ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox have been designated by the European Commission as “very large” services under the EU’s Digital Services Act, bringing them under stricter oversight rules.
ChatGPT was designated a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE), while Reddit and Roblox were designated Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), the Commission said in a statement on Monday.
The three services declared they each reach at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU, which is the threshold for designation under the law.
The companies have four months to comply with extra obligations for very large services — by the end of December 2026 — including requirements to assess and reduce “systemic risks” linked to their services and algorithms.
Those risks include the spread of illegal content, negative effects on minors, impacts on users’ physical and mental wellbeing, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security.
The Commission said the designations give it investigative powers to examine the functions behind the services and any related systems, where relevant.
How supervision will work
Compliance will be supervised by the Commission in co-operation with national regulators, working with Ireland’s media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, for ChatGPT and Reddit, and the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) for Roblox.
These regulators act as Digital Services Coordinators — the bodies responsible for enforcing the Digital Services Act in member states — in the countries where the services are established.
ChatGPT was classified as an online search engine because it can respond to prompts and queries, including by searching the web, making it a “hybrid service” under the Digital Services Act.
Reddit and Roblox were classified as online platforms because they allow users to share third-party content publicly.
“These new designations mean that ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union,” Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said.
The Commission has now designated 28 very large online platforms and search engines under the Digital Services Act.
