The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a European Union law designed to make the online environment safer, fairer, and more transparent. It became fully active for all covered platforms in February 2024.
The DSA introduces rules for online services used by European citizens in their everyday life. These services include marketplaces, social media networks, app stores, and online travel and accommodation platforms.
EU citizens’ rights under the DSA
The main goal of the DSA is to create a digital space that respects citizens and consumers’ fundamental rights. By establishing a clear set of rules across the EU, the DSA also enables smaller platforms, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to scale up in Europe, fostering innovation, growth and competitiveness.
The DSA is complemented by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which includes rules for ‘gatekeeper’ online platforms. Gatekeepers function as bottlenecks between businesses and consumers for digital services, affecting competition and the functioning of the EU internal market.
What does the DSA do for citizens?
The DSA empowers citizens by strengthening the protection of their fundamental rights online and giving them greater control and more choices when they navigate online platforms and search engines.
The DSA also requires platforms to minimise the risks of exposing citizens, including children and young people, to illegal and harmful content. With the DSA, your digital rights include:
- Transparency in content removals – If your content is removed or suspended, platforms must explain why this has been done.
- Options to appeal to content moderation decisions – If you disagree with a content moderation decision taken by a platform, you can appeal it through the platform itself or an out-of-court dispute settlement body.
- Easy flagging of illegal content – You can report illegal content, goods or services via an easy-to-use mechanism directly on the platform you are using. Platforms are obliged to respond to your reports and offer options to appeal their decisions.
- Enhanced protection for minors – Platforms must take measures to safeguard minors on their services, such as reducing the risks of exposure to age-inappropriate content like gambling or pornography. The DSA also introduces a complete ban on showing targeted advertisements to children.
- Feed options – On large platforms with over 45 million monthly users in the EU, you can now opt for non-personalised feeds. This way, you decide whether to see content based on the algorithm’s suggestions, sometimes pushing specific content which may be more appealing or even addictive, or other criteria, such as the chronological order.
- Ad transparency – Ads must be clearly labelled as such and include information like who is placing them and why you are seeing them, while very large online platforms are required to store ad information in a publicly accessible repository. Platforms can no longer show you ads based on your sensitive data, such as sexual orientation, religion, or race.
- Ban on dark patterns – Deceptive design tactics, such as aggressive pop-ups or confusing and misleading consent buttons, are now prohibited.
- Verified sellers – Marketplaces must verify and display the contact details of sellers, so you have clear information about whom you’re buying goods or services from.
What does the DSA do for businesses?
The DSA provides several benefits for your company:
- One single set of rules across the EU – All online services operating in the European Union are required to comply with the DSA. The DSA replaces 27 different regulations with one unified framework, giving you legal certainty and the ability to scale up across the EU.
- A proportionate approach – The DSA’s obligations are tailored to each online services’ role, size and impact in the online ecosystem. Micro and small companies have lighter requirements based on their size, to keep them accountable while helping them scale up, while bigger platforms have more responsibilities and therefore, obligations.
- Simplified reporting of illegal content – You can use a user-friendly mechanism to flag illegal content and goods that infringe your rights, including intellectual property rights. Your company may also become ‘trusted flaggers’, whose notices of illegal content or goods gain priority in platforms’ assessment.
- Better protection against unfair content moderation decisions – New appealing mechanisms through the platform or through out-of-court dispute settlement bodies allow you to protect your online presence in case you disagree with a content moderation decision by a platform.
- More transparency on marketplaces – New obligations for marketplaces, such as the requirement to list a seller’s contact information, enhance transparency and trustworthiness in ecommerce. For the same reason, the DSA requires marketplaces to make reasonable efforts to perform random checks on products sold on their service or adopt new technologies for product traceability.
Which providers are covered?
The DSA applies to all companies proportionally to their size. The DSA recognises that the biggest online platforms – those with over 45 million monthly users in the EU – play a significant role in our societies and democracies. They must therefore follow specific rules to ensure they do not pose unintentional risks to us, such as amplifying illegal content and shaping opinion at scale, and to minimise the possibility of malicious actors using them to inflict harm on Europe.
In particular, these large platforms must identify and analyse wide-spread risks. These risks include:
- The spreading of illegal content, as defined in national or EU laws
- Threats to fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression
- Threats to media freedom and pluralism, public security and electoral processes
- Gender-based violence, public health, protection of minors and physical and mental wellbeing
Once these risks are identified, these larger platforms must put measures in place to reduce them. Similarly, these platforms must meet other requirements to enhance transparency and accountability. A full list of these platforms is published on the Commission’s website.
Which authorities ensure companies follow the Digital Services Act?
The Commission enforces the DSA together with Digital Services Coordinators – national authorities who supervise the compliance of the platforms established in their territory. The Commission is primarily responsible for the monitoring and enforcement of the additional obligations applying to the biggest platforms and search engines, such as the measures to mitigate systemic risks. Digital Services Coordinators supervise and enforce compliance with the DSA in their Member States.
