22 Amendments of Carlo CALENDA related to 2020/0361(COD)
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) Therefore, in order to safeguard and improve the functioning of the internal market, a targeted set of uniform, clear, effective and proportionate mandatory rules should be established at Union level. This Regulation provides the conditions for innovative digital services to emerge and to scale up in the internal market. The approximation of national regulatory measures at Union level concerning the requirements for providers of intermediary services is necessary in order to avoid and put an end to fragmentation of the internal market and to ensure legal certainty, thus reducing uncertainty for developers and fostering interoperability. By using requirements that are technology neutral, innovation should not be hampered but instead be stimulated.
Amendment 78 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Such a substantial connection to the Union should be considered to exist where the service provider has an establishment in the Union or, in its absence, on the basis of the existence of a significant number of users in one or more Member States, orctivities or on the targeting of activities towards one or more Member States. The targeting of activities towards one or more Member States can be determined on the basis of all relevant circumstances, including factors such as the use of a language or a currency generally used in that Member State, or the possibility of ordering products or services, or using a national top level domain. The targeting of activities towards a Member State could also be derived from the availability of an application in the relevant national application store, from the provision of local advertising or advertising in the language used in that Member State, or from the handling of customer relations such as by providing customer service in the language generally used in that Member State. A substantial connection should also be assumed where a service provider directs its activities to one or more Member State as set out in Article 17(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council27 . On the other hand, mere technical accessibility of a website from the Union cannot, on that ground alone, be considered as establishing a substantial connection to the Union. _________________ 27 Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ L351, 20.12.2012, p.1).
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Considering the particular characteristics of the services concerned and the corresponding need to make the providers thereof subject to certain specific obligations, it is necessary to distinguish, within the broader category of providers of hosting services as defined in this Regulation, the subcategory of online platforms. Online platforms, such as social networks or, online marketplaces or search engines, should be defined as providers of hosting services that not only store information provided by the recipients of the service at their request, but that also disseminate that information to the public, again at their request. However, in order to avoid imposing overly broad obligations, providers of hosting services should not be considered as online platforms where the dissemination to the public is merely a minor and purely ancillary feature of another service and that feature cannot, for objective technical reasons, be used without that other, principal service, and the integration of that feature is not a means to circumvent the applicability of the rules of this Regulation applicable to online platforms. For example, the comments section in an online newspaper could constitute such a feature, where it is clear that it is ancillary to the main service represented by the publication of news under the editorial responsibility of the publisher.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) The exemptions from liability established in this Regulation should not apply where, instead of confining itself to providing the services neutrally, by a merely technical and, automatic and passive processing of the information provided by the recipient of the service, the provider of intermediary services plays an active role of such a kind as to give it knowledge of, or control over, that information. Those exemptions should accordingly not be available in respect of liability relating to information provided not by the recipient of the service but by the provider of intermediary service itself, including where the information has been developed under the editorial responsibility of that provider or where the provider of the service promotes and optimises the content.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
(18 a) The exemptions from liability should also not be available to providers of intermediary services that do not comply with the due diligence obligations set out in this Regulation. The conditionality should further ensure that the standards to qualify for those exemptions contribute to a high level of safety and trust in the online environment in a manner that promotes a fair balance of the rights of all stakeholders.
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) In order to benefit from the exemption from liability for hosting services, the provider should, upon obtaining actual knowledge or awareness of illegal content, act expeditiously to remove or to disable access to that content. The removal or disabling of access should be undertaken in the observance of the principle of freedom of expressions enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, including freedom of expression. Where the illegal content can cause significant public harm, the provider should assess and, when necessary, remove or disable access to that content within 24 hours and, in any case, not more than one hour after receiving a removal order from the competent authority. The provider can obtain such actual knowledge or awareness through, in particular, its periodic own- initiative investigations or notices submitted to it by individuals or entities in accordance with this Regulation in so far as those notices are sufficiently precise and adequately substantiated to allow a diligent economic operator to reasonably identify, assess and where appropriate act against the allegedly illegal content.
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) In order to ensure the effective protection of consumers when engaging in intermediated commercial transactions online, certain providers of hosting services, namely, online platforms that allow consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders, should not be able to benefit from the exemption from liability for hosting service providers established in this Regulation, unless they comply with a number of specific requirements set out in this Regulation, including the appointment of a legal representative in the Union, the implementation of notice and action mechanisms, the traceability of traders using their services, the provision of information on their online advertising and their recommender system practices and policy as well as transparency requirements towards the consumers as laid down in Directive 2011/83/EU. In addition, they should not be able to benefit from the exemption from liability for hosting service providers establishing in this Regulation, in so far as those online platforms present the relevant information relating to the transactions at issue in such a way that it leads consumers to believe that the information was provided by those online platforms themselves or by recipients of the service acting under their authority or control, and that those online platforms thus have knowledge of or control over the information, even if that may in reality not be the case. In that regard, is should be determined objectively, on the basis of all relevant circumstances, whether the presentation could lead to such a belief on the side of an average and reasonably well-informed consumer.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Providers of intermediary services should not be subject to a monitoring obligation with respect to obligations of a general nature. This does not concern monitoring obligations in a specific case and, in particular, does not affect orders by national authorities in accordance with national legislation, in accordance with the conditions established in this Regulation. Nothing in this Regulation should be construed as an imposition of a general monitoring obligation or active fact- finding obligation, or as a general obligation forimpeding upon the ability of providers to undertake proactive measures to relation to illegal contentidentify and remove illegal content and to prevent its reappearance.
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) Where a hosting service provider decides to remove or disable information provided by a recipient of the service, for instance following receipt of a notice or acting on its own initiative, including through the use of automated means, that provider should prevent the reappearance of the notified illegal information. The provider should also inform the recipient of its decision, the reasons for its decision and the available redress possibilities to contest the decision, in view of the negative consequences that such decisions may have for the recipient, including as regards the exercise of its fundamental right to freedom of expression. That obligation should apply irrespective of the reasons for the decision, in particular whether the action has been taken because the information notified is considered to be illegal content or incompatible with the applicable terms and conditions. Available recourses to challenge the decision of the hosting service provider should always include judicial redress.
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) Recipients of the service should be able to easily and effectively contest certain decisions of online platforms that negatively affect them. Therefore, online platforms should be required to provide for internal complaint-handling systems, which must ensure human review and meet certain conditions aimed at ensuring that the systems are easily accessible and lead to swift and fair outcomes. In addition, provision should be made for the possibility of out-of-court dispute settlement of disputes, including those that could not be resolved in satisfactory manner through the internal complaint- handling systems, by certified bodies that have the requisite independence, means and expertise to carry out their activities in a fair, swift and cost- effective manner and within a reasonable period of time. The possibilities to contest decisions of online platforms thus created should complement, yet leave unaffected in all respects, the possibility to seek judicial redress in accordance with the laws of the Member State concerned.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 52
Recital 52
(52) Online advertisement plays an important role in the online environment, including in relation to the provision of the services of online platforms. However, online advertisement can contribute to significant risks, ranging from advertisement that is itself illegal content, to contributing to financial incentives for the publication or amplification of illegal or otherwise harmful content and activities online, or the discriminatory display of advertising withat can have both an impact on the equal treatment and opportunities of citizens and on the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and norms. Therefore, more transparency in online advertising markets and independent research needs to be carried out to assess the effectiveness of behavioural advertisements which could pave the way for stricter measures or restriction of behavioural advertising. In addition to the requirements resulting from Article 6 of Directive 2000/31/EC, online platforms should therefore be required to ensure that the recipients of the service have certain individualised information necessary for them to understand when and on whose behalf the advertisement is displayed. In addition, recipients of the service should have information on the main parameters used for determining that specific advertising is to be displayed to them, providing meaningful explanations of the logic used to that end, including when this is based on profiling. The requirements of this Regulation on the provision of information relating to advertisement is without prejudice to the application of the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, in particular those regarding the right to object, automated individual decision-making, including profiling and specifically the need to obtain consent of the data subject prior to the processing of personal data for targeted advertising. Similarly, it is without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Directive 2002/58/EC in particular those regarding the storage of information in terminal equipment and the access to information stored therein.
Amendment 213 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
(b a) promote innovation and facilitate competition for digital services, while protecting users and consumers rights.
Amendment 214 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point b b (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point b b (new)
(b b) stimulate the level playing field of the online ecosystem by introducing interoperability requirements for very large platforms.
Amendment 218 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 5 – point i a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 5 – point i a (new)
(i a) Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point d – introductory part
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point d – introductory part
(d) ‘to offer services in the Union’ means enabling legal or natural persons in one or more Member States to use the services of the provider of information society services which has a substantial connection to the Union; such a substantial connection is deemed to exist where the provider has an establishment in the Union;, or in the absence of such an establishment, the assessment of a substantial connection is based on specific factual criteria, such as: where the provider targets its activities towards one or more Member States.
Amendment 382 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2
Article 17 – paragraph 2
2. Online platforms shall ensure that their internal complaint-handling systems are easy to access, user-friendly and enable and facilitate the submission of sufficiently precise and adequately substantiated complaints and include human review.
Amendment 502 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 24 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Online platforms shall favour advertising that do not require any tracking of user interaction with content.
Amendment 503 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1 c (new)
Article 24 – paragraph 1 c (new)
Online platforms shall offer the possibility to easily opt-out for micro-targeted tracking.
Amendment 504 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1 d (new)
Article 24 – paragraph 1 d (new)
Online platforms shall offer the possibility to opt-in for the use of behavioural data and political advertising.
Amendment 516 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 4 c (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Very large platforms shall refrain from technically restricting the ability of end users to switch between and subscribe to different software applications and services to be accessed using the operating system of the gatekeeper, including as regards the choice of Internet access provider for end users.
Amendment 535 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 26 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) any negative effects for the exercise of the fundamental rights, including the rights to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression and information, the prohibition of discrimination and the rights of the child, as enshrined in Articles 7, 11, 21 and 24 of the Charter respectively;
Amendment 627 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 31 – paragraph 2
Article 31 – paragraph 2
2. Upon a reasoned request from the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment or the Commission, very large online platforms shall, within a reasonable period, as specified in the request, provide information and access to data to vetted researchers who meet the requirements in paragraphs 4 of this Article, for the sole purpose of conductingfacilitating and conducting public interest research that contributes to the identification and understanding of systemic risks as set out in Article 26(1). and to enable verification of the effectiveness and proportionality of the mitigation measures as set out in Article 27(1).