Digital Services Act
The EU law that sets duties for online platforms, from content moderation to risk assessments, with the strictest tier reserved for the very largest services.
The Digital Services Act is the European Union’s rulebook for online platforms, in force since 2024. It does not tell a company what may be said on its service. It tells the company to have working systems: a way to report illegal content, a way to appeal a removal, an explanation of how recommendations work, and transparency about advertising. Small services get light obligations, larger ones get more.
The part that makes headlines is the top tier. Any platform or search engine with at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU is designated and supervised directly by the European Commission rather than by a national regulator. Those services have to assess the systemic risks their own algorithms create, hire independent auditors, and open data to vetted researchers. Fines run to 6% of global annual revenue. It is easy to confuse with the Digital Markets Act, which is a different law about competition rather than safety.