EU Commission: adopted the EU Delegated Regulation 2025/2050 implementing the DSA rules on access to data on large platforms.

From 29 October 2025, a new regulatory framework comes into force, provided for by Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (known as DSA), which allows qualified researchers to obtain unprecedented access to data held by very large online platforms (VLOPs) and similarly extensive search engines (VLOSEs). With the adoption of Delegated Regulation 2025/2050,  a clear picture has been defined of the technical conditions and procedures through which these providers will have to make available, upon justified request, a series of data that was previously inaccessible.

This openness responds to the need to deepen the social impact of algorithmic systems, such as recommender systems, and to investigate systemic risks such as the dissemination of illegal content or online scams, with a particular focus on the protection of vulnerable individuals, including children. However, the new regime does not disregard guarantees: researchers must pass a rigorous assessment conducted by the National Digital Services Coordinators – the "Digital Services Coordinators" – who verify their affiliation, independence, technical capacity and compliance with the security and confidentiality requirements provided for by the legislation. Only if these conditions are met  are platforms and search engines (listed here) obliged to provide the requested data.

In parallel, the regulation also introduces a dedicated digital infrastructure: the "Digital Services Regulation Data Access Portal", to which researchers, data providers and coordinators will have access to manage the application process and share information. Data providers will also have to publish catalogues describing the available data, their structure and related metadata, allowing for greater clarity and predictability in access. The regulation ensures that the process is uniform across all EU Member States, strengthening the coherence of European digital policies.

With the adoption of the 2025/2050 Delegate, the European Union takes a decisive step towards greater transparency of the most influential digital platforms and towards strengthening accountability in their work, while offering more extensive tools to scientific research to analyze and contain systemic risks in the digital market.