(Brussels, Belgium) – Last week, a majority of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favor of the landmark legislation, the Digital Services Act (DSA). Lawmakers vowed to reign in the so-called “digital wild west” paving the way for upcoming trilogue negotiations under the French EU Council presidency.

Following the adoption of the DSA, Lucinda Creighton, senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in Europe said:

“CEP welcomes the European Parliament’s decision to adopt the DSA by an overwhelming majority. There are a number of key elements in the DSA that will make the Internet safer for European citizens by protecting them from illegal content online, while balancing freedom of expression. We look forward to the legislation moving towards the trilogue phase and ultimately being transposed across the European Union.

“However, a number of issues with the regulation remain and CEP has consistently advocated for legislation that demanded more than just the bare minimum from Big Tech. Ultimately, the DSA falls short of its main objective.

“We agree with the European Parliament that notice and action mechanisms should be user-friendly and reporting mechanisms clearly identifiable. Yet, this simplified approach will be of little use when faster takedown requirements for illegal content, such as extremist content, have not been implemented. CEP research has shown repeatedly that extremist content such as the video the Manchester Arena bomber used to construct a bomb in less than four days after watching a well-known tutorial video he found on YouTube, causes the most damage within the first hours of its appearance as it can rapidly disseminate online.

“The longer any type of content remains accessible, the more opportunities there are for it to be duplicated and shared to all corners of the web, causing untold harm to viewers.”

For further information, please read CEP’s position paper on the DSA here.