.
SECTION 4
Additional provisions applicable to providers of online_platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance_contracts with traders
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 44
Standards
1. The Commission shall consult the Board, and shall support and promote the development and implementation of voluntary standards set by relevant European and international standardisation bodies, at least in respect of the following:
| (a) | electronic submission of notices under Article 16; |
| (b) | templates, design and process standards for communicating with the recipients of the service in a user-friendly manner on restrictions resulting from terms_and_conditions and changes thereto; |
| (c) | electronic submission of notices by trusted flaggers under Article 22, including through application programming interfaces; |
| (d) | specific interfaces, including application programming interfaces, to facilitate compliance with the obligations set out in Articles 39 and 40; |
| (e) | auditing of very large online_platforms and of very large online_search_engines pursuant to Article 37; |
| (f) | interoperability of the advertisement repositories referred to in Article 39(2); |
| (g) | transmission of data between advertising intermediaries in support of transparency obligations pursuant to Article 26(1), points (b), (c) and (d); |
| (h) | technical measures to enable compliance with obligations relating to advertising contained in this Regulation, including the obligations regarding prominent markings for advertisements and commercial_communications referred to in Article 26; |
| (i) | choice interfaces and presentation of information on the main parameters of different types of recommender_systems, in accordance with Articles 27 and 38; |
| (j) | standards for targeted measures to protect minors online. |
2. The Commission shall support the update of the standards in the light of technological developments and the behaviour of the recipients of the services in question. The relevant information regarding the update of the standards shall be publicly available and easily accessible.
whereas