[Manila Principles] EU DSM "online platforms" consultation -- guide for navigating the online questionnaire
Emma Llanso
ellanso at cdt.org
Thu Dec 3 11:41:13 PST 2015
Dear all,
As you may have heard, the European Commission is currently conducting a
consultation relevant to intermediary liability policy, as part of the
Digital Single Market strategy. The theme of the DSM is "bringing down
barriers to unlock online opportunities" and covers a variety of policy
topics, with the aim of moving the EU from 28 national markets to a
single one.
As part of this strategy, the Commission has launched a consultation on
"online platforms", a term which includes a broad range of websites and
online services. The consultation raises a number of pointed questions
about the intermediary liability framework in the EU, including the
sufficiency of definitions in the E-Commerce Directive, whether
particular types of content merit different notice-and-action
procedures, and whether action should include "take down and stay down"
or prospective monitoring for flagged content. (This consultation also
covers other topics, including individual privacy/data protection, data
localization, and open data initiatives, as well as the "collaborative
economy" and reputation rating/ranking systems.)
CDT thinks it is crucial that the Commission hear from advocacy
organizations, researchers, and others who can express the fundamental
role of strong intermediary liability protections in supporting freedom
of expression online. Responses to the consultation are due *30
December 2015* and must be filed through the Commission's webform
<https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/Platforms/>. Respondents may also
submit position papers to the Commission by sending them to
CNECT-PLATFORMS-CONSULTATION at ec.europa.eu.
If you or your organization are interested in providing input into the
consultation, the rest of this email includes information that may be
useful to you in doing so. *NB:* If you wish to respond as an
organization (civil society, trade association, think tank, company,
etc.), *your org must be registered in the Transparency Register* of the
European Commission and the European Parliament. Information about how
to register is available here
<https://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/public/ri/registering.do?locale=en>.
A response from a non-registered organization will be counted and
reported as a response from an individual.
The full text of the consultation can be downloaded as a PDF (attached),
but not every question/response option in the PDF is actually available
to all respondents. We've prepared a guide to responding to the
consultation (also attached), which indicates when the availability of
text-responses is contingent on providing a particular answer to a
multiple choice question.
For an even shorter guide to responding on intermediary liability
issues, specifically, here's what I consider the key questions/points:
- Section 2, "Online Platforms": Responding to the Commission's broad
definition of "online platform"
- Section 3, "Tackling illegal content online and the liability of
online intermediaries": Responding to the prompt at the end of the
section for "general comments" on intermediary liability and the topics
covered in the section (5000-character limit, including spaces)
Section 3 also includes questions about whether the E-Commerce
Directive's reference to "mere technical, automatic, and passive"
activity by intermediaries is sufficiently clear, whether additional
categories of intermediaries should be established, whether different
categories of illegal content require different approaches to notice
and/or action, whether "action" should include "takedown and staydown",
and whether there should be imposed specific duties of care for certain
intermediaries.
Some of these topics only allow for text responses if you select a
particular answer (e.g. a response of "yes" to "Do you think that
further categories of intermediaries should be established" yields 1500
characters to explain the answer, but no space is provided to explain a
response of "no".) So it is a good idea to review the whole section of
the questionnaire to see what issues are being raised, even if you are
only responding in the 5000-character "general comment" box.
CDT will be filing comments addressing many of the topics in the
consultation, with a major focus on the intermediary liability section.
I hope the attached guide is useful to you, and please let me know if
you have any questions or comments about it.
Best,
Emma
--
Emma J. Llansó
Director, Free Expression Project
Center for Democracy & Technology
202-407-8818 | @cendemtech | @ellanso
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