Online fashion retailer Zalando said on Tuesday that it had filed an appeal with the European Union to challenge a European Commission regulation that establishes new obligations for online platforms. The Berlin-based company questions its designation by the European Commission on the list of “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOP for “Very Large Online Platform”) that will reportedly be subject to enhanced controls from August 25 .
As part of the new European law on digital services (Digital Service Act), Brussels released in April the list of the 19 largest online platforms and search engines in question, used by “more than 45 million European users” . Very ambitious, the law aims to obtain more transparency by allowing access to the platform’s data and the moderation of illegal content.
No “systemic risk of spreading harmful content”
But Zalando, one of the main European groups in the online sale of clothing, believes that it does not present a “systemic risk of disseminating harmful or illegal third-party content.” Furthermore, the company claims to have declared only 31 million monthly active users of its platform.
“While many companies designated as VLOP by the Commission reported registered users, Zalando reported visitors, which is much broader and includes duplicates,” Zalando said.
Among the VLOP list are also Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Google Maps, as well as Twitter, TikTok, Alibaba and even Wikipedia. To meet the new obligations, platforms will need to invest in dedicated employees and technologies.
Just when several of the major players in the sector have just carried out massive layoffs, including within their moderation teams. Zalando, which employs 17,000 people worldwide, also announced the loss of several hundred jobs last February.
Source: BFM TV
