EU Digital Services Act · Reg (EU) 2022/2065
Which DSA obligations apply to your service?
The Digital Services Act stacks obligations by what your service does and how big it is. Pick your tier and size — get the cumulative obligation groups that apply, from the intermediary baseline up to the very-large-platform duties.
The rule, in one line
The DSA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) uses a graduated approach: every intermediary service has baseline transparency and cooperation duties; hosting services add notice-and-action; online platforms add complaint-handling, trusted flaggers, ad and recommender transparency and minors protection; online marketplaces add trader traceability (know-your-business-customer); and very large online platforms (≥45 million average monthly active EU users) add systemic-risk assessments and audits. Micro and small enterprises (fewer than 50 staff and ≤€10 million turnover) are exempt from the online-platform duties — unless they are a VLOP.
Official sources: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 · European Commission — DSA · EUR-Lex summary
DSA obligation groups
4
4 obligation groups apply to your service, cumulatively.
- Baseline transparency + cooperationAll intermediary services
Single point of contact for authorities and for users, a legal representative if established outside the EU, clear terms and conditions, and annual transparency reports on content moderation (micro/small enterprises are exempt from the Art 15 transparency-report obligation).
- Notice-and-action + statements of reasonsHosting services
Easy-to-use mechanisms to notify illegal content, act on notices, and give affected users a clear statement of reasons for any restriction — plus reporting suspicions of criminal offences.
- Platform-specific user-protection dutiesOnline platforms
Internal complaint-handling, out-of-court dispute settlement, trusted flaggers, measures against misuse and abusive notices, advertising transparency, recommender-system transparency, and protection of minors (no profiling-based ads to minors).
- Trader traceability (KYBC) + compliance by designOnline marketplaces
Trace the traders you let conclude distance contracts with consumers — collect and check their identification details (know-your-business-customer), design the interface so traders can comply, and inform consumers when they bought an illegal product.
Per-service memo
DSA obligations memo (PDF) · €29
A print-ready pack for your service: every DSA obligation group that applies, the tier, what each requires, the micro/small exemption, and source links — for your compliance file.
This is guidance, not legal advice. The export lists the obligation groups your inputs trigger; it does not classify borderline services or detail every article.
What this tool is — and isn't
This checker maps your service tier and size onto the Digital Services Act's obligation groups (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, EUR-Lex + the European Commission). It is an estimate and orientation, not legal advice, and it does not classify borderline services, confirm VLOP designation, or detail every article-level duty. Verify against the linked official sources.
How the determination works
1. Your tier
The DSA stacks duties by function: intermediary → hosting → online platform → marketplace. Each tier inherits the ones below it.
2. Your size
Micro and small enterprises (under 50 staff and ≤€10m turnover) are exempt from the online-platform and marketplace duties — but not from the intermediary and hosting baseline, and not at all if they are a VLOP.
3. The VLOP tier
Services with at least 45 million average monthly active EU users can be designated very large online platforms or search engines and carry the broadest, Commission-supervised obligations.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the DSA apply to my small platform?
- The baseline intermediary and hosting duties apply. But if you are a micro or small enterprise (under 50 staff and ≤€10m) and not a VLOP, you are exempt from the online-platform-specific duties.
- What are hosting duties?
- Easy-to-use notice-and-action mechanisms for illegal content, statements of reasons for restrictions, and reporting suspicions of serious criminal offences.
- What is trader traceability?
- Online marketplaces must collect and check the identification details of traders who conclude distance contracts with consumers (know-your-business-customer), and design their interface so traders can comply.
- What makes a service a VLOP?
- At least 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU (about 10% of the population), once designated by the Commission. VLOPs carry systemic-risk assessments, audits and more.
- Are obligations cumulative?
- Yes. A marketplace carries the marketplace, online-platform, hosting and intermediary duties together — subject to the micro/small exemption for the platform-specific ones.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. This tool maps your tier and size onto the DSA's obligation groups. It is orientation, not legal advice, and does not classify borderline services. Verify against the linked official sources.