European Union: European Parliament adopts position on draft Digital Services Act, including transparency reporting requirements

On 20 January 2022, the European Parliament agreed on their position on the Digital Services Act, proposing several amendments regarding transparency reporting requirements. Firstly, all the platforms will be required to publish specific information, such as who is paying for the advertisements displayed and who is subject to targeting. Secondly, online platforms will be required to provide transparency reports at least every six months, including the number of accounts suspended, content deleted, and the time it takes to do so. The intermediate services will be required to submit yearly reports. Thirdly, users would be able to see trader information on online platforms and very large platforms. Furthermore, the online platforms must also check the credentials of any third-party vendors. Concerning very large online platforms, they will have to follow additional transparency requirements, including maintaining validated advertising databases, which will contain historical data on the content and targeted advertising, as well as the overall number of receivers reached. Such records must be preserved for one year following the last time the ad is displayed.