YouTube
The largest designated service in the Union by declared monthly users.
- Tier
- VLOP — very large online platform
- Provider
- Google Ireland Ltd.
- Sector
- Video
- Designated
- 25 April 2023
- Obligations from
- 25 August 2023
- EU users at designation
- 416.6 million
- Formal proceedings
- None to date
- Court challenges
- None
YouTube was designated on 25 April 2023 on 416.6 million average monthly active recipients in the Union — the largest figure across both tiers.
Its systemic risk profile under Article 34 spans recommender-driven amplification, protection of minors, and civic discourse during election periods. No formal proceeding has been opened against YouTube to date.
Where YouTube sits in the tier
Designation is not a ranking, and the obligations do not scale with size: the smallest designated service carries exactly the same duties in Articles 33 to 43 as the largest.
Recommenders, minors, and the pull of engagement design
Video platforms sit at the sharp end of the recommender provisions. The Article 34 assessment covers how autoplay, ranking and personalised suggestion shape exposure — the “rabbit-hole” framing the Commission has used in its own proceedings is an Articles 34 and 35 argument, not an illegal-content one.
Article 38 requires a non-profiling alternative to the personalised feed, and Article 28 with the July 2025 guidelines governs how the service treats accounts it knows or should know belong to minors.
Video-sharing platforms may also fall under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive at national level, which runs alongside the DSA rather than being displaced by it.
- Article 28
- Protection of minors, including addictive design features.
- Separate regime
- National implementations of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
YouTube timeline
- 25 April 2023 Designated a VLOP by Commission decision.
- 25 August 2023 Articles 33 to 43 begin to apply, four months after notification.
What YouTube has to do
Designation applies the asymmetric obligations in Articles 33 to 43. They are the same for every designated service, read against a platform surface. Terms used on this page are collected in the glossary.
- Article 34 Systemic risk assessment
- Article 35 Mitigation of risks
- Article 37 Independent audit
- Article 38 Recommender systems without profiling
- Article 39 Advertising repository
- Article 40 Data access for the Commission and vetted researchers
- Article 41 Internal compliance function
- Article 42 Transparency reporting
- Article 43 Supervisory fee
Related designations
Also designated under Google Ireland Ltd.: Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping.
Other video services in the tier: TikTok.
Designated on the same day (25 April 2023): Google Search, Bing, Google Play, Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon Store, Wikipedia, TikTok, Pinterest, App Store, X, AliExpress, Snapchat, Zalando, Google Shopping, LinkedIn, Booking.com.