Navigating the Digital Services Act: A Guide for Game Developers

Introduction:

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) stands as a pivotal regulatory framework aimed at ensuring a safer and more accountable online environment. The implications of the DSA extend far beyond just game development, impacting all consumer applications. In this article, we delve into the intricacies of the DSA, its broader impact on consumer applications, its specific implications for the gaming industry, and how GGWP can assist in navigating these new regulations.

 

Section 1: Understanding the Digital Services Act

What is the Digital Services Act?

The DSA is a landmark legislation introduced by the EU, aimed at regulating digital services. It focuses on enhancing user safety, ensuring transparent content moderation, and establishing clear responsibilities for online platforms. The overarching goal is to foster safer online environments.

Why now?

The DSA addresses critical gaps left by laws like CDA 230, particularly in the context of modern online platforms’ roles. Unlike CDA 230, which largely absolves platforms from liability for third-party content, the DSA acknowledges the active role these platforms play through algorithms and content curation systems. This is especially relevant in today’s digital environment, where the product design of platforms influence user experiences and interactions such as by recommendation systems.

The DSA was conceived out of an urgent need to tackle various emerging challenges in the digital space, including the spread of misinformation, the necessity for enhanced online safety, and filling gaps in existing data privacy laws.  Furthermore, the DSA acts as a counterbalance to recent privacy legislations that, despite their good intentions, have led to some unintended consequences in content management. A case in point is observed in the gaming industry, where games often compromise on moderation fidelity for better user privacy. This is seen in practices like storing text chat for an average of only 30 days or not storing voice communications at all, making it challenging to evaluate longer-term behaviors and trends. Such scenarios underscore the complex relationship between privacy, user safety, and platform responsibility with content moderation and demonstrate the need for a more balanced and holistic approach as envisioned by the DSA and other upcoming digital safety regulation.

Other Safety Acts

In parallel to the EU’s Digital Services Act, other regions have developed their own frameworks to regulate online safety, notably the UK Online Safety Bill and the Australian Online Safety Act. These acts, while sharing a common goal of enhancing online safety, differ in scope and implementation strategies.

UK Online Safety Bill: This legislation, with an estimated full implementation by 2025 and Phase 1 effective from April 8, 2023, focuses on a wide range of online harms. It includes provisions against child exploitation, terrorism, and misinformation. The Bill is particularly prescriptive in its approach, mandating platforms to exercise a duty of care to proactively identify and mitigate risks. This includes specific requirements for content moderation, ensuring quick removal of illegal or harmful content, and clear terms of service. The UK Bill stands out for its detailed and direct approach to addressing specific types of online content and user protection.

Australian Online Safety Act: Targeting online abuse, especially cyberbullying and child safety, this act mandates swift action from platforms to protect users. For example, it requires the removal of cyberbullying content targeting Australian children within 24 hours of notice. This act exemplifies a direct, action-oriented approach to online safety, focusing on immediate and tangible measures to combat online abuse, especially against vulnerable groups like children.

Both these acts, while narrower in scope compared to the DSA, are more prescriptive in their requirements. They exemplify the global trend towards creating safer online spaces, with each region tailoring its approach based on local contexts and priorities. The DSA, with its broader scope and application, impacts a larger population and a wide range of platforms across the EU. This, combined with the EU’s influence in setting global digital standards, explains why the DSA is a focal point of discussion in the realm of digital policy.

 

Section 2: Timeline and Implementation

Effective Date and Transition Period:

The DSA became effective on November 16, 2022 and will start being enforced on February 17, 2024. This timeline gives game developers a window to adapt and align with the new requirements.

Stages of Implementation:

While the exact timeline for the DSA rollout and review remains to be clarified, insights can be gleaned from the rollout of other recent regulations. The fundamental expectation under the DSA is that platforms are responsible for activity between users, especially regarding the distribution of illegal and harmful content. Initially, the focus will likely be on easily implementable aspects, such as user report mechanisms. Subsequent stages may involve developing systems for manual and eventually automated review of content categories like child grooming, adult content in social games, hate speech, harassment, extremist rhetoric in competitive games, and child exploitation in user-generated content areas. As compliance evolves, game developers will need to employ increasingly sophisticated systems, eventually addressing a wide range of content categories. At each step, the emphasis will be on demonstrating the effectiveness of these processes and their outcomes.

 

Section 3: DSA’s Impact on Game Developers

Compliance for Gaming Platforms:

The Digital Services Act (DSA) casts a wide net, encompassing all consumer-facing platforms, but it holds particular significance for online gaming platforms and multiplayer video games. The scope of these platforms is diverse, including massive multiplayer online games (MMOs), competitive shooters, and social role-playing games, each fostering unique user interactions and behaviors. The imperative to protect players from illegal content is a constant across these varied experiences. However, the type of harmful content that may be significantly disruptive can differ from one gaming platform to another.

For example, in MMOs, there might be a greater focus on preventing scams and ensuring the integrity of in-game economies, while in competitive shooters, the emphasis might be more on curbing harassment and hate speech. In social role-playing games, safeguarding against inappropriate interactions and protecting minors could be more prevalent concerns.

Most gaming platforms are already a step ahead in certain respects, as many have implemented some form of player reporting systems. Nevertheless, the DSA demands more than just the ability for players to report issues. It mandates a level of transparency previously unseen in the industry. Gaming platforms are now required to disclose detailed information about their moderation practices. This includes preparing and sharing data on the performance of automated systems, elucidating decision-making processes for sanctions, and outlining the structure of appeals and review systems. Such disclosures need to be accessible not only to players but also to auditors and regulatory bodies.

By extending these responsibilities, the DSA aims to elevate the standard of accountability and user protection across the gaming industry. It necessitates a more proactive approach from game developers in moderating content, ensuring fair play, and maintaining a safe environment for all players.

Content Moderation:

The Digital Services Act (DSA) significantly amplifies the focus on content moderation and user safety for game developers. This responsibility extends beyond merely addressing illegal and harmful content; it encompasses the broader objective of cultivating a safer online environment for all players. Game developers are now tasked with implementing effective systems to identify, review, and manage a spectrum of content, ranging from hate speech and harassment to misinformation and exploitation.

One of the critical challenges here lies in achieving a delicate balance: ensuring robust content moderation while maintaining a positive, privacy-preserving, and engaging user experience. This balance is particularly tricky for social platforms, including games, where the line between entertaining and potentially offensive social interactions can be thin and context-dependent. Such dynamics necessitate a more integrated approach to game design and community

engagement.

Game developers must consider these nuances when crafting their community guidelines, ensuring that these policies are clearly communicated to players. However, the DSA goes a step further, placing the responsibility for all content on gaming platforms squarely on the shoulders of game developers. This means that games must not only develop automated systems capable of handling the sheer scale of user activity but also create intelligent systems adept at understanding nuanced cases. Such systems are essential to streamline manual moderation components, making the moderation process manageable and efficient.

Through these measures, the DSA aims to enhance the overall health of online gaming communities, ensuring that they are welcoming and safe spaces for all users, while also respecting their privacy and freedom of expression.

Advertising and User Engagement:

The Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces new standards and responsibilities concerning advertising practices and user engagement in the gaming industry. Central to these regulations is a strong emphasis on transparency, especially regarding the use of user data for targeted advertising. Game developers are now mandated to ensure that their advertising methods are not only legally compliant but also ethically sound. This includes making a clear and unambiguous disclosure of sponsored content and in-game purchases, empowering players to make informed choices.

However, compliance with the DSA extends beyond legal requirements. The Act calls for ethical user engagement strategies, marking a significant shift away from practices that could be deemed predatory, such as those exploiting addictive behaviors or encouraging excessive spending. A novel approach could involve sharing responsible spending metrics with players, fostering awareness and control over their in-game expenditures.

The DSA aims to cultivate an environment where engaging and enjoyable content reigns supreme, free from manipulative tactics that could harm player well-being or financial health. This represents a notable challenge and shift for the gaming industry, where many platforms and trends have thrived on unique targeting and, at times, exploitation of consumers. The reality of many free-to-play games, where a significant portion of revenue comes from a small percentage of high-spending players, suggests that these business models may now come under greater scrutiny and need to evolve.

Game developers are thus encouraged to focus on designing experiences that truly focus on entertainment while maintaining a positive gaming experience. The industry’s creativity and passion suggest it’s a business challenge that can be met with new innovations.

By establishing these new standards, the DSA not only aims to protect consumers but also to foster a more sustainable and ethical gaming industry. It invites game developers to rethink and innovate in ways that engage players responsibly, ensuring that the gaming experience remains enjoyable, fair, and respectful of personal boundaries and financial well-being.

 

Section 4: The Role of Transparency Reporting

Transparency reporting is a fundamental aspect of the DSA that emphasizes openness and accountability in content management processes. It encompasses the disclosure of various efforts made by digital service providers, including but not limited to:

• Detection Processes: Transparency reporting entails revealing the methods and technologies used to detect potentially harmful or illegal content on the platform. This includes the algorithms, AI systems, and manual review processes employed to identify and flag such content.
• Workflow and Evaluation: It involves sharing the workflow followed once content is flagged, from initial detection to evaluation. This includes the steps taken to assess the severity and context of flagged content and determine whether it violates platform guidelines or legal requirements.
• Appeals Processes: Transparency reporting extends to elucidating the mechanisms in place for users to appeal decisions related to content moderation. This includes explaining how users can challenge sanctions and the processes for reviewing such appeals.
• Aggregate Performance Metrics: Perhaps most importantly, transparency reporting involves providing aggregated performance metrics. These metrics offer insights into the platform’s overall content management efforts, including the number of incidents by type, the standards applied before applying sanctions, and the effectiveness of automated systems in identifying and handling content.

Transparency reporting is a critical component of the DSA, as it fosters trust between digital service providers and their users. It offers users visibility into how content moderation decisions are made, ensuring that these processes are fair, accountable, and aligned with platform guidelines and legal requirements.

How GGWP Can Assist:

GGWP plays a pivotal role in assisting digital service providers, including game developers, in fulfilling their transparency reporting obligations under the DSA. GGWP offers a comprehensive solution that includes:

• Dashboard Metrics: GGWP provides a user-friendly dashboard that presents relevant aggregate metrics. These metrics are filterable by various elements, such as date, incident type, and the type of sanction applied. This feature allows digital service providers to easily access and analyze key data related to content moderation performance.
• Export Functionality: GGWP’s dashboard also includes export functionality, enabling digital service providers to extract and utilize the data for reporting and analysis purposes. This feature streamlines the process of generating transparency reports and ensures compliance with the DSA’s requirements.
• Documentation and Definitions: GGWP’s documentation includes clear and comprehensive definitions by incident type. This resource helps digital service providers accurately categorize and report incidents, ensuring transparency reports are both informative and compliant with regulatory standards.
• API endpoint for Transparency Reporting; GGWP also provides a way for digital service providers to programmatically retrieve relevant performance data. This facilitates integrating GGWP outputs with internal metrics to produce more comprehensive reports if necessary.

In summary, GGWP empowers digital service providers by simplifying the complex task of transparency reporting.

 

Section 5: Financial Considerations

The Cost of Non-Compliance:

The DSA states that penalties can be up to 6% of global revenue, a substantial and potentially devastating financial burden for some digital services providers including game developers. In practice, the precise penalties that regulators will impose on violators under the DSA are unknown.

Drawing insights from recent trends in consumer protection regulation, it’s reasonable to anticipate that regulators will soon adopt stringent enforcement measures. This enforcement will likely commence with the largest companies and the most severe offenders within each industry. Subsequently, enforcement will extend to encompass a broader spectrum of providers.

Beyond the immediate financial ramifications, another pivotal consideration is the potential damage to a company’s reputation. As the DSA comes into effect, an increasing number of digital service providers will enhance their efforts to prioritize the mitigation of harmful and illegal content. This heightened industry-wide commitment to user safety and responsible content management sets a new standard and raises consumer expectations. Consequently, companies that fail to meet these evolving standards risk reputational harm that could be far more detrimental than even the immediate financial penalties from potential fines.

Investing in Compliance:

While investing in compliance by developing the necessary infrastructure, moderation systems, and staff training may pose non-trivial challenges, it is an imperative step for digital service providers. These investments are vital not only to mitigate the risk of penalties but also to bolster user trust and maintain a positive reputation.

Service providers, including game developers, face crucial decisions regarding whether to build or buy the required systems for compliance. These decisions necessitate a careful evaluation of available options, ensuring alignment with DSA standards and regulatory requirements.

In summary, while the financial investments required for compliance may appear substantial, they are a strategic necessity to avert penalties, foster user trust, and safeguard reputation. The cost of non-compliance can be significantly greater, making prudent investments in compliance measures a top priority in the evolving landscape of online regulation.

 

Section 6: Preparing for the Future

Specific Compliance Requirements:

To succeed in navigating the complex landscape of the DSA, it’s crucial for game developers to have a comprehensive understanding of the specific compliance requirements. These requirements encompass various facets of online gaming platforms and services, including:

• User Reporting Mechanisms: The DSA places a premium on user safety and empowerment. Game developers must establish robust user reporting mechanisms, allowing players to easily report harmful or illegal content. These mechanisms should be user-friendly, responsive, and efficient, ensuring that user concerns are addressed promptly.
• Content Moderation: Content moderation is at the heart of the DSA’s objectives. Game developers are tasked with implementing effective systems to identify and manage illegal and harmful content. This spans a wide range of issues, from hate speech and harassment to misinformation and exploitation. Striking the right balance between content moderation and user experience is a key challenge, requiring thoughtful design and clear communication with players.
• Protection Measures for Minors: Online gaming platforms often attract a diverse user base, including minors. The DSA places a particular emphasis on protecting young users from harmful content and experiences. Game developers need to implement age-appropriate content filtering, parental controls, and educational resources to ensure minors can enjoy gaming safely.

Staying Ahead of the Curve:

Compliance with the DSA is an ongoing commitment. Staying ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving digital regulatory landscape is essential. Here’s how game developers can proactively prepare for the future:

• Ongoing Education: Digital regulations are dynamic and subject to change. Game developers should prioritize ongoing education to stay informed about the latest updates, trends, and best practices. Attending industry conferences, webinars, and subscribing to regulatory updates are valuable strategies. GGWP plans to continue to do the same and share progress and tips across its network of customers to provide practical guidance.
• Adaptation: Today much of the DSA language is ambiguous as far as specific systems. This is to allow for flexibility in needs and sophistication required for different types of platforms and to allow for an evolving landscape and tools available to digital service providers. In practice, this means that the bar for sufficient will evolve over time. Game developers should be prepared to adapt quickly and efficiently. This may involve revising content moderation policies, enhancing user reporting mechanisms, or implementing new protection measures in response to changing standards.
• Proactivity: Being proactive in compliance efforts is key. Regularly assess and audit your systems, policies, and practices to ensure they align with the most current regulatory requirements. Anticipate potential future changes and plan accordingly.

Conclusion:

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a pivotal regulatory framework that has reshaped the digital service provider including the online gaming landscape. Its emphasis on user safety and content moderation reflects a commitment to creating a safer and more transparent online gaming world. As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, ongoing education, adaptation, and proactivity will be the pillars of success in this dynamic digital era. We at GGWP look forward to partnering with you on this journey to ensure a safer and more transparent online gaming experience for all.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The content provided herein is based on research and general knowledge about the Digital Services Act (DSA) and its implications for the gaming industry. It is not a substitute for professional legal counsel.

The legal landscape is subject to change, and the DSA’s interpretation and enforcement may vary. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you consult with a qualified legal professional or seek specific legal advice tailored to your circumstances if you require guidance on compliance with the DSA or any related legal matters.