Rita Wezenbeek
@rita-wezenbeek.bsky.social
Director Platforms, DG CNECT, European Commission - views are my own.
Proceedings opened against Snapchat to investigate potential breaches of the DSA by exposing minors to grooming attempts and recruitment for criminal purposes, as well as to the sale of illegal goods. Snap’s reliance on self-declaration of age may be insufficient:
Press corner
Highlights, press releases and speeches
ec.europa.eu
Today, Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos were preliminarily found in breach of the DSA for failing to protect minors from being exposed to pornographic content. The PFs preliminarily held that there was no objective risk assessment nor effective measures preventing access by minors:
Press corner
Highlights, press releases and speeches
ec.europa.eu
DSA - investigation opened with regard to Shein, assessing its systems limiting the sale of illegal products, risks linked to addictive design of its service and the transparency of its recommender systems:
Press corner
Highlights, press releases and speeches
ec.europa.eu
Online platforms should be safe for EU children and vulnerable adults: preliminary findings adopted holding that TikTok’s design violates the DSA by applying addictive features such as constant rewards and infinite scrolling, shifting the brain to ‘autopilot’ and leading to compulsive use:
Commission preliminarily finds TikTok's addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Facts count. Announcement today that Apple Ads and Apple Maps will not be designated under the DMA. Because of their relatively low usage rate in the EU, neither of them qualifies as an « important gateway between EU business users and end users »:
Commission finds that Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act
The Commission has found that Apple’s online advertising service Apple Ads and Apple’s online intermediation service Apple Maps should not be designated under the DMA.
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
With developments in AI taking place in ever faster speed, it is important that EU markets stay open and innovative. Today, two « fast track » (6 months) specification proceedings were opened to assist Google in complying with the DMA’s interoperability and data sharing obligations👇🏼
Press corner
Highlights, press releases and speeches
ec.europa.eu
Today, WhatsApp, already designated as CPS under the DMA, was also designated as Very Large Online Platform under the DSA. The rules will apply to its ‘Channels’ that allow dissemination to a broad audience. WhatsApp has four months to comply with its obligations as a VLOP:
Commission designates WhatsApp as Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has formally designated WhatsApp as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), as its ‘Channels’ feature reaches the designation threshold of at ...
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
New investigation launched with respect to X’ deployment of Grok, and on-going investigation into X’ recommender system extended now that X has started to integrate Grok: ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission investigates Grok and X\'s recommender systems under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has launched a new formal investigation against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
Very productive pre-Christmas meeting with the Digital Markets Act High-Level Group:
Fifth meeting of the Digital Markets Act High-Level Group
Digital regulators discuss future role of DMA High-Level group and endorse joint paper on possible cooperation on Artificial Intelligence
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
Good news for EU Facebook and Instagram users: as of January they will have the option to receive ads that are less based on their personal data:
Meta commits to give EU users choice on personalised ads under DMA
The European Commission acknowledges Meta's undertaking to offer users in the EU an alternative choice of Facebook and Instagram services that would show them less personalised ads, to comply with the...
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
Second set of commitments by TikTok, this time on advertising repositories allowing regulators, researchers and users in general to better identify scams:
Commission accepts TikTok\'s commitments on advertising transparency under the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission secured TikTok\'s commitment to provide advertising repositories that ensure full transparency around ads on its services, as required by the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
Final decision in first X investigation on deceptive design of “blue checkmark”, data access for researchers and transparency on advertising:
Commission fines X €120 million under the Digital Services Act
Today, the Commission has issued a fine of €120 million to X for breaching its transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA)
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Two more candidates for DMA designation to assess during the coming weeks:
Commission receives notifications from Apple under the Digital Markets Act
The Commission received notifications from Apple indicating that its core platform services, Apple Ads and Apple Maps, meet the Digital Markets Act (DMA) thresholds.
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
In the EU, all online platforms have to offer a tool allowing the reporting of illegal content. Good to know before Black Friday…
Fighting online scams with DSA
The notice and action mechanism under the DSA is a tool provided by platforms to report illegal content, including online shopping scams and financial frauds.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Today, further questions were asked to Shein following preliminary indications that illegal goods were offered on their market place in France.
Commission requests Shein to provide information on the sale of illegal products under the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission has sent a request for information to Shein under the Digital Services Act (DSA), following preliminary indications that illegal goods, particularly child-like sex dolls...
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Commission report evaluating the DSA’s interaction with (54!) other EU laws, ia. on data protection and privacy, audiovisual, media, IP, consumer policy and product safety, and demoracy. Great tool for assessing sector-specific legislation in online world:
Commission evaluates the Digital Services Act’s interaction with other EU laws and its designation threshold for VLOPs and VLOSEs
The Commission published a report assessing the Digital Services Act's (DSA) interaction with other EU laws and its designation process for very large online platforms and search engines.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Another very productive meeting of the European Board for Digital Services with report on prominent risks, 2026 annual work plan, Art 91 DSA report and actions on financial scams:
Press statement of the European Board for Digital Services following its 16th meeting
On 18 November 2025, the European Board for Digital Services (the Board) convened in Brussels for its 16th regular meeting.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
ICYMI: Yesterday, market investigations were launched on potential designation of Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services under the DMA. A third investigation will assess whether the DMA is equipped to address fairness and contestability issues in cloud:
Commission launches market investigations on cloud computing services under the Digital Markets Act
The European Commission opened three market investigations on cloud computing services under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
ec.europa.eu
Investigation launched to assess whether Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy infringes the DMA’s obligations to apply transparent, fair and non-discriminatory conditions to Google Search's ranking👇
Commission opens investigation into potential Digital Markets Act breach by Google in demoting media publishers\' content in search results
Today, the European Commission has formally launched proceedings to assess whether Google applies fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions of access to publishers\' websites on Google Search...
ec.europa.eu
Milestone for independent research into systemic risks stemming from the design and algorithmic systems of very large online platforms’s services for the EUs society:
New measures unlock access to data from largest online platforms to support research
As of today, new rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA) will allow researchers to gain unprecedented access to very large online platforms' data to study the societal impact stemming from the plat...
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Under the DSA’s balanced architecture, complaint handling systems, Notice and Action mechanisms and researchers’ access to data are key to ensure that users can challenge platforms’ content moderation decisions and report illegal content in the EU:
Commission preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of their transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission preliminarily found both TikTok and Meta in breach of their obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
Protection of minors: time to see whether and how online platforms are complying with the measures listed in the DSA Guidelines:
Commission takes further action to promote a safe environment for minors
Ensuring a safe online space, where minors can learn, play, and socialise safely, is a priority for the European Union.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Calling for your views on how the DMA can (furter) facilitate contestability of digital markets and AI sector:
Commission gathers views on how the DMA can support fair and contestable digital markets and AI sector
The European Commission is seeking feedback on how the Digital Markets Act (DMA) can support fair and contestable digital markets, including the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector.
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
A meaningful, specific and well founded risk assessment is key to very large online marketplaces’ compliance with the DSA. Today, the Commission adopted preliminary findings expressing the view that Temu’s risk assessment does not seem to meet that standard:
Commission preliminarily finds Temu in breach of the Digital Services Act in relation to illegal products on its platform
Today, the Commission preliminarily found Temu in breach of the obligation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to properly assess the risks of illegal products being disseminated on its marketplace.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Great milestone: setting up co-operation with Japanese JFTC on enforcement of digital markets regulation ensuring market contestability and consumer choice:
Commission's services sign arrangement with Japan Fair Trade Commission with common goal of promoting contestability, competition and fairness in digital markets
The Commission services responsible for the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) have signed a first-of-its-kind cooperation arrangement with the Japan Fair Trade Commission, responsible fo...
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
Great announcements on online protection of minors in the EU: Guidelines on how online platforms should keep children safe and secure on their services, and a blueprint for the roll out of an EU age verification app: audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-2...
EC AV PORTAL
audiovisual.ec.europa.eu
Between 20 June and 3 July the second series of DMA workshops was held with informative presentations by Gatekeepers and spot-on questions by third parties. ICYMI, recordings available here:
DMA workshops
DMA stakeholders workshops
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
ICYMI: Consultation on the first review of the Digital Markets Act - European Commission- Time flies, we are looking for your views!
Consultation on the first review of the Digital Markets Act
The Commission is consulting on the first review of the DMA that is due by 3 May 2026. The Commission will conduct subsequent reviews every three years and report on the results to the European Parlia...
digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu
The eagerly awaited new rules on access to data by qualified researchers have been adopted! As of October qualified researchers can submit their applications to DSCs via the dedicated Data Access Portal:
Delegated act on data access under the Digital Services Act (DSA)
The Commission has adopted a delegated act outlining rules granting access to data for qualified researchers under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu