The Digital Services Act Is a Lightning Rod for Debate

Why It Matters

The DSA’s enforcement trajectory signals tighter EU scrutiny of platform harms, compelling tech firms to overhaul risk‑management practices and prompting stakeholders to navigate an increasingly complex legal environment.

Key Takeaways

• DSA enforcement yields dozens of EU investigations and audits.
• Systemic risk definitions remain vague despite emerging platform reports.
• Private and national enforcement increasingly complement EU Commission actions.
• Researchers face legal threats and data access barriers under DSA.
• Platform compliance appears superficial, with inconsistent risk mitigation strategies.

Summary

The video recaps the second DSA Observatory conference in Amsterdam, marking two years since the EU Digital Services Act entered full force. Organizers and researchers assess how the law has been applied, highlighting a surge in Commission investigations, risk‑assessment cycles, and the first substantive rulings on systemic risks. Key insights include over a dozen formal investigations—most notably against TikTok for addictive infinite‑scroll designs, Meta for similar features, and X for alleged dignity violations. While the Commission shows a willingness to enforce, the definition of "systemic risk" remains nebulous, and audit reports reveal platforms often claim compliance without coherent mitigation strategies. Notable examples cited were the TikTok decision linking infinite scroll to youth addiction, the use of the right‑to‑dignity principle in the X case, and private litigations such as Democracy Reporting International’s data‑scraping suit against X and Dutch shadow‑ban challenges. These cases illustrate both public and private enforcement avenues emerging alongside national regulator actions. The implications are clear: regulators must refine risk definitions and enforcement metrics, while platforms face mounting legal and reputational pressures. Researchers and civil‑society groups encounter legal hurdles, underscoring the need for robust data‑access frameworks. The evolving enforcement landscape will shape European digital markets and set precedents for global platform governance.

Original Description

This week marks the second DSA and Platform Regulation conference (https://dsa-observatory.eu/conference-2026/) in Amsterdam, where experts will convene to consider the Digital Services Act (DSA) two years after it entered full effect across the European Union. Over that period, the law has been tested by national elections, geopolitical tensions, high-profile enforcement actions, and the rapid rise of generative AI. It has become both a benchmark for platform accountability and a political lightning rod.

Ahead of the conference, Tech Policy Press senior editor Ramsha Jahangir spoke with members of the DSA Observatory, which is organizing the conference, to take stock. What have these first years of enforcement clarified? Where does opacity remain? And what does it mean to conduct DSA research in today’s political climate? Guests include:

1. John Albert, associate researcher, DSA Observatory.

2. Paddy Leerssen, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam and part of the DSA Observatory.

3. Magdelena Jozwiak, associate researcher at the DSA Observatory.