
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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Contact
The DSA Observatory team can be reached by email at:
dsaobservatory-ivir@uva.nl
Workshop Report: Researchers on Data Access and Preparing for DSA Article 40(4)
/in AnalysisBy John Albert and Paddy Leerssen, DSA Observatory
Drawing on a March 2025 workshop hosted by the DSA Observatory, this post shares practical and strategic insights from researchers preparing to make use of Article 40(4), from scoping proposals and navigating compliance to building collective support structures.
Making Recommender Systems Work for People: Turning the DSA’s Potential into Practice
/in AnalysisBy Alissa Cooper and Peter Chapman, Knight-Georgetown Institute
The Digital Services Act sets out broad new legal requirements to make recommender systems more transparent and accountable, including for their role in systemic risks. To fulfill that promise, implementation must go beyond basic disclosures and defaults; it must shape how these systems are designed and assessed over time. A new report from the Knight-Georgetown Institute and its accompanying EU Policy Brief offer a practical roadmap for putting these goals into action — and putting people first.
Expert insights: Fundamental rights in DSA dispute resolution procedures
/in AnalysisBy John Albert, DSA Observatory
Despite claims that it is “institutionalizing censorship,” the DSA is designed to protect fundamental rights, including freedom of expression. One key example is its provision allowing EU users to challenge platforms’ content moderation decisions through out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) proceedings—a topic explored in depth at a recent workshop hosted by the DSA Observatory and the Article 21 Academic Advisory Board.