Web Summit, Vestager: Making illegal on digital what is illegal in the real world

• Digital Services Act, Brussels prepares the revolution for Big Tech and citizens

• Ict, demand for digital services holds up the impact of the pandemic

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04 December 2020 Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission and head of EU digital policy, is the most anticipated institutional figure on the final day of the Web Summit, the largest tech event in Europe traditionally held in Lisbon , but which in 2020 had to move the three days of conferences, debates, masterclasses, round tables exclusively to the online platform.

Vestager, seen by many as the 'champion' of competition rules in the digital sector, has been keeping an eye on the technology giants for some time and has promoted several investigations into the antitrust practices of companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon.

The online press conference of the vice president as part of the Web Summit was also an opportunity to take stock, in particular, on the

(DSA), the set of rules that the Commission is about to launch soon.

As also reiterated by the President of the European Commission,

at the Web Summit 2020, Vestager insisted that it is essential to make

, for example what has been established with toys for children considered not safe.

The new Digital Services Act aims to hold large digital companies

for shared content, for the use made of personal data and for respecting the privacy of their users, among other issues.

“We have been arguing for a long time and the time has come: for some time now there have been rules for the products that are marketed, the same must apply to digital services.

and this is what the Digital Services Act will do. The gatekeepers have made their rules so far, now we will be the ones to say what are the things that can be done and what cannot be done ", Vestager said in response to a question from Rainews.it.

And then, to a question about Nick Clegg of Facebook, who during one of the conferences said he did not know the contents of the new Vestager regulation, he specified: "We are talking to all the platforms about the DSA and we are still finalizing the smallest details. ".

Regarding his relationship with the digital world in times of pandemics, Vestager said he has learned a lot and that "the technology is surprising but it has limitations, it

across platforms" and, like many, he hopes to be able to return to the meetings in person: "We want to return to real society," he said.  

Although the pandemic forced the Web Summit to migrate online, the numbers of the event were those of face-to-face conferences, with over

.  

Paddy Cosgrave, co-founder of the event in Dublin a decade ago, confirmed that the challenges of organizing an online Web Summit were many.

He coordinated the works directly from the terrace of his home in Lisbon, where the technology conference has been taking place since 2016, announced that he wanted to develop into a

and that he wanted to expand globally to get closer to the places where

are born

.

Next stops, from 2021, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur (which replaces the Hong Kong appointment) and from 2022 Brazil, in a city yet to be decided.