EU Digital Services Act: What Freelancers and Small Businesses Need to Know

What Is the Digital Services Act?

The EU Digital Services Act (DSA), fully applicable since February 2024, is a comprehensive regulatory framework governing online intermediary services across the European Union. Its primary goals are to create a safer digital environment, protect users from illegal content and harmful practices, and establish clearer accountability for online platforms. While much media coverage focuses on obligations for large platforms like social networks and marketplaces, the DSA also has meaningful implications for freelancers and small businesses that operate online.

Understanding which DSA obligations apply to your situation — and which don't — helps you avoid compliance anxiety while ensuring you genuinely meet the requirements that do apply.

How the DSA Categorizes Online Services

The DSA establishes a tiered framework based on service type and scale. At the broadest level, it applies to all "providers of intermediary services" operating in the EU. These include conduit services, caching services, and hosting services. The most demanding obligations — algorithmic transparency, risk assessments, independent audits — apply only to Very Large Online Platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU.

Freelancers and small businesses typically fall into the "micro or small enterprise" category (fewer than 50 employees and less than 10 million euros in annual turnover), which receives significant exemptions from the most burdensome DSA requirements.

What the DSA Means for Freelancers Who Sell Online

If you sell services or products through your own website, you're generally providing a hosting service in DSA terms. The core obligations that apply at this level are relatively straightforward: you must have terms of service, those terms must describe your content moderation practices if applicable, and you must cooperate with authorities on legally ordered content removal.

If you sell through a marketplace — whether that's a freelance platform, an app store, or an e-commerce marketplace — the platform bears most of the DSA compliance burden. However, platforms now have stronger due diligence obligations regarding the traders they list, which means you may need to provide more identity and business verification information when registering on new platforms.

Transparency Obligations for Business Accounts

One directly relevant change for freelancers concerns advertising transparency. If you run commercial advertisements targeted to EU users on any platform — including social media paid promotions — the DSA requires that the advertising be clearly labeled and that certain information about the advertiser be accessible. Ensure your business details are accurately registered on any platform where you advertise.

For those using SaaS products or subscription services to run their business, the DSA also strengthens consumer rights regarding subscription terms, making it easier for customers to cancel and requiring clearer presentation of total costs.

Staying Current with DSA Developments

The DSA is enforced by national Digital Services Coordinators in each EU member state. Monitoring guidance from your national coordinator provides early awareness of how the regulation is being interpreted in your jurisdiction. Joining a freelancer association or SME lobby group is an efficient way to receive digested regulatory updates without reading every official document yourself.