Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen has outlined the European Commission's transparency and documentation rules for interactions with very large online platforms (VLOPs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), responding to a parliamentary question from MEP Piotr Müller (ECR). The reply confirms that since January 2025, Commission staff meetings with registered interest representatives are minuted and published, with enforcement-related interactions systematically archived using case-management tools to ensure traceability. Virkkunen stressed a calibrated approach that strengthens transparency for democratic oversight while protecting business secrets and ongoing investigations.
This response builds on Virkkunen's earlier April 17 clarification, where she reaffirmed the DSA's content moderation approach and rejected allegations of a "permanent censorship apparatus," providing staffing figures of 202 FTEs in 2025 and 270 projected for 2026. It also follows her April 15 championing of legal accountability for AI-driven racism under existing DSA obligations, and her April 15 proposal for an EU-wide age verification coordination mechanism to protect minors online. The Commission's transparency framework aligns with President Ursula von der Leyen's April 17 reassurance on balancing online safety with free speech, which emphasised that content moderation decisions rest with platforms and that the Commission continues investigations into platforms like Meta.
The reply addresses Müller's concerns about informal influence and archiving of communications, reiterating that platforms must publish content moderation reports and risk assessments, while the Commission follows rigid transparency mechanisms. This comes amid ongoing debates on foreign information manipulation, as seen in the April 15 EEAS-MEP clash where officials advocated evolving from detection to active disruption, while MEPs called for better implementation without adding bureaucracy. Virkkunen's response signals the Commission's policy direction, anchoring supervisory responsibilities with structured transparency and setting expectations for democratic oversight of digital services regulation.
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