Digital Services Act as a new era for platform liability - A fine thread between copyright enforcement and freedom of expression

Abstract: Online platforms have gained significant economic and societal importance in the last decade; the public debate on their extending influence, responsibilities and liability has also reached unprecedented levels. Platforms entered most product and service markets and disturbed trade, information exchange and communication, by shifting the offline into the online environment; their use of existing data innovatively resulted in the adoption and delivery of a vast range of digital services. This paper researches this fascinating field: how to effectively regulate online platforms, which use data/information flows globally and impact most aspects of our economic and social lives, sometimes eluding or keeping beyond legal systems and fundamental rights? The DSA Regulation is an ambitious legislative act, designed to modernize and harmonize the digital services in the EU single market. It introduces extensive due diligence obligations towards online platforms/search engines, concerning all types of illegal information. This paper is focused on two main areas surrounding the DSA Regulation. First, it looks at the evolution of the platform liability for copyright-relevant content and how the DSA regulation relates to the previous copyright acquis. Second, it questions how the individualised rules for platforms are expected to impact the freedom of expression. The DSA Regulation shifts the focus from the existing platform liability issue, by devising different layers of responsibilities and enforcement, according to the type and influence of the intermediary; most requirements are to be fulfilled by individualised actors (VLOP/VLOSEs). At the same time, the DSA Regulation regards the freedom of expression as a main objective and uses several references to this fundamental right throughout.