Anya Schiffrin on the Forthcoming EU Tech Regulation

The forthcoming European regulation on online disinformation may be a “game changer,” CMDS Advisory Board member Anya Schiffrin writes for the Columbia Journalism Review.

The article analyses the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), likely to be adopted in the EU in 2022. Both “have the potential to become global standard setters,” Schiffrin argues, pointing out that the US is lagging behind Europe in regulating Big Tech.

While the DMA focuses on the market power of big platforms, the DSA may be “a game changer” for online dis- and misinformation. It will force tech platforms to conduct regular assessments of the systemic risks they create for societies, show their plans to address those risks and allow regulators to audit their algorithms.

Key issues about the act include finding the balance between freedom of speech and regulation as well as enforcement, she writes.