Social Media Governance Policy Brief: How the DSA can enable a public science of digital platform social impacts (policy brief)

A key aim of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA, 2022) is to improve transparency about the operation of very large online platforms (VLOPs): to shed light on how the algorithms and processes deployed by these platforms influence the way information flows in our society, and influence individual platform users, in potentially harmful ways. The DSA provides two particular mechanisms for delivering this transparency. One involves access to company data and processes by external auditors: each VLOP must undergo regular independent audits, to check for compliance on its obligations under the DSA. Another involves access to company data and processes by vetted independent researchers, to ensure potential risks to fundamental rights can be identified. This allows DSA-relevant aspects of company operation to be further studied, using data and methods that are only available within companies. Each type of access is governed by a Delegated Regulation. The Delegated Regulation on Auditing has already been released (DSA, 2023). The Delegated Regulation for Data Access for External Researchers is currently under discussion. Our briefing note contributes to this latter discussion.