Commission designates second set of Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the Commission adopted a second set of designation decisions under the Digital Services Act, designating 3 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs). These are:

• Pornhub
• Stripchat
• XVideos

The designation is the result of Commission investigations concluding that the three services fulfil the threshold of 45 million average monthly users in the EU. 

Today’s designations follow a first set of designation decisions of 19 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines on 25 April 2023, of which the Commission published the non-confidential versions today.

General date of applicability of the DSA

With the exception of small and microenterprises, all online platforms and search engines will need to comply with the general DSA obligations by 17 February 2024. Among other provisions, they will need to:

• Provide user-friendly mechanisms to allow users or entities to notify illegal content;
• Prioritise the treatment of notices submitted by so-called “trusted flaggers”;
• Provide statements of reasons to users when their content is restricted or removed;
• Provide an internal complaint-handling system for users to appeal content moderation decisions;
• Promptly inform law enforcement authorities if they become aware of any information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of a person has taken place, is taking place or is likely to take place, including in the case of child sexual abuse;
• Redesign their systems to ensure a high level of privacy, security, and safety of minors;
• Ensure that their interfaces are not designed in a way that deceives or manipulates the users;
• Clearly label advertisement on their interfaces;
• Stop presenting targeted advertisement based on profiling of sensitive data (such as ethnic origin, political opinions or sexual orientation), or targeted at minors;
• Have clear terms and conditions and act in a diligent, objective and proportionate manner when applying them;
• Publish once a year transparency reports on their content moderation processes.

More stringent rules for designated VLOPs

In addition to the general provisions in the DSA, within four months of their designation as VLOPs, Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat will also have to adopt specific measures to empower and protect users online, including minors, and duly assess and mitigate any systemic risks stemming from their services. These additional, specific obligations include:

More diligent content moderation:

• VLOPs need to analyse their specific systemic risks with regard to the dissemination of illegal content and of content threatening fundamental rights. Risk assessments reports will have to be provided to the Commission 4 months after the notification of the formal designation and made public at the latest a year later;
• VLOPs must put in place mitigation measures to address risks linked to the dissemination of illegal content online, such as child sexual abuse material, and content affecting fundamental rights, such as the right to human dignity and private life in case of non-consensual sharing of intimate material online or deepfake pornography. These measures can include adapting their terms and conditions, interfaces, moderation processes, or algorithms, among others;
• VLOPs must reinforce their internal processes, resources, testing, documentation, and supervision of any of their activities linked to the detection of systemic risks.

Strong protection of minors:

• VLOPs must design their services, including their interfaces, recommender systems, and terms and conditions, to address and prevent risks to the well-being of children. Mitigating measures to protect the rights of the child, and prevent minors from accessing pornographic content online, including with age verification tools;
• Risk assessment reports will have in particular to detail any negative effect on the protection of the mental and physical health of minors.

More transparency and accountability:

• VLOPs need to ensure that their risk assessments and their compliance with all the DSA obligations are externally and independently audited;
• VLOPs need to publish repositories of all the ads served on their interface;
• VLOPs will have to give access to publicly available data to researchers, including to vetted researchers designated by Digital Services Coordinators;
• VLOPs need to comply with additional transparency requirements, including the publication of transparency reports on content moderation decisions and risk management every six months, in addition to reports on their systemic risks and audit results once a year;
• VLOPs need to appoint a compliance function and be subject to an external independent audit every year.

Next Steps

Following their designation as VLOPs, the Commission will be responsible for supervising Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos, in cooperation with the Digital Services Coordinators of the Member States of establishment.

The Commission services will carefully monitor the compliance with the DSA obligations by these platforms, especially concerning the measures to protect minors from harmful content and to address the dissemination of illegal content. The Commission services are ready to closely engage with the newly designated platforms to ensure these are properly addressed.

Background

On 25 April 2023, the Commission designated the first 19 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines. Starting from the end of August, these VLOPs and VLOSEs must comply with the additional obligations under the DSA. By 17 February 2024, all platforms, with the exception of small and microenterprises, will have to comply with the general obligations introduced by the DSA.

The supervision and enforcement of the DSA will be shared between the Commission and Digital Services Coordinators, which will be designated by Member States by 17 February 2024.

For More Information

EU Official Journal text on the DSA

Q&A on the Digital Services Act

Guidance on the counting of user numbers

Very large online platforms and search engines under the DSA

Quote(s)

I welcome the designations of Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat as Very Large Online Platforms. It will allow for higher scrutiny and accountability of their algorithms and processes. The DSA demonstrates once again that it is an essential tool to ensure that technology respects the fundamental rights of European citizens.Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age – 20/12/2023

The criteria to determine if a platform is very large in the sense of the Digital Services Act are very straight forward: any online platform with more than 45 million users in the EU has special obligations because of its scale. We have already designated 19 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines. We will continue to designate platforms that meet the thresholds and make sure that they comply with their obligations under the DSA. I have been very clear that creating a safer online environment for our children is an enforcement priority under the DSA.Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market – 20/12/2023