DSA Bans Targeted Ads to Minors on Major Platforms

- The Digital Services Act (DSA) applies tiered regulations, with the strictest rules for "Very Large Online Platforms" (VLOPs) and "Very Large Online Search Engines" (VLOSEs) that have over 45 million monthly active users in the EU. Once designated, these platforms have four months to comply with all DSA obligations, including the ban on targeted ads to minors. - The prohibition specifically bans advertising based on profiling using the personal data of users when platforms are aware with "reasonable certainty" that the user is a minor. The regulation also forbids targeted ads based on sensitive personal data like ethnicity, political views, or sexual orientation. - Non-compliance with the DSA can lead to significant financial penalties, with fines reaching up to 6% of a company's global annual turnover. For less severe infringements, fines can be up to 1% of global turnover, and periodic penalties of up to 5% of average daily worldwide turnover can be applied for each day of delay in compliance. - In addition to the ad ban, the DSA mandates that platforms accessible to minors must implement measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security for these younger users. The European Commission has issued non-binding guidelines to help platforms with the implementation of these protections, addressing issues like addictive design and cyberbullying. - The DSA also enhances transparency by requiring VLOPs to maintain publicly accessible repositories of all advertisements shown on their platforms for at least a year after the ad was last displayed. This allows researchers and the public to analyze advertising data at a large scale. - The European Commission has the authority to conduct inspections, order access to data and algorithms, and interview platform personnel to verify compliance with the DSA. In December 2025, the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) received the first fine under the DSA, amounting to 120 million euros for issues including a misleading "blue checkmark" system and insufficient data access for researchers. - The rules for VLOPs and VLOSEs came into effect from August 25, 2023, while for all other in-scope digital services, the rules applied from February 17, 2024. The DSA itself entered into force on November 16, 2022. - Under the DSA, platforms are also required to provide users with at least one recommender system option that is not based on profiling. This gives users more control over how content is suggested to them.