Social Media Transparency
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Middle East

Saudi Arabia

0%DSA alignment

Regulation is content-control and licensing (influencer permits, platform notification, PDPL data rules) with no DSA-style transparency or accountability obligations.

In forcePersonal Data Protection Law (PDPL) (2021)· SDAIA
In forceGCAM/GAMR content & influencer licensing ('Mawthooq') (2022)· General Authority for Media Regulation

Scored against the DSA

Each obligation the DSA imposes on very large platforms, and whether Saudi Arabia’s law requires the same. Cells cover DSA-style, user-protective transparency and accountability only.

  • Required by law
  • Partial / emerging
  • No such obligation
  • Undetermined

Transparency

  • No such obligation

    Public ad libraryDSA Art. 39

    No ad-library mandate.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Transparency reportsDSA Art. 15 / 24 / 42

    No public content-moderation transparency-report mandate.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Researcher data accessDSA Art. 40

    No researcher-access right.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Reach disclosureDSA Art. 24(2)

    CST requires 100k+ platforms to notify the regulator, not to publish reach publicly.

    Source ↗

Accountability

  • No such obligation

    Systemic risk assessmentDSA Art. 34–35

    No systemic or child-safety risk-assessment duty.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Independent auditDSA Art. 37

    No independent compliance-audit mandate.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Algorithmic transparencyDSA Art. 27 / 38

    No recommender-transparency or non-profiling-feed mandate.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Regulator + penaltiesDSA Art. 49–52, 74

    SDAIA, CST and GCAM penalties target data-protection and licensing breaches, not DSA-style platform governance.

    Source ↗

Child protection

  • No such obligation

    No profiling ads to minorsDSA Art. 26(3) / 28

    PDPL Art. 25 requires consent for direct marketing generally; no minor-specific targeted-ad ban.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Age assuranceBeyond the DSA

    The Shura Council recommended under-16 age checks (2025), not enacted.

    Source ↗
  • No such obligation

    Child-safety duty of careDSA Art. 28

    PDPL requires guardian consent for children's data; no platform child-safety duty of care.

    Source ↗

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Saudi Arabia is one of 30 non-EU jurisdictions we scored against the DSA. See them all side by side.

The full comparisonThe DSA Enforcement Tracker