DIGITAL REGULATION
EU Digital Regulation for Platforms, Online Services and Digital Markets
Regulatory strategy across digital services, platforms, online marketplaces, content, advertising and digital-market ecosystems.
Discuss a digital regulation matterEuropean digital regulation increasingly governs how online services are structured, how platforms interact with users and businesses, how content and products are handled and how digital markets operate.
OSTRAI advises technology companies, intermediary-service providers, online platforms, marketplaces and other digital businesses on the regulatory frameworks that shape access to and operation within the European digital market.
REGULATORY ARCHITECTURE
The regulatory position starts with the digital service.
EU digital regulation does not impose one uniform compliance model on every online business.
The applicable obligations depend on the service being provided, its technical functionality, the relationship with users and business customers, the way information or transactions are facilitated, the scale of the service and the regulatory role assigned under the relevant legislation.
OSTRAI begins by establishing that regulatory position before determining the compliance programme.
SERVICE
What digital service is actually being provided?
REGULATORY ROLE
Intermediary · Hosting provider · Platform · Marketplace · Gatekeeper / business user
USERS & BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
Consumers · Traders · Business users · Content providers · Advertisers
REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS
Governance · Transparency · Moderation · Interface design · Data · Cooperation
JURISDICTION & REPRESENTATION
EU establishment · Competent authority · Legal representative
CONTINUING COMPLIANCE
Reporting · Complaints · Orders · Regulatory change · Enforcement
DIGITAL REGULATION ADVISORY
From service qualification to platform governance and regulatory response.
OSTRAI helps organisations establish the applicable digital-regulatory position and translate it into governance, operational controls, documentation and continuing compliance.
DIGITAL SERVICE QUALIFICATION
Assessment of service functionality, intermediary-service status, hosting, platform and marketplace positions, territorial scope and applicable digital-regulatory frameworks.
DSA GOVERNANCE & IMPLEMENTATION
Digital Services Act implementation, governance structures, terms and conditions, points of contact, transparency, reporting and operational compliance.
CONTENT MODERATION & ILLEGAL CONTENT
Notice-and-action procedures, statements of reasons, complaint processes, trusted-flagger interfaces, content-moderation governance and regulatory escalation.
ONLINE MARKETPLACES & TRADER GOVERNANCE
Trader traceability, marketplace onboarding, product and service information, illegal-offer processes and interfaces with product and consumer regulation.
ADVERTISING, RECOMMENDERS & INTERFACE DESIGN
Advertising transparency, recommender-system requirements, profiling intersections, interface governance, choice architecture and dark-pattern risk.
DIGITAL MARKETS & PLATFORM RELATIONSHIPS
DMA implications, gatekeeper relationships, business-user rights, interoperability, data access, steering and platform-access issues.
E-EVIDENCE & SPECIALIST DIGITAL ORDERS
e-Evidence readiness, legally binding order processes, preservation and production workflows, legal-representative interfaces and specialist digital enforcement regimes.
REGULATORY RESPONSE & REPRESENTATION
Digital Services Coordinators, European Commission engagement, authority requests, investigations, remediation and coordination with EU regulatory-representation mandates.
DIGITAL SERVICES ACT
The DSA creates a layered regulatory framework for intermediary services.
The Digital Services Act applies across a broad range of intermediary services offered in the European Union.
The DSA now forms the central horizontal framework for intermediary-service obligations, alongside remaining elements of the wider EU e-commerce framework.
The applicable obligations depend on the technical role performed by the service and, for certain obligations, the nature and scale of the provider.
OSTRAI supports organisations in determining where the service sits within that architecture and which obligations follow.
MERE CONDUIT
Transmission and access services
CACHING
Automatic, intermediate and temporary storage
HOSTING
Storage of information provided by users
ONLINE PLATFORM
Hosting that disseminates information to the public at the user's request
ONLINE MARKETPLACE
Platforms enabling consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders
VLOP / VLOSE
Designated very large online platforms and search engines subject to additional systemic obligations
The categories are functional regulatory positions. Obligations accumulate according to the service provided and the applicable DSA layer.
Explore EU Regulatory RepresentationPLATFORM GOVERNANCE
DSA compliance must work inside the service.
The DSA affects operational systems, terms, interfaces, moderation processes, user communications, transparency and escalation procedures.
OSTRAI supports organisations in translating those obligations into platform governance and documented operational processes.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Restrictions · Moderation policies · Automated tools · User-facing clarity
CONTACT POINTS
Users · Authorities · Regulatory communications
TRANSPARENCY
Reporting · Decisions · Moderation information
COMPLAINTS & REDRESS
Internal complaints · Escalation · Out-of-court interfaces where applicable
PROCESS GOVERNANCE
Ownership · Escalation · Evidence · Monitoring
REGULATORY READINESS
Requests · Investigations · Remediation · Reporting
CONTENT GOVERNANCE
Moderation decisions are regulatory decisions.
Hosting and platform providers can be required to maintain structured processes for receiving notices, assessing potentially illegal content, communicating restrictions and supporting complaint and redress mechanisms.
OSTRAI supports the legal and operational design of these processes.
NOTICE
ASSESSMENT
DECISION
STATEMENT / COMMUNICATION
COMPLAINT & REVIEW
Illegal content · Terms enforcement · Evidence · Automation · Human review · Escalation
ONLINE MARKETPLACES
Marketplace governance extends beyond content.
Online marketplaces operate at the intersection of platform regulation, trader governance, consumer protection and product compliance.
Under the DSA, marketplace providers can have specific obligations concerning trader traceability and the design of interfaces through which products and services are offered.
OSTRAI supports marketplace operators in integrating these requirements into seller onboarding, governance and compliance processes.
TRADER TRACEABILITY
Identity · Contact details · Registration · Verification
SELLER ONBOARDING
Information · Attestations · Governance · Controls
PRODUCT / SERVICE INFORMATION
Interface requirements · Required information · Compliance dependencies
ILLEGAL OFFERS
Notices · Detection inputs · Removal · User communication · Escalation
DIGITAL ADVERTISING
Advertising transparency now sits within platform regulation.
Digital advertising can engage overlapping obligations under the DSA, GDPR, ePrivacy rules, consumer law and platform governance.
OSTRAI advises on advertising transparency, profiling, targeting, consent, consent-management architecture and implementation across these intersecting frameworks.
Where relevant, this includes assessment of IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) implementations, consent-management platforms, vendor signalling and the relationship between industry frameworks and the underlying GDPR and ePrivacy requirements.
AD IDENTIFICATION
Advertisement · Advertiser · Payer
TARGETING TRANSPARENCY
Why the advertisement is shown · Main targeting parameters
PROFILING & CONSENT
GDPR · ePrivacy · Sensitive-data restrictions · Consent
ADTECH & CONSENT GOVERNANCE
IAB Europe TCF · CMP implementation · Vendor signalling · Interfaces · Records · Third parties
DIGITAL INTERFACES
How a platform presents choices can itself be regulated.
Platform regulation increasingly reaches the design of online interfaces and the systems that determine what users see.
The DSA includes requirements concerning recommender-system transparency and restrictions on manipulative interface design.
OSTRAI supports organisations in assessing interface design, user choice, recommender-system disclosures and related privacy and consumer-law interactions.
RECOMMENDERS
Main parameters · User options · Transparency
CHOICE ARCHITECTURE
Prominence · Friction · Withdrawal · Cancellation
INTERSECTION REVIEW
DSA · GDPR · ePrivacy · Consumer law
VLOP & VLOSE
Scale can create an additional regulatory layer.
Very large online platforms and very large online search engines designated under the DSA are subject to additional obligations addressing systemic risks, governance, transparency and regulatory supervision.
OSTRAI supports regulatory interpretation and implementation strategy where organisations fall within, interact with or are affected by this enhanced DSA framework.
SYSTEMIC RISK
Assessment · Mitigation · Fundamental rights
GOVERNANCE
Accountability · Compliance function · Oversight
TRANSPARENCY
Advertising · Recommenders · Reporting · Data access
SUPERVISION
European Commission · Investigations · Remediation
DIGITAL MARKETS ACT
The DMA regulates designated gatekeepers, not every digital business.
The Digital Markets Act imposes specific obligations on designated gatekeepers providing core platform services.
For other businesses, the DMA can also create important rights and strategic opportunities within gatekeeper ecosystems.
OSTRAI advises organisations on the regulatory implications of the DMA from both perspectives where relevant.
GATEKEEPER COMPLIANCE
Self-preferencing · Steering · Interoperability · Data access · App distribution · Compliance governance
BUSINESS-USER & THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS
Platform access · Data · Interoperability requests · Advertising measurement · Steering · Commercial strategy
OSTRAI does not treat ordinary platform operators as gatekeepers unless the legal designation framework applies.
PLATFORM-TO-BUSINESS
Fairness and transparency also matter in B2B platform relationships.
The Platform-to-Business Regulation remains part of the EU digital-market framework for qualifying online intermediation services and online search engines.
It addresses transparency and fairness in relationships with business users, including terms, restrictions or suspension, ranking and dispute-resolution mechanisms.
OSTRAI supports organisations in assessing how P2B requirements interact with DSA and wider platform-governance obligations.
CURRENT REQUIREMENT
Electronic evidence now has a direct operational framework.
The EU e-Evidence framework applies from 18 August 2026 and creates European Production Orders and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal proceedings.
Relevant service providers may need operational processes capable of receiving, validating, escalating and responding to legally binding orders within the applicable framework.
OSTRAI supports service providers in establishing regulatory and operational readiness.
SERVICE-PROVIDER SCOPE
Communications · Domain / IP services · Data storage / processing
LEGAL REPRESENTATION
Designated establishment · EU legal representative
ORDER PROCESS
Receipt · Validation · Escalation · Response
GOVERNANCE
Availability · Evidence · Confidentiality · Internal controls
HOSTING SERVICES
Some digital-content regimes operate on accelerated timelines.
The Terrorist Content Online Regulation applies to hosting service providers offering services in the Union where they disseminate information to the public.
It creates a framework for removal orders, including a requirement to remove or disable access to terrorist content as soon as possible and, for valid removal orders, within one hour of receipt.
OSTRAI supports hosting providers in assessing scope, governance, legal-representative requirements and operational readiness.
REMOVAL ORDERS
Receipt · Validation · Escalation · One-hour process
CONTACT POINT
Authority communication
LEGAL REPRESENTATION
Non-EU provider requirements
TRANSPARENCY & GOVERNANCE
Policies · Records · Reporting · Safeguards
EU REPRESENTATION
Non-EU digital providers may need a European regulatory interface.
Several digital-regulatory frameworks create separate EU representative or designated-establishment requirements for organisations operating from outside the Union.
These roles are not interchangeable.
OSTRAI provides and assesses regulatory representation across applicable digital frameworks, including DSA, e-Evidence and other regimes.
REGULATORY INTERSECTIONS
Digital services rarely sit inside one regulatory silo.
The same service can engage several regulatory frameworks at the same time.
OSTRAI assesses those intersections so that digital-regulatory implementation is coordinated rather than fragmented.
PRIVACY & DATA
GDPR · ePrivacy · Data Act · Tracking · Profiling
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI systems · Recommenders · Moderation · Transparency
CYBERSECURITY
NIS2 · Incident response · Platform resilience
PRODUCT REGULATION
Online marketplaces · Product compliance · CRA
CONSUMER LAW
Commercial practices · Interfaces · Information · Choice
COMPETITION & DIGITAL MARKETS
DMA · Platform access · Data · Interoperability
REGULATORY ENGAGEMENT
Digital regulation increasingly requires authority-facing operational readiness.
Digital businesses may need to respond to Digital Services Coordinators, the European Commission, judicial or law-enforcement authorities and other competent regulators depending on the applicable framework.
OSTRAI supports organisations in establishing the factual record, regulatory position and response strategy.
INFORMATION REQUESTS
Scope · Evidence · Deadlines · Coordination
INVESTIGATIONS
Facts · Legal analysis · Documents · Interviews
ORDERS & NOTICES
Receipt · Validation · Escalation · Implementation
REMEDIATION
Controls · Governance · Documentation · Follow-up
REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE
The digital regulatory environment continues to develop through enforcement.
The EU digital rulebook increasingly develops not only through legislation but through Commission decisions, Digital Services Coordinator practice, gatekeeper proceedings, guidance and enforcement.
OSTRAI monitors these developments for their implications across platform governance, service design, data, digital markets and regulatory response.
DSA · DMA · Platform enforcement · Guidance · Digital markets · Online safety · Regulatory decisions
DIGITAL REGULATION
Build regulatory governance around the digital service.
OSTRAI helps digital businesses determine what applies, establish the appropriate regulatory position and translate European digital rules into platform governance, operational controls and continuing compliance.