Communications Authority launches survey on the services delivered by online platforms

By resolution no. 44/21/CONS adopted on 4 February 2021, the Italian Communications Authority has launched a survey (indagine conoscitiva) on the services provided by online platforms. The survey aims to serve a variety of purposes: to allow AGCOM to categorize the said services; to assess the main issues and their effects; to craft a map of the existing legal framework applicable to digital services and online platforms; to determine the most pressing issues that regulators are supposed to address; to select best practices based on a comparative overview of different legal systems; to influence the adoption of new methodologies and strategies by the Italian Communications Authority in the digital regulatory context.

The survey will consist of four sections, namely: a) categorization of the existing infrastructural services available on the market; b) definition of the issues generated by or associated with each type of service; c) drafting of the applicable legal framework at national, European and international level; d) categorization of and comparison between the regulatory and case law stances in each Member State and at international level.

For each activity and service, the survey will identify the main providers, the relevant problems, most notably related to the protection of individual rights and to the economic and competition law aspects, and the applicable legal sources at national and European level with respect to the aforesaid issues.

The Italian Communications Authority will be vested with the power to seek and obtain data and information, to hear the relevant parties and to cooperate with national and international research institutions.

The survey shall be completed within 180 days as of 9 February 2021.