The Digital Services Act regulates the obligations of companies providing digital services. This includes social media and marketplaces amongst others. The basic principle of the DSA is that what is illegal offline should also be illegal online. 

The platforms the DSA applies to will have to fight against the dissemination of illegal content, online disinformation, and other societal risks.

The Digital Markets Act regulates the obligations of major online platforms. It aims at providing a fairer business environment and making services more accessible to customers. 

The DSA prohibits companies from

·      ranking their own services or products more favorably than those of third parties on their platforms

·      limiting users’ opportunity to easily remove any preinstalled software and use third-party applications and app stores

·      processing users’ personal data for targeted advertising unless consent is explicitly granted. 

The DSA will be directly applicable across the EU and will apply fifteen months or from 1 January 2024 (whichever comes later) after the entry into force. 

The DMA will start to apply six months following its entry into force.