About the conference
As the Digital Services Act (DSA) approaches its second anniversary of full applicability across the EU, the DSA Observatory at the University of Amsterdam will host its second international conference on ‘The DSA and Platform Regulation’.
This two-day event will take place at the Amsterdam Law School on 16-17 February 2026. It will reflect on the DSA and European platform regulation, including in its broader legal and political context, under the overall theme of platform governance and democracy.
The conference brings together speakers from academia, civil society, regulators, industry, and legal practice. It features 100 papers, which selected authors will present across five breakout sessions, as well as a poster session on the DSA’s risk-based approach. Other themes include DSA politics and enforcement, access to data for researchers, user redress and reporting mechanisms, content moderation, and the DSA’s intersections with AI and the regulation of digital markets.
The conference is organised by the DSA Observatory, a project run by the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam, as part of its work within 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.
You can revisit the program and video recordings of our 2024 conference here.
Preliminary Programme
Venue
The conference will be held in-person at the Amsterdam Law School (Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam) on 16-17 February 2026 (practical information on the campus location is here).
Participants and presenters will need to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.
Registration
Due to limited venue capacity, attendance will be by invitation only, with priority given to accepted paper authors, speakers, and invited experts. If you would like to attend the conference, please formally express your interest using this form.
We will review all expressions of interest and follow up closer to the event regarding possible participation.
Call for Papers
The conference Call for Papers is now closed. Authors were notified of acceptance decisions in November 2025.
Organizing Committee
John Albert, University of Amsterdam
Ronan Fahy, University of Amsterdam
Natali Helberger, University of Amsterdam
Joris van Hoboken, University of Amsterdam
Magdalena Jóźwiak, University of Amsterdam
Paddy Leerssen, University of Amsterdam
João Pedro Quintais, University of Amsterdam
Programme Committee
Naomi Appelman, Weizenbaum Institute
Chinmayi Arun, Yale Law School
Peter Chapman, Knight-Georgetown Institute
Alissa Cooper, Knight-Georgetown Institute
Deirdre Curtin, European University Institute
Anna van Duin, University of Amsterdam
Catalina Goanta, Utrecht University
Robert Gorwa, WZB Social Science Centre
Inge Graef, Tillburg University
Rachel Griffin, Sciences Po
Franz Hofmann, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Jeanette Hofmann, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Martin Husovec, London School of Economics
Daphne Keller, Stanford Law School
Matthias Kettemann, University of Innsbruck
Eva Lievens, Ghent University
Tobias Mast, Leibniz Institute for Media Research
Pietro Ortolani, Radboud University
Alexander Peukert, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Benjamin Raue, Trier University
Hannah Ruschemeier, FernUniversität in Hagen
Irene Roche Laguna, European Commission
Wolfgang Schulz, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Sebastian Schwemer, BI Norwegian Business School
Martin Senftleben, University of Amsterdam
Alexandre de Streel, University of Namur
Damian Tambini, London School of Economics
Rebekah Tromble, George Washington University
Suzanne Vergnolle, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers
Mathias Vermeulen, AWO
Claes de Vreese, University of Amsterdam
Folkert Wilman, European Commission
Lorna Woods, University of Essex
Nicolò Zingales, Fundação Getulio Vargas
Questions?
The DSA Observatory team can be reached by email at:
dsaobservatory-ivir@uva.nl