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Article 40 · Regulation (EU) 2022/2065

Data access for the Commission and vetted researchers

Data must be made available to the Commission, national coordinators, and researchers vetted to study systemic risks.

Applies to
VLOPs and VLOSEs
Frequency
On request

Article 40 obliges designated providers to give the Commission or the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment access to data necessary to monitor compliance, within a reasonable period specified in the request.

It also creates the vetted researcher route: on a reasoned request from the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment, providers must give access to data to researchers vetted as independent, affiliated to a research organisation, and pursuing research into systemic risks in the Union. A delegated act adopted in 2025 sets out the procedure.

Article 40(12) adds a lighter route: data that is already publicly accessible in the online interface must be made available to researchers, including those affiliated to not-for-profit bodies, without the full vetting procedure.

Obstructing researchers has proved to be enforceable in practice. The X decision found that its terms barred independent collection of public information and that its formal access procedures created additional hurdles; part of AliExpress’s binding commitments concerned public data access for researchers.

Worth knowing

  • The deprecation of CrowdTangle is one strand of the open Meta proceeding.
  • Researcher access was a count in the X fine and a commitment in the AliExpress case — a pattern worth reading as deliberate.
  • Providers may request amendment of a request where they lack access to the data or where granting it would create security or confidentiality vulnerabilities.