30 Amendments of Martin HOJSÍK related to 2020/0361(COD)
Amendment 84 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to achieve the objective of ensuring a safe, predictable and trusted online environment, for the purpose of this Regulation the concept of “illegal content” should be defined broadly and also covers information relating to illegal content, products, services and activities. In particular, that concept should be understood to refer to information, irrespective of its form, that under the applicable law is either itself illegal, such as illegal hate speech or terrorist content and unlawful discriminatory content, or that relates to activities that are illegal, such as the sharing of images depicting child sexual abuse, unlawful non- consensual sharing of private images, online stalking, the sale of non-compliant or counterfeit products, illegally-traded animals, the non-authorised use of copyright protected material or activities involving infringements of consumer protection law. In this regard, it is immaterial whether the illegality of the information or activity results from Union law or from national law that is consistent with Union law and what the precise nature or subject matter is of the law in question.
Amendment 87 #
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, content-sharing platforms, search engines, livestreaming platforms, messaging services or online marketplaces, 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 90 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The concept of ‘dissemination to the public’, as used in this Regulation, should entail the making available of information to a large or potentially unlimited number of persons, that is, making the information easily accessible to users in general without further action by the recipient of the service providing the information being required, irrespective of whether those persons actually access the information in question. Accordingly, where access to information requires registration or admission to a user group, such information should only be considered to be publicly available when users seeking to access such information are automatically registered or admitted without human intervention to decide or select the users to whom access is granted. The mere possibility to create groups of users of a given service, including a messaging service, should not, in itself, be understood to mean that the information disseminated in that manner is not disseminated to the public. However, the concept should exclude dissemination of information within closed groups consisting of a finlimited number of pre- determined persons, taking into account the potential for groups to become tools for wide dissemination of content to the public. Interpersonal communication services, as defined in Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council,39 such as emails or private messaging services, fall outside the scope of this Regulation if they do not meet the above criteria for "dissemination to the public" . Information should be considered disseminated to the public within the meaning of this Regulation only where that occurs upon the direct request by the recipient of the service that provided the information. File-sharing services and other cloud services fall within the scope of this Regulation, to the extent that such services are used to make the stored information available to the public at the direct request of the content provider. _________________ 39Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (Recast), OJ L 321, 17.12.2018, p. 36
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) The territorial scope of such orders to act against illegal content should be clearly set out on the basis of the applicable Union or national law enabling the issuance of the order and should not exceed what is strictly necessary to achieve its objectives. In that regard, the national judicial or administrative authority issuing the order should balance the objective that the order seeks to achieve, in accordance with the legal basis enabling its issuance, with the rights and legitimate interests of all third parties that may be affected by the order, in particular their fundamental rights under the Charter. In addition, where the order referring to the specific information may have effects beyond the territory of the Member State of the authority concerned, the authority should assess whether the information at issue is likely to constitute illegal content in other Member States concerned and, where relevant, take account of the relevant rules of Union law, national law, or international law and the interests of international comity.
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) Orders to act against illegal content and to provide information are subject to the rules safeguarding the competence of the Member State where the service provider addressed is established and laying down possible derogations from that competence in certain cases, set out in Article 3 of Directive 2000/31/EC, only if the conditions of that Article are met. Given that the orders in question relate to specific items of illegal content and information under either Union or national law, respectively, where they are addressed to providers of intermediary services established in another Member State, they do not in principle restrict those providers’ freedom to provide their services across borders. Therefore, the rules set out in Article 3 of Directive 2000/31/EC, including those regarding the need to justify measures derogating from the competence of the Member State where the service provider is established on certain specified grounds and regarding the notification of such measures, do not apply in respect of those orders.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46
Recital 46
(46) Action against illegal content can be taken more quickly and reliably where online platforms take the necessary measures to ensure that notices submitted by trusted flaggers through the notice and action mechanisms required by this Regulation are treated with priority, without prejudice to the requirement to process and decide upon all notices submitted under those mechanisms in a timely, diligent and objective manner. For swift action against the appearance of illegal content, technological means including application programming interfaces of trusted flaggers shall be put at the service of online platforms. Such trusted flagger status should only be awarded to entities, and not individuals, that have demonstrated, among other things, that they have particular expertise and competence in tackling illegal content, that they represent collective interests and that they work in a diligent and objective manner. Such entities can be public in nature, such as, for terrorist content, internet referral units of national law enforcement authorities or of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (‘Europol’) or they can be non-governmental organisations and semi- public bodies, such as the organisations part of the INHOPE network of hotlines for reporting child sexual abuse material and organisations committed to notifying illegal racist and xenophobic expressions online. For intellectual property rights, organisations of industry and of right- holders could be awarded trusted flagger status, where they have demonstrated that they meet the applicable conditions. The rules of this Regulation on trusted flaggers should not be understood to prevent online platforms from giving similar treatment to notices submitted by entities or individuals that have not been awarded trusted flagger status under this Regulation, from otherwise cooperating with other entities, in accordance with the applicable law, including this Regulation and Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council.43 _________________ 43Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and replacing and repealing Council Decisions 2009/371/JHA, 2009/934/JHA, 2009/935/JHA, 2009/936/JHA and 2009/968/JHA, OJ L 135, 24.5.2016, p. 53
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 49
Recital 49
(49) In order to contribute to a safe, trustworthy and transparent online environment for consumers, as well as for other interested parties such as competing traders and holders of intellectual property rights, and to deter traders from selling products or services in violation of the applicable rules, online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with tradermarketplaces should ensure that such traders are traceable. The trader should therefore be required to provide certain essential information to the online platformprovider of the online marketplace, including for purposes of promoting messages on or offering products. That requirement should also be applicable to traders that promote messages on products or services on behalf of brands, based on underlying agreements. Those online platforms should store all information in a secure manner for a reasonable period of time that does not exceed what is necessary, so that it can be accessed, in accordance with the applicable law, including on the protection of personal data, by public authorities and private parties with a legitimate interest, including through the orders to provide information referred to in this Regulation.
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50
Recital 50
(50) To ensure an efficient and adequate application of that obligation, without imposing any disproportionate burdens, the online platformproviders of online marketplaces covered should make reasonable efforts to verify the reliability of the information provided by the traders concerned, in particular by using freely available official online databases and online interfaces, such as national trade registers and the VAT Information Exchange System45 , or by requesting the traders concerned to provide trustworthy supporting documents, such as copies of identity documents, certified bank statements, company certificates and trade register certificates. They may also use other sources, available for use at a distance, which offer a similar degree of reliability for the purpose of complying with this obligation. However, the online platformproviders of online marketplaces covered should not be required to engage in excessive or costly online fact-finding exercises or to carry out verifications on the spot. Nor should such online platformproviders, which have made the reasonable efforts required by this Regulation, be understood as guaranteeing the reliability of the information towards consumer or other interested parties. Such online platformProviders of online marketplaces should also design and organise their online interface in a user- friendly way that enables traders to comply with their obligations under Union law, in particular the requirements set out in Articles 6 and 8 of Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council46 , Article 7 of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council47 and Article 3 of Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council48 . The online interface shall allow traders to provide the information allowing for the unequivocal identification of the product or the service, including labelling requirements, in compliance with legislation on product safety and product compliance. _________________ 45 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/ vieshome.do?selectedLanguage=en 46Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 47Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to- consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’) 48Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50 a (new)
Recital 50 a (new)
(50 a) Providers of online marketplaces should demonstrate their best efforts in preventing the dissemination by traders of illegal products and services. In compliance with the no general monitoring provision, providers shall inform recipients when the service or product they have acquires through their services is illegal. Once notified of an illegal product as foreseen in Article 14, providers of online marketplaces should take measures to prevent such notified products and services from being reuploaded on their marketplace.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 57
Recital 57
(57) Three categories of systemic risks should be assessed in-depth. A first category concerns the risks associated with the misuse of their service through the dissemination of illegal content, such as the dissemination of child sexual abuse material or illegal hate speech, and the conduct of illegal activities, such as the sale of products or services prohibited by Union or national law, including counterfeit products and illegally-traded animals. For example, and without prejudice to the personal responsibility of the recipient of the service of very large online platforms for possible illegality of his or her activity under the applicable law, such dissemination or activities may constitute a significant systematic risk where access to such content may be amplified through accounts with a particularly wide reach. A second category concerns the impact of the service on the exercise of fundamental rights, as protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights, including the freedom of expression and information, the right to private life, the right to non-discrimination and the rights of the child. Such risks may arise, for example, in relation to the design of the algorithmic systems used by the very large online platform or the misuse of their service through the submission of abusive notices or other methods for silencing speech or hampering competition. A third category of risks concerns the intentional and, oftentimes, coordinated manipulation of the platform’s service, with a foreseeable impact on health, civic discourse, electoral processes, public security and protection of minors, having regard to the need to safeguard public order, protect privacy and fight fraudulent and deceptive commercial practices. Such risks may arise, for example, through the creation of fake accounts, the use of bots, and other automated or partially automated behaviours, which may lead to the rapid and widespread dissemination of information that is illegal content or incompatible with an online platform’s terms and conditions.
Amendment 189 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 63 a (new)
Recital 63 a (new)
(63 a) By associating advertisement with content uploaded by users, very large online platform could indirectly lead to the promotion of illegal content, or content that is in breach of their terms and condition and could risk to considerably damage the brand image of the buyers of advertising space. In order to prevent such practice, the very large online platforms should ensure, including through standard contractual guarantees to the purchasers of advertising space, that the content to which they associate advertisements is legal, and compliant with their terms and conditions. Furthermore, the very large online platforms should allow advertisers to have access to the results of audits carried out independently and evaluating platforms’ commitments and tools for brand safety.
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 106 a (new)
Recital 106 a (new)
(106 a)As online services evolve at a fast pace and in order to rapidly adapt to those developments, this Regulation should provide a legal basis for the adoption of delegated and implementing acts laying down specific rules on unregulated specific sectors that demand better online control.
Amendment 236 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(i a) 'online marketplace' means an online platform that allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with other traders or consumers
Amendment 286 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph -1 (new)
Article 12 – paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Providers of intermediary services shall ensure that their terms and conditions prevent the recipients of their services from providing information that is not compliant with Union law or the law of the Member State where the information is provided. Any additional restrictions that providers of intermediary services may impose in relation to the use of their service and the information provided by the recipients of the service shall be in full compliance with the fundamental rights of the recipients of the services as enshrined in the Charter.
Amendment 367 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
This Section shall not apply to online platforms that qualify as micro or small enterprises, within the meaning of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC. The Commission should assess the need to exclude micro and small entreprises that reach a large audience, based a number of average monthly active recipients of the service in the Union, calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the delegated acts referred to in article 25, paragraph 3.
Amendment 445 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 22 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Where an online platform allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders, itProviders of online marketplaces shall ensure that traders can only use itstheir services to promote messages on or to offer products or services to consumers located in the Union if, prior to the use of itstheir services, the online platformmarketplaces hasve obtained the following information:
Amendment 446 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 22 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Where an online platform allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders, itProviders of online marketplaces shall ensure that traders can only use itstheir services to promote messages on or to offer products or services to consumers located in the Union if, prior to the use of itstheir services, the online platformmarketplaces hasve obtained and checked the substance of the following information:
Amendment 452 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Article 22 – paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(f a) product safety information such as product labelling and registration number, where applicable, for the mitigation of risks posed by specific types of products.
Amendment 457 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 2
Article 22 – paragraph 2
2. The online platformprovider of the online marketplace shall, upon receiving that information, make reasonable efforts to assess whether the information referred to in points (a), (d) and (e) of paragraph 1 is reliable through the use of any freely accessible official online database or online interface made available by an authorized administrator or a Member States or the Union or through requests to the trader to provide supporting documents from reliable sources.
Amendment 459 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 2
Article 22 – paragraph 2
2. The online platformprovider of the online marketplace shall, upon receiving that information, make reasonable efforts to assess whether the information referred to in points (a), (d) and (e) of paragraph 1 is reliable through the use of any freely accessible official online database or online interface made available by a Member States or the Union or through requests to the trader to provide supporting documents from reliable sources.
Amendment 464 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 22 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
3. Where the online platformprovider of the online marketplace obtains indications that any item of information referred to in paragraph 1 obtained from the trader concerned is inaccurate or incomplete, that platformmarketplace shall request the trader to correct the information in so far as necessary to ensure that all information is accurate and complete, without delay or within the time period set by Union and national law.
Amendment 467 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 4
Article 22 – paragraph 4
4. The online platformprovider of the online marketplace shall store the information obtained pursuant to paragraph 1 and 2 in a secure manner for the duration of their contractual relationship with the trader concerned. They shall subsequently delete the information.
Amendment 470 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 5
Article 22 – paragraph 5
5. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the platformrovider of the online marketplace shall only disclose the information to third parties where so required in accordance with the applicable law, including the orders referred to in Article 9 and any orders issued by Member States’ competent authorities or the Commission for the performance of their tasks under this Regulation.
Amendment 471 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 6
Article 22 – paragraph 6
6. The online platformprovider of the online marketplace shall make the information referred to in points (a), (d), (e) and (f) of paragraph 1 available to the recipients of the service, in a clear, easily accessible and comprehensible manner.
Amendment 473 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 7
Article 22 – paragraph 7
7. The online platformprovider of the online marketplace shall design and organise its online interface in a fair and user-friendly way that enables traders to comply with their obligations regarding pre-contractual information and product safety information under applicable Union law.
Amendment 475 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 7 a (new)
Article 22 – paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. The online interface shall allow traders to provide the information allowing for the unequivocal identification of the product or the service, and, where applicable, the information concerning the labelling, including CE marking, which are mandatory under applicable legislation on product safety and product compliance.
Amendment 477 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 a (new)
Article 22 a (new)
Article 22 a Additional provisions for online marketplaces related to illegal offers 1. The provider of the online marketplace shall take adequate measures in order to prevent the dissemination by traders using its service of offers for a product or a service, which do not comply with Union law. 2. Where the provider of the online marketplace obtains indication including the elements listed in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 2 of Article 14, and according to which an item of information referred to in Article 22 is inaccurate, that online marketplace service provider shall request the trader to give evidence of the accuracy of that item of information or to correct it, without delay. 3. Before the trader's offer is made available on the online marketplace, the provider of the online marketplace shall verify, with regard to the information referred to in paragraph 8 of Article 22, if the offer that the trader wishes to propose to consumers located in the Union is mentioned in the list, or the lists, of products or categories of products identifies as non compliant, as classified in any freely accessible official online database or online interface, and shall not authorise the trade to provide the offer if that the product is on such list. 4. Where a provider of the online marketplace becomes aware of the illegal nature of a product or service offered through its services, it shall inform those recipients of the service that had acquired such product or contracted such service. 5. The provider of the online marketplace shall demonstrate its best effort to put in place proportionate mechanisms to prevent offers for products that were previously notified in accordance with Article 14 on as counterfeiting from reappearing on the platform. Such mechanisms should not lead to general monitoring in conformity with Article 7 . 6. The provider of the online marketplace shall suspend without undue delay the provision of its services to traders that provide in a repeated manner or illegal offers for a product or a service. It shall immediately notify its decision to the trader.
Amendment 610 #
2 a. Online platforms shall ensure that their online interface is designed in such a way that it does not risk misleading or manipulating the recipients of the service.
Amendment 622 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 30 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 30 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Amendment 624 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 30 – paragraph 2 b (new)
Article 30 – paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Very large online platforms that display advertising on their online interfaces shall conduct at their own expense, and upon request of advertisers , independent audits performed by organisations complying with the criteria set out in Article 28(2). Such audits shall be based on fair and proportionate conditions agreed between platforms and advertisers, shall be conducted with a reasonable frequency and shall entail: (a) conducting quantitative and qualitative assessment of cases where advertising is associated with illegal content or with content incompatible with platforms’ terms and conditions; (b) monitoring for and detecting of fraudulent use of their services to fund illegal activities; (c) assessing the performance of their tools in terms of brand safety. The audit report shall include an opinion on the performance of platforms’ tools in terms of brand safety. Where the audit opinion is not positive, the report shall make operational recommendations to the platforms on specific measures in order to achieve compliance. The platforms shall make available to advertisers, upon request, the results of such audit.