What is the EU Digital Services Act (DSA)?
Questions & Answer
The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) is a European Union regulation that came into force in 2024.
It sets out clear rules for how online platforms, marketplaces, and intermediaries handle illegal content, protect users, and remain transparent in their operations. The goal is to create a safer online environment while supporting innovation and free speech.
The DSA applies across all EU member states, replacing the fragmented national laws that previously existed. It requires services to provide mechanisms for reporting harmful or illegal content, explain moderation decisions to users, publish annual transparency reports, and adopt safeguards for minors. Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) — services with over 45 million EU users — must carry out extra obligations such as systemic risk assessments and independent audits.
In practice, the DSA is considered the EU’s most ambitious online safety framework, comparable in impact to GDPR in data protection. It affects social media, marketplaces, app stores, hosting providers, and search engines with EU users.
Why Most Platforms Get the AI-Human Moderation Balance Wrong
And what it actually takes to get it right - across confidence thresholds, policy design, human work...
12 mins
Webinar: Designing Moderation Systems That Actually Work
Balancing AI and human oversight at scale Join us on 21st May at 4pm BST when we’ll break down wha...
Checkstep Raises £3 Million to Scale AI-Powered Trust & Safety Infrastructure Globally
London, UK — April 29, 2026Checkstep, the AI content moderation platform transforming Trust and Safe...
4 mins