What are DSA audits doing for systemic risk enforcement? The case of X

December 19, 2025/in Analysis

By John Albert, DSA Observatory

Of the nineteen service providers initially designated as VLOPSEs under the DSA, X’s first compliance audit stands apart. Its auditor, FTI Consulting, broke from industry peers by offering relatively critical opinions — including findings that were unfavourable to the platform on obligations under active Commission investigation. How did X respond? Rather than work toward implementing the auditor’s recommendations, X simply reshuffled the deck: it went out and hired a new auditor (BDO). The move raises a deeper question about what the DSA audit regime is actually doing — and how seriously the Commission treats audits as part of systemic-risk enforcement, which, in principle, relies on auditors to provide an additional, independent layer of scrutiny. 

Applicable Law in Out-of-Court Dispute Settlement: Three Vertigos under Article 21 of the DSA

October 3, 2025/in Analysis

By Lorenzo Gradoni (University of Luxembourg) and Pietro Ortolani (Radboud University Nijmegen)

Article 21 of the DSA entrusts out-of-court dispute settlement bodies with reviewing platforms’ content moderation decisions. But which law should guide them? This post examines three options: terms of service, contract law, and human rights. Each option brings challenges, inducing its own kind of Hitchcockian vertigo. A human-rights-based approach may strike a better balance, reconciling the efficiency of ODS bodies, fairness for users, and the readiness of platforms to cooperate.

What does the DSA mean for online advertising and adtech?

August 1, 2025/in Analysis

By Pieter Wolters & Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius

What does the Digital Services Act (DSA) mean for online advertising and adtech (advertising technology)? This blogpost, based on a new research paper, explores that question. The most controversial insight is that ad networks and some other adtech companies must — based on an analysis of the DSA’s definitions — be considered ‘platforms’ in the sense of the DSA. Hence, they must comply with the DSA’s general rules for platforms.        

Shortcomings of the first DSA Audits — and how to do better

June 11, 2025/in Analysis

By Daniel Holznagel

At the end of 2024, the first audit reports under the Digital Services Act were published. Most were produced by Big Four accounting firms — and were, in many ways, not very ambitious. This post collects impressions from digesting most (not all) of these reports, focusing on five structural shortcomings that severely limit their usefulness: from illegitimate audit gaps to auditors’ apparent reluctance to interpret the law or meaningfully assess systemic risks (especially around recommender systems). The post also highlights a few useful disclosures — including platform-defined compliance benchmarks — and outlines where auditors, regulators, and civil society should push for improvements in future rounds.

DSA Audits: How do platforms compare on influencer marketing disclosures?

June 2, 2025/in Analysis

By Taylor Annabell, Utrecht University

Under the DSA, social media platforms must provide clear tools for influencers to disclose paid content. But how well do they meet this obligation, and how rigorously is compliance assessed? This post compares eight DSA audit reports on influencer marketing disclosures under Article 26(2) and finds striking inconsistencies in how audits were conducted, what was measured, and how “compliance” was defined. The findings raise broader concerns about audit transparency, platform-defined standards, and the need for clearer guidance on what adequate disclosure—and meaningful oversight—should look like.