The Digital Services Act (DSA) represents an extremely important set of rules for a safer and fairer online environment, and achieving this requires dialogue between media organisations and major digital platforms, it was said on Monday at the conference “Europe and Croatia in the Digital Age, Freedom of Speech and Media Responsibility”.
Jasna Vaniček-Fila, national coordinator of the Council of Europe project “Journalists Matter” and a member of the Council for Electronic Media (VEM), said that digital platforms have significantly changed the media landscape in recent years, which she described as now almost unrecognisable.
“We must bring large digital platforms and media into correlation. Besides the DSA, there is also the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which obliges major digital platforms to communicate with media outlets when removing content. It is important to all of us to prevent disinformation, and if a large platform decides to remove content, that decision should be communicated to the media,” said Vaniček-Fila.
Domagoj Maričić, Assistant Director of the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), said that the aim of the event was to familiarise media representatives with the purpose of the Digital Services Act, how it is relevant to media work, and what can be expected in its implementation.
“The DSA is a long-awaited regulation, because before it there was essentially no regulation of online content. The Digital Services Act seeks to bring to life the principle that what is illegal offline should also be illegal online. Hate speech and disinformation are only one aspect of the Act, which covers a much broader range of illegal content, from child pornography to intellectual property violations,” Maričić said.
Several ways of removing illegal online content
He explained that there are several ways illegal content can be removed from the internet.
The first is when an online platform acts on its own initiative, based on algorithms and measures adopted following systemic risk assessments, and independently identifies and removes illegal content. The second way involves orders from competent Croatian institutions, including the State Attorney’s Office (DORH), the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), the State Inspectorate, the Customs Administration, the Ministry of Health, and, particularly in cases of hate speech, the Agency for Electronic Media. Illegal content may also be removed based on user requests, as well as through trusted flaggers, who must first obtain official status through an application to HAKOM and after the adoption of the relevant rulebook.
He also stressed that HAKOM, as the national Digital Services Coordinator responsible for implementing the EU Digital Services Act, does not control the content of media publications but coordinates the work of competent institutions.
“There have been various procedures, but no sanctions have been imposed. Most complaints we received concerned large online platforms for which we are not competent, as jurisdiction lies with the European Commission,” Maričić added.
European Commission has 15 formal proceedings underway against major platforms
Milana Brkić, adviser on the Digital Services Regulation at the European Commission, noted that the Commission currently has 15 formal proceedings underway against major online platforms, along with more than 150 requests for information (RFIs).
She also highlighted that a €120 million fine had been imposed on X, and that users in the EU challenged more than 16 million content removals on Meta and TikTok platforms.
“Almost 35 percent of removals were overturned and the content was reinstated,” Brkić said.
Ozren Kronja, Executive Director of the Croatian Association of Digital Publishers (HUDI), pointed to challenges faced by Croatian media in their cooperation with large digital platforms.
“Out of a total €340 million in digital advertising revenue in Croatia, as much as €240 million goes to Meta and Google, while Croatian publishers receive only €100 million,” Kronja said. He emphasised that key obligations for major platforms include greater transparency of algorithms, more transparent content moderation reports, and stronger consideration of their impact on media freedom and pluralism, as well as on preventing the spread of illegal content.
The discussion and panel, organised by the European Commission, the Agency for Electronic Media and HAKOM, also featured Andrea Čović Vidović from the European Commission Representation in Croatia, Lidija Antonić from HAKOM, Deputy Chief State Attorney of the Republic of Croatia Ivan Glavić, and HND Secretary General Melisa Skender.