Digital platforms and online search engines falling under the authority of the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13068/6) had until Friday 17 February to publish, for the first time, their number of users within the European Union. From this point onwards, they will have to carry out this task every six months.
This procedure, included within the framework of the DSA, is intended to determine whether digital platforms and online search engines reach more than 10% of the European population – or 45 million users – and therefore could qualify as ‘very large online platforms’.
While some digital platforms and online search engines have provided precise figures (YouTube 401.7 million, Google Search 332 million, Twitter 100.9 million, AirBnb 30.6 million, Spotify ‘less than 45 million’, PornHub 33 million), this is not the case for everyone. “It is with some concern that we have noted that some platforms have only published estimates. Rules are rules; a number is a number. We are calling on these platforms to publish their user numbers as soon as possible”, commented a European Commission spokesperson, without providing any further details on the entities in question.
Non-binding guidance was issued on 1 February by the EU institution to help industry players comply with the DSA (see EUROPE 13112/9).
In addition, on Thursday 16 February, the European Commission also launched a month-long consultation to guide it in developing a number of final implementing rules on inspections and enforcement actions that it will carry out, regarding the right of access to files and on some other general provisions.
See the consultation: https://aeur.eu/f/5ec (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)