In a significant development, the European Commission has chosen to utilize Open Terms Archive, a digital commons developed by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Digital Directorate (DNUM), to track changes in online platforms’ terms of use. This move aims to improve platform governance and enhance the enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Located within the DNUM’s incubation program supported by the EU’s Next-Generation Internet initiative, Open Terms Archive has already demonstrated its value during a large-scale impact assessment of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150. The European Commission’s decision to incorporate this tool into its operations is seen as a testament to its potential in promoting fairness and transparency for professional users of online intermediation services.
The Power of Digital Commons
Open Terms Archive serves as a digital resource shared, managed, and maintained collectively by a community of users. Its growing base of contributors reflects its increasing importance in facilitating collaborative data collection and software development. By integrating the European Commission’s team into the Open Terms Archive ecosystem, the Commission can now leverage technical improvements and fixes from the contributor community.
This collaboration enables the European Commission to enhance its monitoring of very large online platforms (VLOPs) and search engines (VLOSEs, or “VLOPSEs”), which are subject to requirements under the DSA. The platform’s contractual documents can be tracked in real-time using the public archive.
Enhancing Monitoring and Enforcement
The European Commission’s DSA Enforcement team now benefits from Open Terms Archive as a trusted source for tracking services’ contractual documents. By synchronously replicating community contributions on its own infrastructure, the Commission provides an authoritative platform for monitoring and enforcement. This development brings the total number of services tracked by the Commission to 380 by 2025 (up from 335 in 2023).
Significance of this Development
The European Commission’s adoption of Open Terms Archive underscores its commitment to promoting digital governance and platform accountability within the EU. By harnessing the power of digital commons, the Commission can improve its ability to monitor and enforce compliance with regulatory requirements, ultimately enhancing online safety and transparency.
This development marks an important step forward in the European Union’s efforts to create a more robust and responsive regulatory framework for the digital economy.