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EU Regulation 2022/2065

Digital Services Act.
Are you compliant?

The DSA creates a safer digital space. All intermediary services in the EU must meet transparency, safety, and accountability obligations — or face fines up to 6% of global turnover.

In force since February 17, 2024

Does the DSA apply to you?

The DSA applies to all intermediary services offering services in the EU. Obligations are tiered — the larger your reach, the stricter the rules.

Intermediary Services

Basic obligations

Hosting Providers

Hosting obligations

Online Marketplaces

Platform obligations

Social Networks

Platform obligations

Search Engines

Platform obligations

App Stores

Platform obligations

Cloud Platforms

Hosting obligations

Very Large Platforms (VLOPs)

Full obligations

The cost of non-compliance

VLOPs / VLOSEs

6%

of global annual turnover

for systemic non-compliance

Incorrect information

1%

of global annual turnover

for misleading or incomplete responses

Periodic penalties

5%

of average daily worldwide turnover

per day of continued non-compliance

The European Commission directly supervises VLOPs and VLOSEs under DSA Art. 56.

What the DSA requires — and what SiteGuardian monitors

The DSA defines obligations across transparency, safety, and accountability. SiteGuardian continuously monitors the technical requirements that can be verified automatically.

Art. 11-12

Point of Contact

Monitored

SiteGuardian detects whether your website has a legal notice (impressum) with the required contact information for authorities and users. The browser audit checks for accessible legal identity disclosure as required by the DSA.

Art. 14

Terms of Service

Monitored

SiteGuardian scans for the accessibility of your terms of service and privacy policy. It verifies that content moderation policies are publicly available and checks for clear, understandable language in legal documents.

Art. 15

Transparency Reporting

Intermediary services must publish annual transparency reports on content moderation activities. This is an organisational requirement covered through questionnaire-based compliance assessment.

Art. 16

Notice and Action Mechanisms

Monitored

SiteGuardian detects whether your website provides accessible contact mechanisms for reporting illegal content. The scan verifies the presence of notice submission channels and abuse reporting endpoints.

Art. 17

Statement of Reasons

Hosting providers must provide clear statements of reasons when restricting content. This is an organisational process requirement covered through questionnaire-based compliance assessment.

Art. 20

Complaint Handling

Monitored

SiteGuardian verifies provider identification and contact information accessibility, ensuring users can reach the provider for complaints. Internal complaint-handling system design is covered through questionnaire assessment.

Art. 25

Dark Pattern Prohibition

Online platforms must not design interfaces that deceive or manipulate users. Dark pattern assessment requires interface design review and is covered through questionnaire-based compliance evaluation.

Art. 26

Advertising Transparency

Online platforms must clearly label advertisements and disclose who paid for them. Ad labeling compliance requires content-level review and is covered through questionnaire-based assessment.

Art. 27

Recommender System Transparency

Online platforms using recommender systems must disclose the main parameters and provide a non-profiling option. Algorithmic transparency is covered through questionnaire-based compliance assessment.

Art. 28

Protection of Minors

Online platforms must not use profiling-based advertising targeting minors. Age-related profiling restrictions require organisational measures and are covered through questionnaire-based assessment.

Art. 11(3)

Service Security

Monitored

SiteGuardian enforces HTTPS encryption, validates security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, HSTS), checks TLS configuration, and monitors for vulnerabilities that could compromise service security and user data protection.

Check your DSA compliance today

Scan your website to see where you stand. SiteGuardian maps every finding to DSA articles — so you know exactly what to fix.

Free forever for 1 monitor. No credit card required.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Digital Services Act (DSA)?
The Digital Services Act (Regulation 2022/2065) is an EU regulation that establishes a comprehensive framework for the responsibilities of digital intermediary services. It creates tiered obligations for transparency, safety, and accountability — from basic requirements for all intermediary services to extensive obligations for very large online platforms with 45+ million monthly EU users.
Who must comply with the DSA?
The DSA applies to all intermediary services offering services to recipients in the EU, regardless of where the provider is established. This includes internet access providers, domain registrars, hosting providers, online platforms (marketplaces, social networks, app stores, travel platforms), and very large online platforms or search engines (VLOPs/VLOSEs). The more users you reach, the stricter your obligations.
What are the penalties for DSA non-compliance?
Very large online platforms and search engines face fines up to 6% of global annual turnover for systemic non-compliance. Providing incorrect or misleading information can result in fines up to 1% of annual turnover. Periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily worldwide turnover can be imposed for continued non-compliance. National Digital Services Coordinators enforce penalties for smaller providers.
How does SiteGuardian help with DSA compliance?
SiteGuardian monitors key DSA technical requirements automatically: legal notice and impressum detection (Art. 11-12), privacy policy and terms of service accessibility (Art. 14), contact mechanisms for illegal content reporting (Art. 16), provider identification and complaint channels (Art. 20), and HTTPS enforcement with security header validation (Art. 11(3)). Non-technical obligations like transparency reporting and dark pattern assessment are covered through questionnaire-based evaluations.
What is a Digital Services Coordinator?
Each EU member state must designate a Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) as the independent authority responsible for supervising intermediary services established in that member state. The DSC serves as the single point of contact for cross-border cooperation, handles user complaints, and coordinates with the European Board for Digital Services. For VLOPs and VLOSEs, the European Commission acts as the primary supervisor.