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The Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory
The “Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory” is a project run by the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam, which acts as a hub of expertise on the new EU Digital Services Act Regulation.
The DSA Observatory provides independent scholarly input and facilitates discussions regarding this important legislation, its implementation and enforcement. In particular, the DSA Observatory focuses on fundamental rights and democratic values as a means to confront platform power.
Launched in January 2021, the Observatory has followed the DSA political process closely. It engages with different stakeholders and brings together a broad network of platform regulation experts from academia, civil society, and government.
The project generates regular analysis on the DSA and relevant developments, including blog posts, policy reports, academic articles, and events including expert workshops, panels and conferences.
About The Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory
The DSA Observatory
The Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory is a new project run by the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam, which kicked-off in January 2021. The DSA Observatory acts as a hub of expertise with respect to the “Digital Services Act” package presented by the European Commission in December 2020.
Project team
The core project team for the DSA Observatory is composed of prof. Joris van Hoboken, Paddy Leerssen, John Albert, Magdalena Jóźwiak, dr. Ronan Fahy, prof. Natali Helberger, and dr. João Pedro Quintais
Funding and collaboration with the Digital Legal Lab
The DSA Observatory is part of the “Digital Transformations of Decision-Making” research initiative of the Amsterdam Law School and contributes to the activities of the Digital Legal Lab, an interuniversity research centre on law and digital technologies run by a research network between four Dutch universities: Tilburg University, the University of Amsterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen and Maastricht University. This joint research initiative, the Digital Legal Studies Sector Plan for legal research is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). The DSA Observatory has received funding from the Open Society Foundations and from the Civitates initiative (“Healthy Digital Public Sphere” programme) and the DSA Research Network (a collaboration with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and the Hans-Bredow-Institut), funded by Stiftung Mercator.
Where we focus on …
Europe / Brussels
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Justice
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Privacy
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Politics
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Research
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People
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Events
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admin2026-05-01 13:53:582026-05-01 15:18:08Learning Call: The DSA as a Tool for Tackling Gender-Based Violence
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admin2025-07-09 15:06:532026-01-18 20:58:27Call for Papers: The DSA and Platform Regulation Conference 2026Contact
The DSA Observatory team can be reached by email at:
dsaobservatory-ivir@uva.nl
Ineffective by design: Bits of Freedom vs Meta at the forefront of enforcing user control for recommender systems under the DSA
/in AnalysisBy Matteo Fabbri
This post unpacks the legal arguments and implications of Bits of Freedom vs. Meta Ireland, a case which constitutes an important early example of private enforcement of the DSA and may influence EU-wide interpretations for how VLOPSEs must implement user controls for recommender systems.
Platform Governance and Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Positioning the DSA in the EU’s Legal Framework
/in AnalysisThis post examines technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) as a systemic phenomenon shaped by platform design and cross-platform ecosystems, and maps the main EU legal instruments available to address it. It argues that while the Digital Services Act’s systemic risk framework is particularly well suited to tackling the structural drivers of TFGBV, its promise has yet to be realised in practice through implementation and enforcement.
State of Play of DSA Dispute Settlement: Meaningful Redress, Uneven Results
/in AnalysisAfter almost two years of certified out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) bodies operating under Article 21 of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the first transparency reports provide early evidence of how this new due process layer operates in practice. Drawing on 2025 data from multiple ODS bodies, this article assesses what value the system is already delivering, and where current constraints, including platform participation and information-sharing, limit its effectiveness. We discuss possible ways forward, including stronger incentives, technical infrastructure and feedback loops.