Press releases
EMMA, the European Magazine Media Association and ENPA, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association welcome the joint industry statement of Europe’s media sector on the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Global online platforms have become an important gateway for citizens to access and consume information and diverse content. However, many of these players restrict the dissemination of lawful media content and its monetisation based on their unilaterally imposed terms and conditions.
This is why, Europe’s media sector jointly calls to protect the freedom and pluralism of the media, by introducing safeguards in order to prohibit global online platforms from interfering with the editorial content of media organisations, on the basis of their services’ terms and conditions.
However, EMMA and ENPA have serious concerns about the threat that the DSA’s disproportionate due diligence obligations pose to Europe’s vibrant and pluralistic digital platform economy.
Firstly, for digital publications to provide a space for a healthy and vibrant discussion culture and to offer their readers such a space to discuss among themselves and with the editorial team on topics related to the publication, it is essential that editorial platforms maintain their editorial freedom and are explicitly excluded from the scope of the new due diligence obligations introduced in the DSA.
Secondly, publishers have successfully embarked on the digital transition and often operate innovative commercial platforms, which have brought publishing-related advertising and classifieds services to the digital world. Such platforms include career and job portals, rating and comparison shopping platforms. The rigid content control requirements now in the DSA place a disproportionate burden on these publishers' commercial platforms which are indispensable for many publishers and would make it even more difficult to maintain their media activities in the future.
For those reasons, EMMA and ENPA call for all new due diligence obligations of Chapter III of the DSA to be restricted only to very large online platforms (VLOPs).
The European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union.
