European Union: EU Commission, Council and Parliament reach a political agreement on Digital Services Act containing new digital oversight board

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 aims to protect consumers against illicit content or services while still protecting their basic rights online. The Act creates a new European Board for Digital Services which will aid EU member states and their new national Digital Services Coordinators with the oversight of digital services. The agreement further introduced a crisis response mechanism that the European Commission can activate on the recommendation of the board of national Digital Services Coordinators. The mechanism allows the Commission to analyse the impact of "very large online platforms" and "very large online search engines" activities on a particular crisis and take proportionate measures to protect fundamental rights. The agreement is now subject to approval by the European Council and the European Parliament.