By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt
Overview: In April and May, the European Commission opened three formal proceedings involving very large online platforms (VLOPs), two against Meta and one against TikTok. Also, starting in April, Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos began complying with the Digital Services Act’s (DSA) VLOP rules after being designated in December 2023. Moreover, Shein, an online fashion retailer, was designated as a VLOP and will be subject to the stricter VLOP rules and oversight by the European Commission by the end of August 2024.
Several countries missed the February deadline for Member States to appoint their national Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs), who serve as enforcers for the DSA at the national level. In April, the Commission urged Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia to designate and fully empower their DSCs.
Finally, the Commission signed a cooperation agreement with Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s regulator in charge of enforcing the British Online Safety Act, held talks with the US regarding the protection of minors and transparency, and explored an information-sharing arrangement with Japan on online platform regulation.
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Jordi Calvet-Bademunt is a Research Fellow at The Future of Free Speech and a Visiting Scholar at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on free speech in the digital space.