The most important role in the application of Article 40 of the Digital Services Act lies with providers of very large online platforms or very large online search engines (VLOPSEs), entities that must ensure access to data under the conditions of the European legislative act.
Article 40 of the Digital Services Act provides two ways for researchers to access the data of very large online platform providers or very large online search engines (VLOPSEs):
- through the mechanism established in Art. 40(12), designed for researchers, including those affiliated to non-profit bodies, organizations and associations, that comply with the conditions under Art. 40(8) items (b), (c), (d) and (e) and that use publicly available data only for the purpose of carrying out research activities contributing to the detection, identification and understanding of systemic risks within the Union pursuant to Article 34(1);
- through the mechanism established in Art. 40(4), designed for researchers who acquire the status of vetted researcher according to the provisions of art. 40(8).
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The implementation of this mechanism will be supported by the Data Access Delegated Regulation. In 2024, the European Commission has publicly consulted the draft Delegated Regulation on access to data, which supplements the Digital Services Act by laying down the technical conditions and procedures under which providers of VLOPSEs are to share data pursuant to Art. 40(1) and (4). It is due to be adopted in 2025 (https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13817-Delegated-Regulation-on-data-access-provided-for-in-the-Digital-Services-Act_en).
Although no significant changes are expected in the form of the draft Delegated Regulation subject to public consultation, given that some changes may nevertheless occur in the final version, we will not present its details in this material. The information extracted from the draft Delegated Regulation on access to data will thus be highlighted by marking the text.
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