The largest providers of social media, like Meta, TikTok, or X, do not have their headquarters in the European Union, but if they want to offer their services over here, they have to play by the EU’s rules. Most notably, the Digital Services Act (DSA), a regulation which became fully applicable two years ago, entails a catalogue of rules for companies that move, store, or display content online, connecting you with what or who you want to see on the Internet. This conduct lended them their label “intermediary services”. In a nutshell, those intermediary services, depending on their type and size, mainly have to provide a lot of information in transparency reports, assess and (at least attempt to) mitigate certain risks related to their services, and let researchers access their data to better understand the dynamics of their services. And if they fail to comply, fines can reach up to a hefty 6% of their global annual turnover. Admittedly, it took a while until the DSA came along. To reduce future reaction time and make adjustments after learning from the newly prescribed insights, it also includes a comprehensive review-and-reform mechanism, which is due next year. Looking back and forward, practical lessons have been just as plentiful as political challenges. This blogpost dives into some of the most relevant concepts of the DSA to familiarise you with the cards that have been played with varying success; and what that might teach us for the upcoming review process. Part 1 provides a reflective overview of concepts, while part 2 (Pothmann, 2026) focuses on more concrete developments and some (geo)political context affecting this ongoing development.
