The European law Brussels uses to fine platforms, and under which it has now named ChatGPT a very large search engine. The bigger the service, the more it answers for what happens through it.
The small café on the corner and the chain with a thousand locations follow the same health rules. But the chain gets asked for more: its own oversight, regular reports, and an answer for what happens if something goes wrong across the whole city at once. The DSA is the same logic, carried over to the internet.
The 45 million threshold
A platform that reaches 45 million average monthly users in the EU becomes a very large online platform, a VLOP. A search engine over the same line becomes a very large online search engine, a VLOSE. From then on it has to assess and reduce the systemic risks of its service and its algorithms itself: illegal content, harm to minors, people's physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, elections, public security.
On August 31, 2026 the Commission designated ChatGPT a very large online search engine, and Reddit and Roblox very large platforms. The services declared themselves that they pass the threshold. They have four months from notification, so until January 2027, to meet the obligations.
What you get
The right to know why your content was taken down, and to appeal. A ban on dark design tricks that push you to click. A ban on ads targeted at children by profile. On the big platforms, an option for a feed that isn't ranked by your profile. On paper it looks small, but on a teenager's phone it makes a real difference.