Source: European Parliament
The Digital Services Act (DSA)[1] entered into full application on 17 February 2024. The Member States were obliged to designate and empower their national Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) by that date. It is those DSCs that are tasked with awarding the status of trusted flagger to applicants that meet the conditions of Article 22 DSA.
It is of utmost importance for the Commission that the implementation of the DSA is completed as soon as possible. Significant resources are dedicated to support this objective, allowing the Commission to issue the necessary secondary legislation[2], issue guidelines where needed[3], and work efficiently with the European Board for Digital Services (the Board)[4].
Unfortunately, not all Member States designated and empowered their DSCs by 17 February 2024. As of 9 January 2025, the Commission therefore initiated 13 infringement procedures[5] against Member States that failed to do so[6].
Only once DSCs have been designated and empowered, can they award the trusted flagger status to eligible entities which can benefit from priority treatment of their notices by online platforms.
While guidelines on trusted flaggers are not a requirement for DSCs to assign that status to eligible entities, the Commission is currently preparing such guidelines. The guidelines will be subject to public consultation in due course, after consulting the Board[7].
As of 19 December 2024, 15 trusted flaggers were listed on the dedicated website[8] of the Commission, including entities dedicated to the protection of minors.
- [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj
- [2] See, for example, https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/implementing-regulation-laying-down-templates-concerning-transparency-reporting-obligations or https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13817-Delegated-Regulation-on-data-access-provided-for-in-the-Digital-Services-Act_en
- [3] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_1707 or https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-launches-call-evidence-guidelines-protection-minors-online-under-digital-services-act
- [4] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-board-working-groups
- [5] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-calls-cyprus-czechia-estonia-poland-portugal-and-slovakia-designate-and-fully-empower and https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-calls-6-member-states-comply-eu-digital-services-act
- [6] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-dscs
- [7] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-board
- [8] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/trusted-flaggers-under-dsa