Big Tech braces for roll-out of EU's Digital Services Act

For now, the rules only apply to 19 of the largest online platforms, those with more than 45 million users in the EU

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is the second prong of European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager's strategy to rein in Alphabet unit Google, Meta, and other US tech giants. Photograph: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

More than a dozen of the world's biggest tech companies face unprecedented legal scrutiny, as the European Union's sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes new rules on content moderation, user privacy and transparency this month.

Across the EU, a host of internet giants – including Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms, Chinese-owned video app TikTok and a handful of Google services – are adapting to the new obligations, including preventing harmful content from spreading, banning or limiting certain user-targeting practices, and sharing some internal data with regulators and associated researchers.