Recap of Past Event: Reporting Obligations and Transparency
On 9 September 2021, EuroISPA presented the third online event of its DSA in Focus series, sponsored by LINX. This time, the event focused on the transparency requirements for intermediaries, online platforms and VLOPs, as well as on the issue of access to data, statements of reasons, vetted researchers and access to data, etc. You can revisit the interventions of our speakers here or below.
The expert panel was formed by:
- Irene Roche Laguna, Deputy Head of Unit, E-Commerce and Platforms at DG CNECT;
- Michal Feix, Senior Public Affairs Advisor to Seznam.cz; and
- Diego Naranjo, Head of Policy of EDRi.
EuroISPA’s President, Alexandra Laffitte, moderated the panel after sharing introductory remarks, highlighting the role of EuroISPA as a strong proponent of transparency obligations for intermediaries which strike the right balance between the competing interests of Governments, users and the protection of companies.
On the European Commission’s side, Irene Roche Laguna stressed that transparency is the true spirit of the DSA but that it must work in both ways: with a framework for users and authorities to understand why platforms and ISPs take certain decisions and for regulators to report on their activity. She also agreed on the need for grading the access to information depending on the nature of the risks.
Michal Feix highlighted the importance for the DSA to build on the principles of the e-commerce Directive that have withstood the passing of time but also to consider the differences between, e.g., platforms and other services or recommender systems and advertising, when introducing new rules. In this regard, he noted it is crucial to have limits to transparency requirements in order to maintain the quality of the services they provide. Finally, when touching upon the issue of the statements of reasons, he warned the obligation to anonymize and publish all the decisions would particularly impact companies of the size of Seznam, as they will have to dedicate considerable resources to comply.
Diego Naranjo emphasized the need for a transparent and balanced notice and action system, that tackles the risks related to the right of removal which would be granted to different stakeholders. He also noted the importance of making algorithms subject to scrutiny by authorities and understandable for users, stating that “online tracking and profiling practices needed to stop”.
The panel discussion was followed by an open Q&A session, where participants had the opportunity to exchange with our speakers on these issues.
EuroISPA wishes to extend its thanks to the speakers for sharing their knowledge on the new DSA regime and for the open exchange with the audience. We are looking forward to our fourth event, taking place on 29 September, which will allow our audience to learn about the intermediary liability framework, from own-initiative investigations to the “no general monitoring” rule.
For further information on the upcoming events visit our dedicated webpage on euroispa.org/dsa-in-focus.
