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Federal Council wants to harmonise Switzerland with the EU on social media

16.8.2024

Translation: machine translated

The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes a number of obligations on online platforms when dealing with content. The Federal Council would now like to adapt Swiss laws to the DSA in certain areas.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) applies in the European Union. This is a package of measures that regulates particularly large online platforms. For example, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. Principle: What is illegal offline should also be illegal online. For example, these platforms are not allowed to engage in unfair advertising and must take action against hate speech or fake news on their networks.

Parliamentary enquiry points to backlog

However, these requirements do not apply to Switzerland. For this reason, National Councillor Jean Tschopp (SP/VD) submitted an interpellation. He wants to know from the Federal Council whether, how and when it intends to take action against the risks of dark patterns, misinformation and a lack of data protection.

Dark patterns are a form of deceptive element or design in a user interface that is mainly found on websites and apps. These dark patterns aim to persuade users to act against their own interests. For example, to take out a plan or buy a product that they don't really need. The developers do this with misleading notices such as "Only three products left", or with large coloured "Yes" buttons, while hiding "No" buttons. This has an effect on the human ability to make decisions.

He points out in his interpellation that the DSA has already been in force since February 2024, while it is "unlikely that the regulation will come into force in Switzerland before 2027".

Jean Tschopp (SP/VD) wants to know what the Federal Council is planning.
Source: Parliament.ch

The Federal Council's leisurely pace is probably one of the reasons for this interpellation. Already in April 2023 there were
a motion by Jon Pult (SP/GR) in which he called for a significant adjustment to the DSA. The Federal Council pointed out that a consultation draft on the regulation of online platforms was already in the works. This should have been available in March 2024. However, this date has been postponed to autumn 2024.

Federal Council plans regulatory law and possible sanctions

In its response to the current interpellation, the Federal Council states that it is "endeavouring to regulate large communication platforms (...) whose provisions are based, where appropriate, on the rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA)".

The platforms must moderate content and offer concrete measures for compliance with the duty of care. They must offer users a simple reporting procedure if they come across content that may be illegal. In addition, the platforms in Switzerland should be placed under supervision and held accountable in the event of legal violations. Sanctions should also be introduced for Facebook and Co. if they do not comply with the regulations - such as fines.

Market abuse, however, is not a topic - there is antitrust law, which offers ways to combat it. The regulation of artificial intelligence is also not included. The Federal Council has already issued a separate mandate to DETEC and the FDFA for this.

The consultation draft is currently being prepared by the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) and should be submitted to the Federal Council in the autumn.

Header image: Florian Bodoky

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Florian Bodoky

Editor

Florian.Bodoky@digitecgalaxus.ch

I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.

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Federal Council wants to harmonise Switzerland with the EU on social media

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