Technology Law · European Union
Comply With the Digital Services Rules Without Slowing Your Product Down
If you offer any online service to users in Europe, a new generation of digital-services regulation now sets duties on transparency, content handling, risk assessment and accountability. We match you, free of charge, with a lawyer who helps digital-service providers understand and meet those obligations every day, so compliance becomes a feature rather than a blocker.
- 155+ legal services, 14 practice areas
- Lawyers across the EU & EEA
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Who this is for
If you run an online service in Europe, a regulatory framework now applies to you
Digital services regulation covers the modern framework that applies to providers of online services offered to users in Europe — from hosting and content platforms to app stores, marketplaces and search engines. It imposes layered duties on transparency, notice and action, complaint handling, advertising disclosure and, for the largest players, systemic risk assessment and independent audits. Whether you’re building a content product, running a marketplace, moderating user posts or simply storing data for customers, the rules attach to the service you provide and to where your users are, not to where your company is registered. The regime is still maturing, with national regulators taking divergent approaches to enforcement. A lawyer who works with digital-service providers can tell you which obligations apply, how they map to your product, and how to meet them without over-engineering.
Why providers struggle
Digital-service duties are easy to miss.
And the enforcement is only getting sharper.
The obligations scale with your service and reach, but the trigger is simple: you offer an online service to users in Europe.
Not knowing your classification
Whether you’re a mere conduit, a caching or hosting provider, or an online platform changes your duties dramatically. Guessing wrong means either over-building or leaving real obligations unmet.
Transparency and reporting gaps
The rules require specific disclosures about moderation, advertising and complaints. Producing these only when a regulator asks is a poor strategy — and often too late.
Scaling past the thresholds
Duties intensify as your user numbers and reach grow. A service that was compliant last year can cross into new, heavier obligations without anyone noticing until enforcement arrives.
What you get
A digital-services lawyer who turns regulation into a checklist
We only match you with lawyers who specialise in the digital-services framework and its practical application to real products.
Duty assessment & gap analysis
Your lawyer classifies your service, maps every applicable obligation and produces a clear gap analysis so you know exactly what to fix and in what order.
Policies & transparency drafting
Get the terms, policies and public transparency information your service must publish, drafted to be accurate, complete and enforceable rather than copied from a competitor.
Compliance programme design
Build the processes — notice handling, complaints, reporting — that keep you compliant day to day, with clear owners and triggers as your service grows.
Regulator & notice response
Received a regulator request or a flood of takedown notices? Your lawyer helps you respond correctly, meet deadlines and correct the underlying gaps before they escalate.
Coverage
Digital-services lawyers across Europe
The framework is EU-wide, but each member state designates its own enforcement authority and applies the rules with its own emphasis. The right lawyer understands both the regulation and how your key markets enforce it. We match cases across the following countries and beyond:
Frequently asked
Digital services — common questions
Does the digital-services framework apply to my company if I’m based outside the EU?
Potentially yes. The rules generally apply to services offered to users in the EU, regardless of where the provider is established, and larger providers may need a legal representative in the EU. A lawyer can confirm whether and how the framework reaches your service.
What are the main obligations for a hosting or platform provider?
They typically include handling notices about unlawful content, maintaining a complaint and appeal mechanism, being transparent about moderation and advertising, and cooperating with authorities. The exact list depends on your classification and size.
How do I know whether my service is an ‘online platform’?
The distinction turns on whether you store and disseminate user-provided information to the public, versus simply hosting or transmitting it. It is a functional test, so the reliable way to know is a specialist review of how your service actually operates.
Do smaller services have to do all of this too?
Many of the heaviest duties, such as systemic risk assessment and audit, apply only to very large platforms. Smaller services still carry baseline transparency and notice obligations, but the burden is far lighter — and worth confirming precisely rather than assuming.
What happens if I don’t comply?
Consequences can include fines, orders to take down content or change practices, and reputational damage, with the scale varying by the seriousness of the breach and the enforcing authority. Early compliance is far cheaper than remediation after enforcement begins.
How does this relate to data protection law?
They are separate regimes that overlap in practice: moderating content and handling notices means processing personal data. Both sets of rules should be considered together, since meeting one does not automatically satisfy the other.
Free case review
Make digital-services compliance a strength, not a scramble
Tell us about your online service and where your users are, and we’ll connect you with a digital-services lawyer who handles this framework every day — free of charge, with no obligation to hire.