The DSA (Digital Services Act) is coming early, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, announces it as a major breakthrough.
European Commission, new DSA
With a triumphant tweet on 30 April, European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen announced to the world that Europe was taking the first step towards a safer internet.
According to the President, Europe has made the world and in particular the online world safe, and with the same rules as the offline world in that it unifies the law and its rules.
With the DSA, the European Union, while remaining within the Treaty on Electronic Commerce which provides the framework for this matter, has worked to ensure that platforms for the sale and use of services are forced to behave responsibly.
This includes not abusing or using prohibited techniques such as offering users objects or services that they need, using algorithms that study human behaviour and tastes/needs according to the clicks made.
It puts intermediaries in the position of not being able to take advantage of and use as a bargaining chip the sensitive information and preferences, as well as the chats, of their users.
The declaration on the future of the Internet promoted by the United States and signed by 60 countries
The DSA drafted on 30 April follows the Declaration for a Free Internet Future signed by the United States of America and 60 other countries (NATO and others), including Italy, emphasizing a single vision of the Internet, a shared world with precise rules that are the same for everyone.
In this declaration, the Internet is seen as a great common world that is truly open, promoting competition and obviously protecting privacy, respect for human rights and the freedom of each individual, with an inclusive connectivity that is the driving force for everyone to enjoy the benefits of the digital economy.
Today, many people face barriers to accessing the internet, and cyber security risks and threats undermine the trust and reliability of networks, but from today this will no longer be a problem.
Behind all this drive for fairness and protectionism aimed at a safer and happier future, there is a suspicion that in a world where private companies with budgets sometimes larger than some states, the aim is to control the real power of private companies, i.e. their ability to find data and information on users.
Leaving malice aside, the declaration for the future of the internet represents a commitment by these signatory states to promote a positive vision for the internet and new technologies among states.
The principles on which the declaration is based are the protection of fundamental human rights and freedom, the liberalization but safe flow of information, the facilitation of the potential of the digital economy, the protection of user privacy, and the protection and strengthening of the multi-stakeholder approach to governance that makes the internet possible for the benefit of all.
The declaration is the result of a decade of legal work that takes into account the pre-existing laws of the various signatory countries and absorbs them while renewing their intentions. From the White House website it can be inferred that the signing of this declaration by other states is hoped for by making contact with the various American embassies around the world.
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