The EU rulebook for online platforms
The DSA is the European Union’s landmark law for a safer, more accountable internet. It sets what online platforms must do about illegal content, advertising, recommender systems and systemic risk, and gives regulators the power to enforce it, backed by fines of up to 6% of global turnover.
The DSA is enforced on two levels. Understanding the split is the key to reading any DSA story.
The European Commission directly supervises the Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines, those reaching 45 million+ EU users a month. It opens proceedings, demands data, and can fine up to 6% of worldwide turnover.
The enforcement trackerEach of the 27 countries designates a national Digital Services Coordinator for every other service, and certifies the trusted flaggers and out-of-court dispute bodies that give users real recourse.
The national coordinatorsThe obligations that matter most for transparency. Each links to the exact article.
How the DSA became law, and started to bite.
The European Commission publishes the Digital Services Act as part of the Digital Services package, alongside the Digital Markets Act — the first overhaul of the EU’s rules for online intermediaries since the 2000 e-Commerce Directive.
SourceThe European Parliament and the Council reach a provisional political agreement on the text of the Regulation.
The DSA is signed into law and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 October 2022.
SourceThe Regulation enters into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal.
The Commission designates the first 17 Very Large Online Platforms and 2 Very Large Online Search Engines — services reaching 45 million+ monthly users in the EU — subjecting them to the DSA’s strictest obligations.
SourceFour months after designation, the designated platforms and search engines must comply with the full set of VLOP/VLOSE duties: systemic-risk assessments, independent audits, an ad repository and researcher data access.
The Commission opens its first formal DSA proceedings — against X (formerly Twitter) — over risk management, content moderation, dark patterns and ad transparency.
SourceThe DSA becomes applicable to all intermediary services in scope, not just the largest. This is also the deadline for every Member State to designate and empower its national Digital Services Coordinator.
Since then the Commission has opened 12 formal proceedings and issued 2 fines totalling €320M. Follow every case