CDTEU Response to the European Commission Consultation on the Digital Services Act

The Centre for Democracy and Technology’s EU Office (CDTEU) responded to the European Commission’s consultation on the Digital Services Act (DSA). This consultation involves a review of the E-Commerce Directive and seeks answers to questions regarding how society should deal with the contemporary challenges linked to digital services.

In its response, CDT has focussed on its core mission to strengthen individual rights and freedoms in the digital age. We emphasize the importance of maintaining a clear and strong intermediary liability framework at the heart of the DSA, and recommend specific improvements and clarifications to secure a harmonised, transparent rights-protective notice-and-action framework. We urge the Commission to maintain the prohibition against general monitoring obligations, and also put forward recommendations for the functioning of companies’ content moderation systems, including automated tools, and provide advice for increasing transparency from both companies and governments. Moreover, we discuss issues of fair competition in the market, the importance of the enforcement of data protection rules, the importance of setting the right rules and ensuring transparency of online advertising, and raise a number of points about the possibilities of enforcement and governance arrangements for digital services.

Read our response here.