Alfred Sant: Wasal iż-żmien li monopolji globali li qed jaqbżu r-Regolamenti jitkissru f’unitajiet iżgħar?

Bħala r-relatur (rapporteur) tas-S&D għall-Opinjoni mill-Kumitat Ekonomiku u Soċjali tal-Parlament Ewropew dwar l-Att dwar is-Servizzi Diġitali, Alfred Sant iddikjara li l-att għandu jipprovdi liċ-ċittadini tal-Unjoni Ewropea aċċess aktar sigur u trasparenti għal pjattaformi online. Huwa kien qed jitkellem fid-dibattitu plenarju tal-parlament dwar id-DSA li sar fi Strasburgu.

Ir-regoli diġitali stabbiliti fl-Att dwar is-Servizzi Diġitali huma maħsuba biex jipproteġu kemm lill-konsumaturi kif ukoll lill-pubbliku inġenerali. L-għan tad-DSA huwa li taffaċċja data illegali u tiżgura li l-pjattaformi online huma responsabbli għall-azzjonijiet tagħhom. Barra minn hekk, id-DSA għandha l-ħsieb li tnaqqas it-tixrid ta’ informazzjoni falza u wkoll tagħti spinta lill-moderazzjoni tal-kontenut.

Kif kien mistenni, il-proċess biex jintlaħaq ftehim fil-Parlament Ewropew dwar din il-kwistjoni kien wieħed diffiċli u l-kompromessi li ntlaħqu ma pprovdewx tweġiba dejjiema għall-mistoqsijiet pendenti kollha, qal Sant. Fid-dawl ta’ dan, il-MPE Laburista saħaq li “din il-leġiżlazzjoni għalhekk għandha titqies bħala pass kruċjali ta’ xogħol li qed isir”. Hu irrimarka li ċerti kwistjonijiet tekniċi u politiċi żgur li se jeħtieġu aktar konsiderazzjoni u saħaq fuq l-importanza ta’ verifiki kontinwi dwar kif il-fornituri tas-servizzi diġitali jwettqu l-funzjonijiet tagħhom.

Madanakollu, fil-fehma tiegħu, il-kumpaniji tal-kontijiet (accounts) u kumpaniji legali m’għandhomx awtomatikament jitqiesu bħala kompetenti għall-finijiet tal-awditjar taħt id-DSA. Għalhekk, għandu jkun hemm xi definizzjoni ta’ standards professjonali biex jiġi żgurat li l-awdituri taħt ir-reġim tad-DSA jkunu tajbin għall-iskop. Lil hinn minn hekk, Sant esprima dubju dwar jekk l-awtoritajiet finanzjarji u tal-kompetizzjoni ingħatawx rwol xieraq fil-mekkaniżmi ġodda li qed jiġu proposti mil-liġi.

Fl-aħħarnett, l-eks Prim Ministru u Kap tad-Delegazzjoni Laburista tas-S&D fil-Parlament Ewropew Sant irrimarka li wara kollox, jista’ jkun wasal iż-żmien li l-monopolji diġitali globali jinqasmu f’unitajiet iżgħar peress li saru wisq kbar u wisq avvanzati teknikament biex ir-Regolament ikun jista’ jimmonitorjahom u jikkontrollahom b’mod sodisfaċenti.

Ir-rapport dwar il-proposta tal-Att dwar is-Servizzi Diġitali (DSA) ġie adottat b’530 vot favur, 78 kontra u 80 astensjoni.

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Alfred Sant: Has the time come to break up global monopolies that are outpacing Regulations into smaller units?

As the S&D rapporteur for the Opinion by the Economic and Social Committee of the European Parliament on the Digital Services Act, Alfred Sant stated the act should provide European Union citizens with safer and more transparent access to online platforms. He was speaking in the parliament’s plenary debate on the DSA held in Strasbourg. 

The digital rules laid down in the Digital Services Act are meant to protect both consumers and the public at large. The aim of the DSA is to come to grips with illegal data and make sure that online platforms are responsible for their actions. Besides, the DSA intends to reduce the dissemination of fake information and also boost content moderation. 

As expected, the process towards reaching an agreement in the European Parliament on this issue proved to be thorny and the compromises reached did not provide an enduring answer to all pending questions, Sant said. In light of this, the Labour MEP emphasized that “this legislation should therefore be seen as a crucial step of a work in progress”. He pointed out that certain technical and political issues will certainly need further consideration and stressed the importance of ongoing audits on how digital service providers carry out their functions. 

However, in his view accounting and legal firms should not automatically be taken as competent for the purposes of auditing under the DSA. So, there should be some definition of professional standards to ensure that auditors under the DSA regime are fit for purpose. Beyond that, Sant expressed doubt about whether financial and competition authorities have been given a proper role in the new mechanisims being proposed by the law. 

Concluding, the former Prime Minister and Head of the Labour S&D Delegation to the European Parliament Sant remarked that after all, the time may have come for the global digital monopolies to be broken down into smaller units as they have grown too big and too technically advanced for Regulation to be able to monitor and check on them satisfactorily.

The report on the Digital Services Act (DSA) proposal was adopted with 530 votes in favour, 78 against and 80 abstentions.