Last Update: July 13, 2023, 03:59 AM IST
Contacted by AFP, an Amazon spokesperson said the DSA was designed to address the systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue and that distribute speech and information.
Amazon challenges EU court over new rules for large online platforms, including the Digital Services Act.
Internet retailer Amazon said on Wednesday it has launched a legal challenge in an EU court against Brussels designating it as one of the largest online platforms coming under tough new rules. The European Commission in April presented a list of 19 online companies it said met the criteria for that designation. Amazon was also involved, along with Twitter, TikTok and services from Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft.
From August 25, they will be required to comply with rules set out in the EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to curb illegal internet content and misinformation. One requirement is that they undergo an independent annual audit on the measures the platforms and search engines use to fight disinformation, hate speech and counterfeiting.
Another is that they open up their algorithms to the commission and give approved researchers access to their data. They must also conduct risk analysis for illegal content on their services and put in place mitigation measures.
Those included in the EU’s list of very large online platforms or search engines have reached or exceeded the threshold set in the DSA of 45 million active monthly users in Europe.
But an Amazon spokeswoman contacted by AFP said the “DSA was designed to address the systemic risks posed by large companies whose primary revenue is advertising and which distribute speech and information”.
While Amazon agreed with that goal, it argued that “Amazon does not fit this description” because its revenue comes from retail sales, not advertisements, and “therefore (we) are classified as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP)”. should not be designated as such”. ,
The spokesperson added, “If the VLOP designation is applied to Amazon, and not other large EU retailers, Amazon will be unfairly isolated and forced to meet onerous administrative obligations, leading to EU consumers will not benefit.”
The US company says it has already implemented measures to protect customers from illegal products, independent of EU obligations. It said those measures would cost $1.2 billion in 2022. Amazon’s legal challenge follows a challenge filed last month by German online retailer Zalando over its VLOP designation.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP,
