In Brussels on February 21, Alphabet's navigation app Waze is urged to address illegal online content following a threshold breach of EU tech regulations, while three adult websites are anticipated to face reduced obligations due to declining user numbers.
According to the Digital Services Act (DSA) implemented last year, online platforms exceeding 45 million monthly average users in the 27-country bloc are classified as Very Large Online Platforms subject to stricter regulations.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier highlighted that Waze exceeded the DSA threshold, with 50.5 million average monthly users between July and December 2024, as per a recent Google filing.
On the other hand, adult websites Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos experienced decreases in user numbers in the latter part of last year.
Regnier mentioned the possibility of undesignation for platforms falling below the threshold, like Pornhub reporting 26.6 million EU users as of January 1, and Stripchat with 26.6 million users by August 1, 2024.
The Commission is projected to decide on the VLOP designations in roughly two months after verifying user statistics, with potential fines up to 6% of a company's annual global revenue for DSA non-compliance.