Chapter III · Art. 11–48
The core of the Regulation. Obligations add up tier by tier, from all intermediaries through hosting and online platforms to very large platforms and search engines.
Section 1 · all providers of intermediary services (Art. 11–15)
Art. 13 Legal representatives A provider without an establishment in the Union that offers services in the Union designates a legal representative in one of the Member States. The representative may be held liable for non-compliance alongside the provider.
Art. 14 Terms and conditions Terms and conditions must clearly describe restrictions and content moderation, including algorithmic decision-making and human review, and the provider applies them diligently, objectively and proportionately with due regard to fundamental rights. Very large platforms and search engines add a concise summary and publish them in the languages of the Member States where they offer services.
Section 2 · hosting services, including online platforms (Art. 16–18)
Art. 16 Notice and action mechanisms Notice and action mechanisms for all hosting service providers. A notice from which the illegality can be identified without a detailed legal examination gives rise to actual knowledge for the purposes of Article 6.
Art. 17 Statement of reasons A statement of reasons for every restriction imposed on the affected recipient, from removal of content and restrictions of visibility or monetisation to suspension or termination of the service or account.
Art. 18 Notification of suspicions of criminal offences A hosting service provider that becomes aware of information giving rise to a suspicion of a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of persons promptly informs the law enforcement or judicial authorities of the Member State concerned.
Section 3 · online platforms (Art. 19–28)
Art. 20 Internal complaint-handling system An internal complaint-handling system against decisions of the online platform, available for at least six months after the decision, free of charge and electronically. Decisions may not be taken solely by automated means.
Art. 21 Out-of-court dispute settlement Out-of-court dispute settlement before a body certified by the Digital Services Coordinator. The body cannot impose a binding settlement, and the recipient keeps the right to go to court.
Art. 22 Trusted flaggers Trusted flaggers, whose status is awarded by the Digital Services Coordinator. The online platform processes their notices with priority and without undue delay.
Art. 23 Measures and protection against misuse Measures against misuse. Suspension of the service for recipients who frequently provide manifestly illegal content, and suspension of the processing of notices and complaints from those who frequently submit manifestly unfounded ones, always after a prior warning.
Art. 25 Online interface design and organisation Ban on dark patterns, that is, online interface designs that deceive or manipulate recipients or materially distort their ability to make free decisions. Practices covered by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive or the GDPR fall outside the ban.
Art. 26 Advertising on online platforms Advertising transparency. For every ad it must be clear that it is an ad, on whose behalf it is presented, who paid for it and what determines its display. Advertising based on profiling using special categories of personal data is prohibited.
Art. 28 Online protection of minors Online platforms accessible to minors take appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security of minors. They may not present advertising based on profiling to a recipient they are aware with reasonable certainty is a minor. The Commission guidelines on this Article were published in the Official Journal on 10 October 2025.
Section 4 · online marketplaces (Art. 29–32)
Art. 30 Traceability of traders Traceability of traders. An online marketplace obtains information about the trader before allowing it to use the service and makes best efforts to assess whether it is reliable.
Art. 31 Compliance by design Compliance by design. The interface of an online marketplace must enable traders to comply with their information obligations under Union law, in particular on products and towards consumers.
Art. 32 Right to information Where an online marketplace becomes aware that an illegal product or service has been offered through its service, it informs the consumers who purchased it in the preceding six months.
Section 5 · very large online platforms and search engines (Art. 33–43)
Art. 34 Risk assessment Assessment of systemic risks at least once a year and in any event before deploying functionalities likely to have a critical impact on the risks. Four categories of risk, from illegal content through fundamental rights and democratic processes to public health and minors.
Art. 35 Mitigation of risks Mitigation of the identified systemic risks through reasonable and effective measures, for example by adapting the interface, content moderation, algorithmic and advertising systems. The Commission may issue guidelines on specific risks.
Art. 36 Crisis response mechanism Crisis response mechanism. On a recommendation of the European Board for Digital Services, the Commission may by decision require very large platforms and search engines to take specific actions in a serious threat to public security or public health.
Art. 37 Independent audit Independent audit of compliance at least once a year, with an audit report and an audit opinion. The rules on performing audits are set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/436.
Art. 38 Recommender systems Very large platforms and search engines offer, for each recommender system, at least one option that is not based on profiling.
Art. 40 Data access and scrutiny Data access for the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment, the Commission and vetted researchers. The technical conditions are set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2050; other researchers also get access to publicly accessible data.
Art. 41 Compliance function A compliance function independent from operational functions, whose head reports directly to the management body of the provider.
Art. 42 Transparency reporting obligations Transparency reports of very large platforms and search engines at least every six months, and publication of the risk assessment report, the audit report and the audit implementation report.
Art. 43 Supervisory fee An annual supervisory fee that the Commission charges providers of very large platforms and search engines, capped at 0.05% of their worldwide annual net income. The General Court annulled the 2023 fee decisions concerning Meta and TikTok because the calculation methodology belonged in a delegated act. The judgments are not final.
Section 6 · standards, codes of conduct and crisis protocols (Art. 44–48)
Art. 44 Standards The Commission supports the development of voluntary standards, for example for submitting notices, interfaces for data access and audits.
Art. 45 Codes of conduct Codes of conduct supported by the Commission and the European Board for Digital Services, in particular on systemic risks. The Code of Conduct on Disinformation was integrated into the framework of the Regulation on 13 February 2025 and applies from 1 July 2025.
Art. 48 Crisis protocols Voluntary crisis protocols for extraordinary circumstances affecting public security or public health. The Commission may initiate their drawing up on a recommendation of the Board.