Researching Systemic Risks under the Digital Services Act
AlgorithmWatch has been investigating the concept of "systemic risks" under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the new EU regulation which aims to minimize risks and increase accountability for online platforms and search engines.
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The concept of "systemic risk" is central to the DSA, and offers opportunities for researchers and watchdogs to access data and additional opportunities for supporting implementation and enforcement. However, the concept is currently under development, as all parties learn from experience as the DSA is implemented.
This report comes from working with other researchers and experts to explore the opportunities of the "systemic risk" concept, including via crowdsourcing and discussing potential risk cases in our "Risk Repository." We find that conceptual problems − "what is a systemic risk?" − are less pressing than practical problems. These problems include, in particular, lack of frequent and transparent information about the risk assessment work already conducted by platforms, and uncertainty about how the necessary "learning by doing" will be conducted in an effective and collaborative fashion.
This is an interim report, and we are continuing this work. In particular we are looking to explore the opportunities of the concept further with academic institutions, and how academia and civil society can support one another in DSA implementation.
Read more on our policy & advocacy work on the Digital Services Act.