The Digital Services Act [Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC] fully entered into force on 17 February.
The DSA imposes new obligations on intermediaries, inter alia, hosting service providers, including online platforms and online marketplaces.
The DSA contains very important provisions for online advertising. For example, the DSA defines “advertisement” as information designed to promote the message of a legal or natural person, irrespective of whether to achieve commercial or non-commercial purposes (so political ads and ads by charities are included), presented by an online platform on its “online interface” (including websites, mobile apps) against remuneration specifically for promoting that information.
The DSA introduces two new restrictions concerning targeted advertising on online platforms. First, it bans targeted advertising of minors based on profiling. Second, it bans targeted advertising based on profiling using special categories of personal data, such as sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
For very large online platforms (VLOPs), the societal stakes are higher, and the rules include additional measures to mitigate risks and enable oversight. They have to maintain and provide access to ad repositories, allowing researchers, civil society and authorities to inspect how ads were displayed and how they were targeted. They also need to assess whether and how their advertising systems are manipulated or otherwise contribute to societal risks, and take measures to mitigate these risks.
The rules are complemented by measures in the Digital Markets Act, which tackles the economic concerns over gatekeepers’ advertising models.
Under the DSA, dark patterns are also prohibited. Providers of online platforms are now required not to design, organise or operate their online interfaces in a way that deceives, manipulates or otherwise materially distorts or impairs the ability of users of their services to make free and informed decisions.
Find out more about the Digital Services Act at ec.europa.eu
