📖 Content moderation glossary
What is a very large online platform (VLOP)?
In short
A very large online platform (VLOP) is an online platform with an average of at least 45 million monthly active recipients in the European Union that has been designated as such by the European Commission under Article 33 of the Digital Services Act.
VLOPs, together with very large online search engines (VLOSEs), carry the heaviest obligations of the DSA: assessing and mitigating systemic risks such as the spread of illegal content or effects on civic discourse, independent audits, data access for researchers and more frequent transparency reporting. They are supervised directly by the European Commission.
The 45 million threshold corresponds to roughly 10% of the EU population. Large social networks, marketplaces and app stores have been designated; a national news site or a brand's community space is far below it.
For most media, brands and public bodies, the VLOP regime does not apply to their own services, but it matters indirectly: when they moderate comments on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, they work inside platforms that are themselves subject to it.