The European Commission has taken its next step in regulating online platforms and search engines with a request for information from a number of companies including Booking.com.
The formal request has been made to 17 companies that the Digital Services Act (DSA) characterizes as very large online platforms (VLOPs) or very large online search engines (VLOSEs), which are those with at least 45 million monthly users.
Bing, Facebook, Google and Google Maps have also been sent requests for information, which requires the provision of access to data to researchers that is “publicly accessible on their online interface.”
“Access to data by researchers is key to ensure accountability and public scrutiny of platforms’ policies,” the European regulator said. “Researcher access to publicly available data greatly contributes to the goals of the DSA, which is particularly important in view of upcoming events such as elections at national and…
