European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton stressed on Wednesday the importance of the proposed Digital Services Act (DSA) as the way to prevent the "culmination of years of uncontrolled hate speech, incitement to violence, disinformation and destabilization strategies [...] on social networks" that has led to events such as the storming of Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
Breton noted that such occurrences showed "an urgent need for legislation." He stated the act proposes "clear rules for the removal of anything illegal in the digital space" on the grounds that "what is prohibited offline must be prohibited online." Breton also pointed out that if adopted, the bill lead to a "horizontal, risk-based regulation of the Digital Internal Market with a strong and structured governance system."
On the same occasion, European Commission Executive Vice President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager said that the European Union is "in a unique position to make a very strong rulebook that can be enforceable quickly." "Our guiding objectives remain crucial: making Internet safer for our citizens, protecting them from illegal content [...] while securing their freedom of expression online," she added.
