What is the Digital Services Act (DSA, EU 2022/2065)?
EU regulation (in force 17 Feb 2024) requiring platforms to provide transparency, faster illegal-content takedown, dark-pattern bans, and consumer protection.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is fully applicable since 17 Feb 2024 to all online platforms serving EU citizens. Three tiers: (1) Intermediaries (hosting, ISP) — minimal obligations. (2) Online platforms (Marktplaats, Bol.com, Tweakers) — illegal-content reporting, transparency report, ad archive. (3) Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) (Meta, Google, X, TikTok, Amazon, Booking) — strictest: annual audit, risk analysis, crisis mechanism, independent researcher access. What affects you as a user? (a) Notice-and-action: every platform MUST have a reporting system for illegal content + act within reasonable time. (b) Dark-pattern ban (Art. 25) — no pre-checked boxes, no asymmetric design, no roach motel patterns. (c) Recommendation system transparency — you may see why a post is in your feed. (d) Ad transparency — for every ad: who paid, how targeted. (e) Right to complain to platform + independent dispute resolution. Fines: up to 6% global turnover. For Meta = ~$15-20 billion ceiling. NL oversight: ACM is Digital Services Coordinator NL. Complaint via acm.nl/dsa. Difference vs GDPR: DSA = platform regulation, GDPR = data protection. Often parallel — e.g. dark-pattern cookie banner = DSA + GDPR breach.
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