The European Center for the Transparency of Algorithms (ECAT) has been officially opened by the EU Commission’s Joint Research Center in Seville, Spain. The aim of the facility is to examine the program routines of large online platforms and search engines, such as Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Around 30 employees will be involved in assessing the codes of these algorithms which determine the content that users see.
The ECAT facility will play an important role in enforcing the new EU digital content regulation, the Digital Services Act (DSA). This act contains requirements for the risk management of groups, which will be classified as very large online platforms based on their user numbers and internal reviews. For example, services with over 45 million users must assess and minimize risks to democracy, public security, fundamental rights, and the protection of minors.
The Commission will assess the corresponding risk reduction plans and monitor their implementation. The interdisciplinary team at ECAT will analyze and evaluate the program routines to ensure that the algorithmic systems deployed by the most heavily regulated platforms meet risk management and transparency requirements. The researchers at ECAT should also examine the long-term social effects of algorithms in general.
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said, “We are building a strong capacity within the Commission to oversee the largest and most innovative technology companies.” With the DSA, the legislator has provided the legal instruments “to open the ‘black box’ of the platform algorithms”. Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager stated that the ECAT work is important in order to see how Big Tech’s algorithms work “and contribute to the spread of illegal and harmful content”.
The ECAT is an essential tool in the Commission’s efforts to regulate large online platforms and ensure the online safety of European citizens. The facility will contribute to the transparency and accountability of these platforms, which will ultimately benefit society.
