Recommender Systems in the EU: from Responsibility to Regulation?

Abstract

Over recent years, the EU has increasingly looked at the regulation of various forms of automation and the use of algorithms. For recommender systems specifically, two recent legislative proposals by the European Commission, the Digital Services Act (DSA) from December 2020 and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) from April 2021, should be of high interest. This paper analyses these two recent legislative proposals with a view to identify the regulatory trajectory in the EU as well as pinpoint potential shortcomings of the suggested routes. Whereas the instruments significantly differ in scope, it argues that both the DSA and the AIA may –directly and indirectly– regulate various aspects of recommender systems and thereby influence the debate on responsible recommender systems.