In August 2024, the Oxford University Press will publish my new book, Principles of the Digital Services Act. This 500-pages long book aims to put the new digital trust and safety regulation into context and explain how it will work. The book:
- Blends detailed practical insights and academic research to examine the DSA and its impact on digital services
- Includes a historical account to advise on useful and problematic enforcement strategies
- Provides a treatment of all key legal mechanisms included in the new regulation and puts them in the context of pre-existing debates and industry practices
Orders
At the moment, you can order the book on Amazon from here or from OUP here (ISBN: 9780192882455). Initially, only hardback and ebooks will be available. From your purchase, 10% goes to the author.
OUP’s description
Numerous questions were at the heart of parliamentary discussions over the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s new regulatory framework for digital services. How should liberal democracies prevent illegal and harmful activities online and protect fundamental rights? How should digital service providers assess the impact of their technology on others? And how should technology companies moderate user-generated content? Principles of the Digital Services Act analyses the DSA’s key provisions, dissecting its mechanisms and components, to understand the new law’s likely impact on digital services in Europe and beyond.
The book puts the new legal framework into its political, economic, and social contexts by explaining its grounding within the frameworks of economic regulation and human rights. It examines the European legislature’s approach to the DSA, offering a detailed historical account of the legislative and pre-legislative process. The book argues that the envisaged regulatory system has the potential to boost trust in the digital environment. However, its mechanisms must be able to rely on the robust network of civil society organisations and the regulators should follow a set of principles. In this way, the DSA’s goal can be achieved through means that are firmly aligned with respect for individual liberties, including the freedom of expression.
Combining academic research with practical insights, Principles of the Digital Services Act offers a robust analysis into how to apply and further develop the most important tools of the DSA to rebuild trust in the digital environment.
What do the leading experts think?
Martin Husovec’s book is an indispensable guide to the most important new Internet law in a generation. Husovec draws on his encyclopedic knowledge of European platform law to identify open questions about the DSA’s meaning, precedent that may provide answers, and powerful arguments for interpretations that empower Internet users.
Daphne Keller | Stanford University
As close to the source as you may get and grounded in years of thinking and research into the European law for platforms and internet intermediaries, this in-depth commentary on the Digital Services Act is a must-read for any scholar, regulator, and practitioner working in the area. In this book, Martin Husovec does justice to the complexity of the legal issues at play and the importance of fundamental rights and other principles of European law, offering guidance for the coming years of implementation and enforcement, and the democratic institution-building process that has been set in motion with this new legislation.
Joris van Hoboken | University of Amsterdam
The Digital Services Act is a ground-breaking legislation. But the DSA and its concepts mean different things to different people. With the DSA implementation, we are all venturing into a new, uncharted territory. At ARTICLE 19, an international freedom of expression organisation, we believe that the DSA may well set the global standard for online content regulation and will influence legislators around the world. That is why Martin Husovec’s book is really important at this very time. It should be a must-read for regulators, companies, civil society, and all others who want to build, hopefully, a more pluralistic and human rights-compliant digital environment.
Barbora Bukovská | Senior Director for Law and Policy, ARTICLE 19
Book Launch
The book launch will take place at LSE in London on 11.11.2024, 1-7pm. It will be connected with a public event dedicated to the reflections after 2 years of the European platform regulation. Sign up for updates on the event here.
The table of contents
Part I: Introduction
1:Introduction: Taming the Powers
2:Overview of the DSA
3:Human rights
Part II: Liability
4:Introduction to Liability Framework
5:Prohibition of general monitoring obligations
6:Liability Exemptions: General Requirements
7:Liability Exemptions: Specific Services
8:Injunctions and Orders
Part III: Accountability
9:Introduction to Accountability framework
10:Content Moderation: Outline
11:Fair Moderation Process
12:Fair Content Rules
13:Risk-Based Approach to Digital Services
14:Fair Design Practices
15:General Risk Management
16:Transparency
Part IV: DSA as a Policy Tool
17:DSA as a Cornerstone of the EU Single Market
18:DSA as a Digital Rights Charter
19:DSA as a Mixed Enforcement System
20:DSA as a Co-Regulatory System
Part V: Outlook
21:Principles