Digital Services Act
An EU regulation imposing transparency, content moderation, and advertising rules on online platforms and search engines.
What Digital Services Act means
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a comprehensive EU regulation that establishes rules for online platforms regarding content moderation, advertising transparency, algorithmic accountability, and user protection. For advertising specifically, the DSA prohibits targeting based on profiling using sensitive personal data (religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs), requires real-time ad transparency (who paid for the ad, targeting parameters used), mandates clear labeling of all ads, restricts targeting minors based on profiling, and requires platforms to maintain searchable ad repositories. Very large online platforms (VLOPs) face additional obligations including systemic risk assessments and independent audits. The DSA represents the most comprehensive advertising regulation globally and serves as a model for other jurisdictions.
Related terms
Digital Markets Act
An EU regulation targeting large platform 'gatekeepers' with rules on fair competition, data portability, and advertising transparency.
GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation — the EU's comprehensive data protection law governing how personal data is collected, processed, and stored.
Transparency Report
Regular reports published by platforms detailing content moderation actions, government requests, and advertising enforcement statistics.
Content Moderation
The process by which platforms review and enforce rules on user-generated and advertising content.