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Digital Markets Act: Developments since its proposal  

Following the European Commission’s initial proposal of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in December 2020, its adoption by the European Parliament in March 2022 and the entry into force on November 1, 2022, the DMA will finally apply from May 2, 2023. The DMA contains a list of obligations and prohibitions, subject to fines, that core platform services (CPS) provided by so-called gatekeepers must comply with in their daily operations. CPS should therefore be assessed at an early stage regarding whether or not they fall within the scope of regulation of the DMA.

As is set out in the following, the DMA poses significant business challenges for (potential)
gatekeepers, which should be addressed in a legally sound, comprehensive and systematic manner in order to prevent disruptions to the relevant businesses. Continue Reading Countdown to compliance: The DMA to apply to digital gatekeepers from May 2, 2023  

There is news for social media network providers operating in the European Union regarding prevention of hate speech and crimes:  Austria enacted a law against hate and crime on social networks, the Communication Platform Act (KoPl-G). Following the German Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), both laws are intended to make the deletion procedure simpler, more transparent and shift responsibility to the social network provider.  A unified European Law, the Digital Service Act (DSA), could soon replace these local country rules.

1. The German Network Enforcement Act

The German Parliament just recently passed the law amending the NetzDG which involves some changes for social networks providers. The NetzDG, enacted in 2017 in Germany, was the first in Europe to go against hate speech and crimes on social networks (more about the provision of the NetzDG on our previous blog).

The newest amendment, which was first proposed in April 2020 (more on our previous blog) contains the simplification of the reporting channels for the complaints procedure and added information obligations for half-yearly transparency reports of the platform operators. A direct right to information against the platform operator shall be created in the Telemedia Act (TMG) for victims of illegal content in networks. The amendment for the NetzDG provides that the user may request a review of the platform provider’s decision to remove or retain reported content and has a right to have the content restored. This shall prevent the so-called “overblocking”, i.e. when legal content is removed, and strengthen the freedom of opinion of users. The network provider is now obligated to obtain comments from concerning parties and give individual reasons for each decision. Video sharing-platforms are also subject to the NetzDG according to the new Sec. 3 (e) NetzDG but only in case of user-generated videos and broadcasts.

In its recent decision of 11 June 2019 (docket no.: 4 U 760/19, available here), the Dresden Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht Dresden – Court of Appeals) had to decide on claims for damages under Article 82 GDPR with regard to minor violations of the GDPR.

Background

The defendant, the provider of a social

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On 5 April 2017, the German Federal Minister of Justice’s new bill aimed at improving enforcement of rights in social networks (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken; Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz – NetzDG, the Bill; see our previous blog) has, in a slightly revised version, been adopted by the Federal…

On 14 March 2017, the German Federal Minister of Justice, Heiko Maas, announced a new bill aimed at improving the application of the law to social networks (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken; Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz – NetzDG, the Bill). The Bill strengthens the rights of individuals who are affected…

This post was also written by Christopher G. Cwalina, Khurram Nasir Gore, Amy S. Mushahwar and Steven B. Roosa.

A warning from the California Attorney General’s office to mobile app developers: “Don’t get cute!” On February 22, California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that her office and the six leading mobile application platform providers –…

This post was also written by Nick Tyler, Christopher G. Cwalina and Steven B. Roosa.

Following the widely reported allegation that a social network’s iPhone app had uploaded the names, addresses and phone numbers of users’ contacts onto their servers without permission, both Apple and U.S. legislators have moved swiftly to try to curb this…

In a bid to strengthen the European data privacy rules it is most likely that non-European companies will be held to the same standards as European companies in a bid to further protect EU consumer privacy.

The EU Justice Minister, Viviane Reding, and the German Consumer Protection Minister, Ilse Aigner, released a joint statement saying…