Who does the DSA apply to?
The Digital Services Act (DSA) applies to a wide range of online businesses and services. The DSA uses the term Intermediary Service Provider or (ISP) to describe these services.
Examples of intermediary service providers include:
- online marketplaces
- social media and content sharing platforms
- app stores
- online travel and accommodation platforms
- internet service providers
- content delivery networks
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Who is a recipient of a service?
Any person who engages with an intermediary service is considered a recipient under the DSA. Users do not have to have an account or be registered with a service to be considered recipients.
How the DSA groups intermediary services
Intermediary services are divided into 4 categories. These categories relate to obligations for services under the DSA.
- Category 1 includes all Intermediary service providers.
- Categories 2, 3 and 4 are smaller groups within category 1.
Category 1 services
Mere Conduit services
Mere conduit services transmit information provided by a recipient of the service within a communication network and provide access to a communication network.
- Examples include internet service providers, direct messaging services, virtual private networks (VPN), domain name systems (DNS), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), top level domain name registries.
- Mere conduit services are category 1 services.
Caching services
Caching services also transmit information. They store information automatically and temporarily so that it can be made available to other recipients.
- Examples include caching services are content delivery networks, content adaptation proxies, reverse proxies.
- Caching services are category 1 services.
Category 2 services
Hosting services
Hosting services store information provided by recipients of the service at their request.
- Examples include cloud service providers, online marketplaces, social media, app stores, travel and accommodation platforms.
- Hosting services are both category 1 and category 2 services.
Category 3 services
Online platforms
Online platforms are a type of hosting service. They store and disseminate information to the public at the request of a recipient of the service.
- A service may not be considered an online platform if:
- The storing and sharing of information to the public is a secondary feature and cannot be used without the primary service.
- An exception to this is when the integration of the secondary service into the primary service is a means to avoid DSA obligations.
- Online platforms are category 1, 2 and 3 services.
Category 4 services
Very large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOPs and VLOSEs)
- VLOPs are online platforms (also hosting services) with 45 million or more monthly active recipients of their service in the EU.
- VLOSEs are search engines (also hosting services) that have 45 million or more average active recipients of their service in the EU.
- VLOPs and VLOSEs are category 1,2, 3 and 4 services.