On February 17, 2024, the EU Digital Services Act (“DSA”) will become active to a broad group of intermediary services offered in the EU. This applies to web-hosting services, cloud services, search engines, and social media platforms.

Affected service providers will have until February 17, 2024, to comply with its provisions. If your network's abuse handling is already managed by AbuseHQ then you’re already covered. AbuseHQ handles not only those event types mandated by the EU DSA, but also those from other governments all across the globe.

What does this mean?

The DSA aims to reduce illegal content distribution and create more transparency between online platforms and their users.

The primary aim of the DSA is to promote safer online environments. According to the latest regulations, online platforms must incorporate measures to prevent and eliminate posts containing illegal goods, services, or content. Additionally, users should have the capability to report such content.

Having a solution in place to automatically handle those reports like AbuseHQ would mean you’re already in compliance, and by utilizing the statistics gathered from the AbuseHQ case data, you can easily see which of your subscribers are being the most disruptive. Identifying and remediating quickly will help increase your network’s reliability and health and strengthen your company's network.

Who should be concerned?

The DSA outlines obligations to providers of intermediary services, providers of hosting services, online platforms, marketplaces, very large online platforms, and search engines. Micro and small companies will have obligations proportionate to their ability and size while ensuring they remain accountable.

By design, AbuseHQ already handles these key obligations of the DSA listed below.

• Implement a mechanism that allows third parties to notify the presence of allegedly illegal content.
• Treat notices filed by trusted flaggers with priority.
• When required, "in crisis situations," take mitigation measures to eliminate or limit the contribution.

Remaining accountable and compliant will be a crucial factor in avoiding being on the wrong side of the DSA. Utilizing a solid solution like AbuseHQ which will automatically parse these types of reports will ensure your company is doing the right thing.

AbuseHQ can also send notifications out to your subscribers or internal teams so they can be more aware of what is happening in real-time. This brings faster mitigation times which often leads to less impact of damages.

With features like tagging and prioritization, AbuseHQ gives you the capability to customize many rulesets that fit your company's specific needs while at the same time adhering to what’s outlined in the DSA.

With the majority of the EU already giving positive feedback for the DSA, it’s only a matter of time before the U.S. follows up with adopting a similar policy.

If you’re not using AbuseHQ for your network’s abuse handling and want to take a proactive step in protecting the compliance of your company and the reputation of your network, then reach out to our specialist to learn more about how we can address your concerns.