Nineteen global IT companies are yo be affected by historic EU online content regulations, according to EU industry director Thierry Breton on Tuesday. These 19 companies include Twitter, AliExpress, two Meta Platforms units, two Microsoft enterprises, five Alphabet subsidiaries, and two Meta Platforms units.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) regulations mandate that businesses manage risk, carry out external, independent audits, exchange data with regulators and academics, and create a code of conduct by the end of August.

Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Google Shopping, and YouTube are among the 19 firms, as are Facebook and Instagram from Meta, the Amazon Marketplace, and the Apple App Store.

The other companies are Twitter, Wikipedia, Zalando, AliExpress, Booking.com (BKNG.O), Snap Inc.’s Snapchat, TikTok, and Bing and Bing, two divisions of Microsoft.

“We consider these 19 online platforms and search engines have become systematically relevant and have special responsibilities to make the internet safer,” Breton told reporters.

Companies will be required to take more steps to combat misinformation, provide users with more protection and options, and ensure stronger safety for youngsters, or face fines of up to 6% of their global sales.

Breton stated that he was determining whether another four to five businesses are covered by the DSA and that a decision was anticipated within the upcoming weeks.

Because it contributes to the formation of attitudes on important topics, Breton singled out Facebook’s content filtering system for criticism.

“Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platform, Meta needs to carefully investigate the system and fix it where needed ASAP,” he said.

Additionally, Breton placed a great priority on Twitter and TikTok.

“At the invitation of Elon Musk, my team and I will carry out a stress test live at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco,” he said.

“We are also committed to a stress test with TikTok which has expressed also interest. So I look forward to an invitation to Bytedance’s headquarters to understand better the origin of Tiktok,” Breton said.

(Adapted from WionNews.com)