In recent years, large online platforms with huge market dominance have elevated themselves to the role of online gatekeepers. At the same time, their business models are built on data harvesting without proper safeguards and they do not give users adequate control over their data and the information they receive and impart. Users and public regulators are not in a position to understand the extent to which our data are being used, nor are we able to determine the extent to which automated decision-making is leveraged in the curation or amplification of content. We cannot gauge the impact of these automated processes on our exposure to diverse content and we cannot study or prevent the discriminatory treatment of underrepresented groups.

The need for systemic regulation of large online platforms that would be able to provide guarantees of meaningful transparency is justified and necessary. There is an enormous power imbalance between the large platforms and their users. In recent years, continuous scandals and increased media coverage have made it clear to the public that companies exercise this power and make enormous profits without taking sufficient responsibility to safeguard people’s fundamental rights. The DSA legislative package is a unique chance to create a systemic regulation of gatekeeper platforms based on human rights standards, making the rights of users the utmost priority.

In my contribution to the panel, I will discuss by what means the EU can meet this mark, specifically focusing on measures enabling users' empowerment and control. I will also address the way how EU regulatory efforts in content governance impact legislators globally, for better or worse.