The Portugal Tech League is one of several organizations that warn of the risks of the Digital Services Law and the taking of measures that can be an obstacle to the creation and expansion of innovative digital services in the European Union.

The new regulation for digital services (DSA – Digital Services Act) was proposed by the European Commission as an element to boost the Digital Single Market, with the aim of creating a safer digital space, where users’ rights rules are accepted to combat products, services and protected online, increase the transparency of the people who use them and regulate the type of content.

Although aimed at large platforms, several organizations argue that the regulation will have an effect on startups and also on small and medium-sized companies, which in many cases depend on services to advertise and sell their products and solutions.

The report prepared by the Portugal Tech League was released yesterday and evaluates the proposal that is being published in the European Parliament, arguing that it can discourage the creation and expansion of innovative services in the European Union, if not adapted to the new reality of the Internet.

“If before, the Electronic Commerce Directive was enough, now, with a transition to an internet plus services and with the use of new and technologies, the Digital Services Act is the opportunity to bring the directive into the 21st century” , “With this evolution, new risks, so the challenge is to face them without impeding innovation, with the creation of a regulatory proposal that is not prescriptive, complex and onerous”, defend the founders of the Portugal Tech League initiative, in a joint statement.

For the need for an approach, the Portugal Tech League addresses common cross-border sales contexts, the definition of a free, open and plural Internet, as well as the definition of obligations of the disclaimer conditions.

“At a time when lawmakers around the world are grappling with issues of responsibility and content moderation, the Digital Services Act is indeed a unique opportunity to do it right”, explains the initiative’s promoters.

“If this opportunity goes well, the Law will assume an economic bloc, a role for the European Union dedicated to giving substance to the European strategy. In the same way, it will position any other bloc and politician in the world in terms of digital governance in sight”, they add. the members of the Portugal Tech League contest.

See how full format 5 of the Portugal Tech League at:

1. Applicability in a cross-border context: the principle of “companies of origin”, companies in the 7 Member States, must not be tradable, they must not operate with the necessary security so that startups can function as companies and test how their innovations in various EU markets from a single location. Since the legal grounds for enforcement cases in a national cross-border context will not allow an illegal stand-alone legal basis for authorities of online services to act directly for specific content providers, as laws continue to be a basis for using online any kind of order. In other words, the different approaches followed by the competent authorities of the EU Member States can lead to fragmentation in the execution of such requests. For an illegal review by any EU authority to be made on the basis of what is illegal in a specific Member State other than the one in which it is based would discourage its growth and incur huge costs, unintentionally thwarting the benefits of the “country of origin” for the Single Market. Thus, the priority must be to preserve the “country of origin” system, as it facilitates the movement of goods, services and businesses across the EU.

2. Ensuring a free, open and plural Internet: content moderation, as conceived in the Digital Services Law, does not benefit smaller companies, thus hindering a more effective and efficient use of moderation tools. As such, it is important to recognize the diversity of the economy of online platforms, so that smaller companies are not penalized as a result of a narrower scope – a consequence that will have no further benefits for the objectives to be achieved. Additionally, the Portugal Tech League defends the non-introduction of stay-down mechanisms, which forces online platforms to use filters that prevent the reappearance of previously removed content. Clarified specifically as the circumstances in which the trade directives were applied, have the risk of clarifying the general trade directive, and functioning in the services law, do not qualify these services to be defined as general control to the control powers. service intermediaries.

3. Obligations separate from the disclaimer conditions: the duty of obligations on the part of platforms should not be a criterion for benefiting from the liability exemption regime. Otherwise, the disclaimer will not be provided to operators with fewer resources. All startups and SMEs have an interest in ensuring that their services are safe for their users. As such, it must have sufficient flexibility to implement its own merchant traceability mechanism, as well as internal complaints handling and out-of-court dispute resolution mechanisms. Ultimately – but no right to the need to increase the liability of service providers – the Digital Services Act should promote the principle that users and responsible individuals are responsible for their online behavior and activities, failing which to create the conditions for a less free, open and plural internet.

4. Content moderation for startups: Portugal Tech League welcomes the harmonization of rules around European-level notification and action mechanisms for content moderation. On the other hand, any access-based regulatory approach does not, while efficient, go hand in hand or whether the risks between competing resources (when evaluating on some specific content should be removed) should be constrained. In this sense, the Digital Services must not have short-term resources for the removal of materials and must not give the authorities the power to do so, precisely so as not to jeopardize the response capacity of entities with financial and human minors.

5. Advertising aimed at competing with incumbents: Portugal Tech League supports the fact that the Digital Services Law does not prohibit targeted advertising and recognizes it as one of the online platforms. Sometimes, this is a unique way for startups and SMEs to launch their products, services, or goods in a specific market segment, reaching potential customers and low-cost consumers. By, a market initiative, a targeted advertising, a startup to compete with the players already established in the market

THE full report can be consulted online on the Portugal Tech League website, where a podcast can easily help organizations and more easily understand this topic.

The Portugal Tech League is an initiative created by the innovation consultancy Beta-i, which brings together several companies and organizations in the innovation ecosystem, inside and outside Portugal. Among the founders of the initiative are Allied for Startups, AWS – Amazon Web Services, CIP – Confederação Empresarial de Portugal, Eupportunity, European Startup Network, FDUCP – Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Católica Portuguesa, GeSI – Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative, Google, Investors Portugal , Microsoft, Startup Portugal, Startup Sesame, Talkdesk and VdA Advogados. Casa dos Bits, the company responsible for SAPO TEK, is also one of the founders of the initiative.