Regulating Web Safety: New Guidelines Reshaping Contemporary Navigation Experiences
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) are grappling with the challenges of balancing innovation, freedom of expression, and protection from harms.
The EU's regulatory focus is centred on the Digital Services Act (DSA), Data Governance Act (DGA), and related initiatives. These efforts emphasize platform accountability for illegal content removal, user safety including child protection and age verification, and transparency, particularly around algorithms and content moderation. In contrast, US regulation primarily relies on federal enforcement by agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), applying antitrust, privacy, and consumer protection laws, supplemented by state-level laws.
Data Protection
The EU's data protection efforts build on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with new rules under the DGA. The EU also emphasizes user control over personal data, including rights for data portability and opting out of certain data uses. Transparency in AI and algorithms is mandated by the upcoming AI Act, effective gradually by 2026, which will regulate AI risks globally from the EU’s perspective.
In the US, focus is on enforcing existing privacy laws and introducing state-level data privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act extensions. There are calls to strengthen federal data protection laws, including better protection for children’s data. The approach is more fragmented compared to the EU’s comprehensive legislative packages.
Online Safety and Content Regulation
The DSA obliges online platforms to proactively remove illegal content and minimize its spread, effectively making tech companies "gatekeepers" that police content. Protection of minors features prominently, with guidelines on safe online experiences, and the development of age-verification tools under the DSA.
In the US, there is ongoing application of consumer protection laws to handle misinformation, harmful content, and data about minors, but without an overarching federal digital safety law. Some states are enacting laws targeting online harms and child protections.
Transparency and Accountability
The DSA requires platforms to increase transparency about content moderation decisions and algorithmic functioning. The Digital Services Act institutes monitoring authorities to ensure compliance, and promotes cooperative enforcement across member states.
In the US, transparency is pursued through FTC and DOJ oversight of platform practices, with emphasis on antitrust and consumer protection investigations. However, transparency requirements on algorithms are less formalized compared to the EU.
The EU's approach adopts a more prescriptive, harmonized, and enforcement-driven regulatory framework, while the US approach remains more fragmented, relying on a mix of existing laws and agency enforcement, plus state innovations in data and content regulation.
These dynamics reflect broader debates about balancing innovation, freedom of expression, and protection from harms in an evolving digital ecosystem.
In Europe, the Karnataka state in India proposes an authority for online gaming oversight, banning games of pure chance and allowing only those based on skill, with strict penalties. The United Kingdom has its own data regulation, the Data (Use and Access) Act, which refines the domestic GDPR version and introduces detailed requirements for IoT environments and electronic communications.
In the US, privacy regulation is fragmented, with federal laws like COPPA, HIPAA, and GLBA, and more than 20 state-level consumer privacy acts. The UK's Online Safety Act aims to curb illegal or harmful online content and gives regulatory authority to Ofcom, mandating risk assessment, child protection measures, and enforcement actions against non-compliant platforms.
Compliance with these obligations is crucial for online gaming operators like Casino777, which must implement robust user verification, content oversight, and responsible operational practices. Non-compliance with the DSA can result in fines up to 6% of global revenue and daily penalties of 5% for persistent infractions.
[1] European Commission. (2022). Digital Services Act. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12528-Digital-Services-Act-DSA [Accessed 15 March 2023]
[2] European Data Protection Board. (2020). Recommendations on measures that specifically aim at ensuring the protection of personal data and the free flow of personal data in the context of the use of AI systems. [online] Available at: https://edpb.europa.eu/our-work-docs/our-work/document/recommendations-on-measures-that-specifically-aim-at-ensuring-the-protection-of-personal-data-and-the-free-flow-of-personal-data-in-the-context-of-the-use-of-ai-systems_en [Accessed 15 March 2023]
[3] European Commission. (2021). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a framework for the evaluation, supervision and authorisation of online platforms in the internal market. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12603-Proposal-for-a-Regulation-on-a-framework-for-the-evaluation-supervision-and-authorisation-of-online-platforms-in-the-internal-market [Accessed 15 March 2023]
[4] European Parliament. (2020). Regulation on a framework for the establishment and functioning of a European Data Protection Board, on the one hand, and on the European Data Protection Office, on the other hand. [online] Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0183_EN.html [Accessed 15 March 2023]
[5] European Commission. (2021). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act). [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12592-Proposal-for-a-Regulation-on-harmonised-rules-on-artificial-intelligence-Artificial-Intelligence-Act [Accessed 15 March 2023]
- Online gaming operators in Europe, such as Casino777, need to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA) to ensure content oversight and responsible practices, as infractions can result in fines of up to 6% of global revenue and daily penalties of 5% for persistent violations.
- In the technology sector, the EU's approach to AI and algorithms is becoming more prescriptive, with the upcoming AI Act mandating transparency and regulating risks globally from the EU’s perspective, while the US has less formalized transparency requirements on algorithms compared to the EU.
