Meeting of the European Digital Services Committee in Brussels: Arcom reaffirms its commitment to ambitious, coordinated European regulation

The European Digital Services Committee, in which Arcom is fully involved alongside its counterpart national coordinators of the Digital Services Act, met yesterday in Brussels. The Authority was represented by its Chairman, Martin Ajdari.

The meeting provided an opportunity to contribute to the progress of RSN deployment projects, in particular those relating to the identification and reduction of systemic risks (online hate and violence, threats to civic discourse or electoral processes, etc.) posed by very large platforms. Committee members also defined the concrete procedures for examining researchers' requests for access to data from these platforms, in order, for example, to highlight possible infringements of the law, gain a better understanding of how algorithms work, or characterize their effects on our societies.

The European Commission's future guidelines for protecting person under 18s online, including through age verification solutions, were another major point of discussion.

Finally, the members of the Committee reaffirmed their shared determination to deepen their coordination and work. In an international context where the very principle of regulation of digital services is being called into question, this determination bears witness to the importance of a united response on a European scale to implement criminal proceedings that respect freedom of expression, encourage innovation and hold platforms accountable (notably through the transparency imposed on them). Such a manager would meet the need to protect citizens in the digital space and defend the cohesion of European democracies.