Given the importance of very large online platforms, due to their reach, in particular as expressed in the number of recipients of the service, in facilitating public debate, economic transactions and the dissemination to the public of information, opinions and ideas and in influencing how recipients obtain and communicate information online, it is necessary to impose specific obligations on the providers of those platforms, in addition to the obligations applicable to all online platforms. Due to their critical role in locating and making information retrievable online, it is also necessary to impose those obligations, to the extent they are applicable, on the providers of very large online search engines. Those additional obligations on providers of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines are necessary to address those public policy concerns, there being no alternative and less restrictive measures that would effectively achieve the same result.
