The European Board for Digital Services (EBDS) is an independent advisory group established by the Digital Services Act (DSA), composed of Digital Services Coordinators from the Member States of the European Union. The Board is chaired by the European Commission (EC), which typically convenes its meetings twice a month. The EC prepares the agendas and provides analytical and administrative support to the EBDS.
What is EBDS' role?
The EBDS’s main tasks include:
Contributing to the consistent application of the DSA;
Assisting in the supervision of very large online platforms and search engines;
Harmonizing the activities of the Digital Services Coordinators.
How does EBDS operate?
To coordinate procedures and deepen cooperation, eight working groups have been set up within the EBDS with the following thematic focus:
Working Group 1 – Horizontal and legal issues: DSA definitions and scope, general legal questions, cooperation with civil society.
Working Group 2 – Working together: Cross-border cooperation, the annual report and early detection of systemic risks, capacity building, complaints, incident and threat response.
Working Group 3 – Content moderation and data access: Trusted flaggers, out-of-court dispute settlement, data access.
Working Group 4 – Integrity of the information space: Electoral processes, foreign information manipulation and interference, misinformation and disinformation.
Working Group 5 – Consumers and online marketplaces: The link between the DSA and consumer protection law; cooperation with consumer protection authorities, customs authorities, market surveillance authorities, and other bodies.
Working Group 6 – Protection of minors: Age verification, adult content, media literacy.
Working Group 7 – Orders and criminal issues: Cooperation with law-enforcement authorities, illegal content.
Working Group 8 – IT issues: Operation and maintenance of the AGORA system (a secure information system used by the coordinators, the EC and the EBDS), and its future development.
Participation of the Council for Media Services
The Slovak Republic is represented in the EBDS by the Council for Media Services. Since 17 February 2024, when the DSA became fully applicable, the Council for Media Services has actively participated in all EBDS meetings as well as its working groups. It became a full member on 24 July 2024 (until that date, due to the absence of national legislation, it held observer status).
Thanks to its expertise and proactive approach, the Council for Media Services serves as the vice-chair of Working Group 4, which deals with the integrity of the information space. One of its outputs, to which the Council contributed, is the DSA Elections Toolkit, a handbook for coordinators aimed at protecting electoral processes.