As the Digital Services Act (DSA) approaches its second anniversary of full applicability across the EU, the DSA Observatory at the University of Amsterdam will host its

2nd international conference on ‘The DSA and Platform Regulation’

The conference will reflect on the DSA and European platform regulation, including in its broader legal and political context, under the overall theme of platform governance and democracy.

Over the past two years, the DSA has moved from legal ambition to regulatory practice. The European Commission has launched formal proceedings against several Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines (VLOP/SEs), national regulators have begun asserting their roles, and platforms have published new transparency disclosures, including systemic risk assessments and audit reports. Delegated acts have helped clarify key procedures and Codes of Conduct have been integrated into the framework, while early efforts to operationalize researcher access and user redress mechanisms have begun to develop, if unevenly. And developments in related legal areas, like Artificial Intelligence, political advertising, online media, and the regulation of digital markets, continue to shape platform regulation more generally.

As the regulation moves into this new phase, a broader accountability ecosystem has emerged, with a variety of actors—including auditors, researchers, civil society organizations, fact-checkers, out-of-court dispute settlement bodies, and litigants—engaging with the DSA’s tools and testing their limits. At the same time, geopolitical developments have put significant pressure on the interpretation and enforcement of the DSA, giving increased significance to questions about the DSA and the political will to enforce European rules that aim to protect democratic values and fundamental rights.

With the DSA, the EU aimed to set a new global standard for platform regulation. Two years in, this conference brings together scholars, regulators, legal practitioners, industry representatives, and civil society experts to critically assess how the framework is working in practice and reflect on its capacity to deliver on its democratic promise.