How did Irish MEPs vote on the Digital Services Act?
Last night MEPs voted on a series of amendments to the Digital Services Act. The DSA is Europe ‘s — probably the world’s — best chance at regulating “Big Tech”, and last night was the main opportunity for our elected representatives to shape it. I wanted to see how Irish MEPs voted when it came to issues I care about — online threats to democracy and human rights. So I took a look at 4 amendments that had been the focus of privacy and democracy activists.
Amendment 202: Banning “Dark Patterns”
What is it?
This is what Politico neatly summarised as “a ban on sneaky online designs that trick people into accepting being tracked”. Euractive explain it like this:
The article explicitly forbids the use of specific techniques to extort consent to collect personal data, for instance, via repeatedly showing pop-ups. It also prevents platforms from requesting such consent if users already choose via ‘automated means’, which might be a setting in the web browser or operating system.
Did it pass?
It passed — good news!
How did Irish MEPs vote?
Eight Irish MEPs voted for this amendment; the two Green MEPs, the two Fianna Fail / Renew MEPs, the Sinn Fein / “Left” MEP, and the three other “Left” MEPs.
The 5 Fine Gael / EPP MEPs did not. One (Colm Markey) voted NO and four (Maria Walsh, Frances Fitzgerald, Deirdre Clune & Sean Kelly) ABSTAINED.
Amendment 511: “Media Exemption” loophole
What is it?
The last minute amendment was seen by many experts as loophole designed to undermine the entire Act; Commission Vice-President Jourová defined it as one of those “good intentions leading to hell.” Nobel Peace Prize winner and free press advocate Maria Ressa came out in agreement yesterday that this was a bad idea.
Did it pass?
It did not — which is a good thing.
How did Irish MEPs vote?
All but one of the 13 Irish MEP voted with the experts, and rejected this amendment.
The one MEP who voted for this was Chris MacManus from Sinn Fein / The Left grouping
Amendments 499 & 500: Banning ad targeting based on sensitive data
What is it?
What Politico described as “two amendments to ban the use of sensitive data such as religious belief and sexual orientation for targeted ads”. This was a compromise amendment after attempts at a full surveillance ad ban failed.
Did it pass?
This also passed — a win for the Tracking Free Ads Coalition.
How did Irish MEPs vote?
This time just six Irish MEPs sided with human rights advocates and voted for the amendment — the two Green MEPs and the four “Left” grouping MEPs.
The five Fine Gael / EPP MEPs voted NO, and so too did the two Fianna Fail / Renew MEPS Barry Andrews and Billy Kelleher.
**UPDATE: adding data sources: I used the European Parliament’s voting data PDF, but @KenD pointed me towards the MEPWatch.EU site which is much easier to use — see here how Irish MEPs voted on AM500 https://mepwatch.eu/9/vote.html?v=138878&country=ie&q=
