Google Prepares for New Digital Regulations in EU

2024 will see new rules coming into effect in the EU that regulate the largest online platforms and search engines (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and similar operators). The Digital Services Act updates the concept of "publisher liability" and when these operators can be held accountable for material transmitted by their users. It also imposes a wide range of new obligations including a duty to cooperate with regulators in some circumstances or disclose how takedown decisions and algorithms work.  

Why It Matters

For most US companies, it doesn't: the DSA explicitly applies only to a very small group of companies. Furthermore, the US First Amendment requires a more hands-off approach to speech regulation here, meaning that certain aspects of the DSA can't be copy-catted into US laws. If the law is seen as effective once it has been in place for a period of time, however, it is very likely that US legislators will seek to import some of its concepts into state or federal laws here, and potentially apply them to all companies. Furthermore, the actions of market leaders often become de facto best practices for smaller operators, meaning that actions such as Google's new "Ads Transparency Center" might become a model for advertisers and ad networks who aren't subject to any comparable regulations.  

For now, there is nothing required of most US companies; but this is a law worth watching.