Rules-breakers can face big fines under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).

The most stringent rules apply to 19 major platforms, such as Facebook and TikTok, which must protect children and stop election interference.

A number of changes have been made, some of which will affect UK users.

In the meantime, the EU’s Digital Services Act became law on 16 November 2022 while the UK Online Safety Bill is still in parliament.

However, firms were given time to ensure their systems were compliant.

On 25 April, the European Commission announced the very large online platforms with over 45 million EU users that would be subject to the toughest regulations. There are Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon Store, Apple App Store, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Wikipedia, YouTube, and Zalando. Also subject to the rules will be Google and Bing.

The act’s rules had to be followed within four months. Compliance won’t be required until next year for smaller tech companies.

Service suspension and a 6% fine could result from breaches.

There is no longer a legal basis for targeting children with targeted advertising.

The algorithms they use must also be shared with regulators. This could include those which decide what adverts users see, or which rs.posts appear in their feed. And they are required to have systems for sharing data with independent researche

In blog posts, and in statements given to the BBC, organisations have stressed the effort the put in to comply. Both TikTok and Meta said more than 1,000 people across their businesses had worked on complying with the act.