Human Ads Beyond Targeted Advertising: Content monetization as the blind spot of the Digital Services Act

The European Union (EU) has big plans for platform governance. The new Digital Services Act (DSA) package, delivered in late 2020, proposes new rules on digital markets, particularly on intermediary liability, while better protecting consumers and fundamental rights online (see my writing about the DSA’s general structure and relationship with the EU Consumer Acquis here). According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the DSA is intended as an umbrella instrument that is supposed to tackle a wide array of issues arising on digital markets (e.g. illegal content; smart contracts). One of its central issues relates to the proliferation of online (targeted) advertising, which the European Parliament made clear ought to be one of the areas of reform, so to create less dependence on and exploitation of algorithms toward consumers and citizens.