EU Digital Services Act: Final Call to Respond to the Consultation on Access to Data From Very Large Online Platforms or Search Engines by Researchers

The European Commission’s (EC) public consultation on the draft delegated act in relation to access by researches to data from providers of very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA) is closing on 10 December 2024. The delegated act is intended to provide details on how the access to data would work in practice, including the technical conditions and procedural requirements for such access and adequate safeguards against misuse. Stakeholders who have not yet provided feedback should consider doing so this week.

Under the DSA (see our alert here), the European Commission has so far designated 23 VLOPs and two VLOSEs, which are subject to a raft of strict obligations aimed to achieve the DSA’s goal of preventing illegal and harmful activities online and the spread of disinformation, and providing a fair and open online platform environment. As regards all other online intermediaries, the DSA also imposes obligations, on one view not as stringent, which came into force on 17 February 2024.

One of the obligations that VLOPs and VLOSEs must comply with is granting “vetted researchers”, upon request and without undue delay, access to their data, in order for such researchers to conduct research that contributes “to the detection, identification and understanding of systemic risks in the [European Union]” and “to the assessment of the adequacy, efficiency and impacts of the risk mitigation measures” which VLOPs and VLOSEs have to put into place following the systemic risks assessment they have to conduct (Article 40, DSA). The DSA includes provisions regulating how a researcher can become a “vetted researcher”, including satisfying conditions with regard to independence and transparency of funding sources.

The consultation provides an opportunity for stakeholders to voice their opinions about how the access to data should operate in practice. The draft delegated act, by way of Commission Delegated Regulation (CD Reg), sets out the conditions under which the sharing of data could take place and the purpose for which the data may be used.

Some of the proposed provisions on which stakeholders may consider commenting include:

• Recital 12 of the draft CD Reg, which sets out examples of data which may be requested by researchers to study systemic risks. The list is extensive and includes: data related to users (such as profile information, relationship networks, individual-level content exposure and engagement histories); interaction data (such as comments or other engagements); data related to content recommendations (including data used to personalise recommendations); data related to ad targeting and profiling (including cost per click data and other measures of advertising prices); data related to the testing of new features prior to their deployment (including the results of A/B tests); data related to content moderation and governance (such as data on algorithmic or other content moderation systems and processes, archives or repositories documenting moderated content, including accounts) and data related to prices, quantities and characteristics of goods or services provided. Stakeholders may wish to comment on whether the breadth of the information that could be requested is justifiable.
• Article 8 of the draft CD Reg, which sets out the criteria that must be met for formulating requests for data. Stakeholders may wish to comment on whether these provide sufficient protections and are workable in practice, including as to timing.
• Article 3 of the draft CD Reg, which envisages a centralised “Data Access Portal”, which would effectively serve as a “one stop shop” for researchers to file and track their data access requests. Stakeholders may wish to comment on the mechanics of the portal, including any data protection, privacy and cybersecurity issues.
• Article 13 of the draft CD Reg, which sets out a dispute settlement procedure. Stakeholders may wish to consider how that works in practice and whether sensible amendments may be proposed.

Responses to the consultation can be submitted by following the link to the EC’s form on this page. Please contact the Akin team with any queries or requests for assistance.