The Facts
On Tuesday, Amazon became the first US company to take legal action over the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), which places tighter restrictions on very large online platforms (VLOPs) — any platform with at least 45M monthly users.
As one of 19 companies classified as a VLOP, the DSA mandates Amazon must protect users from hate speech, misinformation, and other harmful content.
The Spin
Narrative A
Amazon's laughable attempt to claim it's not a VLOP will surely be rejected by EU courts, which intend to keep the bloc a world leader in reigning in the worst abuses of Big Tech. By putting a greater burden on the largest and most successful platforms, the EU is preserving a free internet while keeping citizens safe. Amazon does not have a leg to stand on in this dispute.
Narrative B
While the goals of the DSA might be noble, the EU is setting itself on a collision course with free expression through their far-reaching regulation. Countries in the EU hold subjective and variable definitions of illegal content, which is why everything — from satire to pro-LGBTQ+ media — risks being erased from social media through the enforcement of this act. By compelling online platforms to become government censors, the DSA is only harming the general public, not regulating Big Tech.
