European Union: Council and Parliament reach a political agreement on Digital Services Act containing specific compliance rules for very large online platforms

On 23 April 2022, the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission reached a provisional agreement on the proposed Digital Services Act (DSA). The proposed DSA's major goal is to protect consumers against illicit content or services while still protecting their basic rights online. "Very large online platforms" (VLOPs) and "very large search engines" (VLOSEs) with over 45 million users in the European Union are obliged to pursue systemic risks assessments to monitor the dissemination of illegal content, the adverse effects on fundamental rights and their impact on democratic processes, public security, gender-based violence, and physical or mental health of users. Finally, such services will be requested to offer a content recommendation system that is not based on the profiling of users. The agreement is now subject to approval by the European Council and the European Parliament.