Layer one: Providers of intermediary services

Intermediary services are defined in the DSA as the provision of any of the three following services:

a ‘mere conduit’ service that consists of the transmission of information provided by a recipient of the service in a communication network, or the provision of access to a communication network; such as internet service providers, direct messaging services, virtual private networks, domain name systems, voice over IP, top level domain name registries;
a ‘caching’ service that consists of the transmission of information provided by a recipient of the service in a communication network, involving the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of that information, for the sole purpose of making the information’s onward transmission to other recipients more efficient upon their request; such as content delivery networks, content adaptation proxies or reverse proxies;
a ‘hosting’ service that consists of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, a recipient of the service; such as cloud service providers, online marketplaces, social media, app stores.

Obligations

Under the DSA the providers of intermediary services must:

Establish two single points of contact, one to facilitate direct communication with the supervisory authorities and one for the recipients of the services, while providers not established in the EU but offering services in the EU will be required to designate a legal representative in the EU;
Explicitly describe in their terms and conditions any restrictions that they may impose on the use of their services, such as the content moderation policies, and to act responsibly in applying and enforcing those restrictions;
For services aimed at minors, provide an explanation on the conditions and restrictions of use in a way that is understandable to minors; and
Publish an annual report on content moderation, including the number of orders received from the authorities and the number of notices received from other parties, and the effect given to such orders and notices.

A layered approach to imposing obligations

Leads connected to the back of a computer

Layer two: Providers of hosting services

Services that consist of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, a recipient of the service (such as webhosting or cloud services).

Beams from car lights on a busy road at night

Layer three: Online platforms and market places

Providers of intermediary services that consist of the storage and public dissemination of users’ information.

Layer four: Very large online platforms and search engines

Online platforms or search engines that have 45 million or more active monthly users in the EU.