ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox face tighter EU content moderation rules

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(Aug 31): ChatGPT, Reddit Inc and video game company Roblox Corp will face stricter European Union scrutiny after surpassing a threshold of 45 million monthly users in the bloc.

OpenAI’s chatbot was designated a very large online search engine, while social network platform Reddit and Roblox were labelled very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act, according to a statement from the bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, on Monday. 

Bloombergpreviously reported that ChatGPT and Roblox would be hit with the designation. 

The DSA requires social networks and search engines to clamp down on illegal and harmful content on their platforms. VLOPs, which include Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as Elon Musk’s X, must file transparency reports, detail risk mitigation plans and pay an annual fee to the EU. Companies that breach the DSA risk fines of as much as 6% of their annual global sales. 

The DSA aims to protect children online by compelling tech companies to safeguard their experiences. Roblox, which has faced criticism over its child-safety protections, recently implemented stronger controls over who kids talk to and what games they play. The company is also moving more into advertising, which the DSA aims to make more transparent when it comes to marketing to kids. 

The commission has opened more than a dozen probes into online platforms since the DSA came into force in 2022. The rules have riled US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has accused the EU of targeting American companies.