Digital Services Act: does it apply to a small business?
Which businesses the Digital Services Act covers, what it requires of small online platforms and marketplaces, and why an ordinary business site is outside it.
The short answer
The Digital Services Act regulates intermediary services: services that transmit or store information provided by other people. It is layered, with obligations increasing from mere conduits and caching services, to hosting services, to online platforms, to very large online platforms. A normal business website is not an intermediary service at all: publishing your own content and selling your own products means there is no third-party information being stored or disseminated on your behalf. A business site is therefore outside its platform obligations entirely. The moment a site stores content provided by users, reviews, comments, forum posts, uploaded listings, it becomes a hosting service, with duties including a mechanism for notifying illegal content, acting on those notices, and explaining any content restrictions in the terms. If third parties sell through your site you are likely an online marketplace, with additional traceability duties concerning the traders you admit. Micro and small enterprises are exempt from several of the online platform obligations, though the hosting-level duties remain, and consumer protection rules apply regardless of size.
Where a business might sit
| Your site | Likely classification | What applies |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure site, own content | Not an intermediary | Nothing under the Act |
| Shop selling your own products | Not an intermediary for those sales | Consumer law applies; Act’s platform duties do not |
| Site with customer reviews or comments | Hosting service | Notice and action mechanism; terms explaining restrictions; statement of reasons where content is removed |
| Forum or community | Hosting service, possibly online platform | As above, plus platform duties unless exempt as a micro or small enterprise |
| Classifieds or listings by users | Online platform | Platform duties; exemptions for micro and small enterprises |
| Marketplace where third parties sell | Online marketplace | Trader traceability, interface design duties, plus the above |
| Very large platforms | Separate tier | Not relevant to small businesses |
If you host user content
- Provide a reporting route for illegal content that is easy to find and to use.
- Write the procedure: who receives reports, how they are assessed, how quickly, and what happens.
- Explain restrictions in your terms: what content is not allowed and how moderation works.
- Give reasons when you remove content or restrict an account, to the person affected.
- Keep records of notices and actions.
- Check the exemptions: micro and small enterprise status relieves several platform obligations.
- Take advice if you operate a marketplace, because trader traceability is detailed.
The practical position for most readers
If your website publishes your own content and sells your own goods or services, the Act does not add obligations to it, and the pages you need are the ones in the legal pages set. If you have reviews or comments, add a reporting route, a short moderation policy in your terms and a record of notices. If third parties sell or list through your site, treat that as a distinct legal project and take advice, because the marketplace duties are the part with real substance for a small operator.
What this means for you
The Digital Services Act applies to services carrying other people’s content or offers, not to a business publishing its own. If your site has reviews, comments or user listings you have hosting duties: a reporting mechanism, a procedure, terms explaining moderation and reasons when you remove content. Marketplaces carry more, with micro and small enterprise exemptions for several platform obligations. This is general information rather than legal advice; marketplace operators should take a qualified opinion.
Frequently asked questions
We have a comments section and customer reviews. Are we a platform?
Storing content provided by users makes you a hosting service, which brings obligations including a notice and action mechanism for illegal content and informing users about restrictions in your terms. Whether you are also an online platform, which disseminates that content to the public, depends on the setup, and micro and small enterprises are exempted from the additional platform obligations. The practical answer for a small business with reviews is a clear reporting route, terms that explain moderation, and acting on notices.
What if third parties sell through our site?
Then you are likely operating an online marketplace, which brings trader traceability duties: obtaining and checking identification details of traders before allowing them to sell, and designing the interface so consumers can see who they are contracting with. Micro and small enterprises are exempt from several online platform obligations but not from the core hosting duties, and the consumer protection rules apply regardless. This is a situation to take advice on.
Does it apply to our newsletter or our blog?
No. Publishing your own content is not an intermediary service. The Act concerns services that transmit or store information provided by others. A corporate blog, a knowledge base, a newsletter and a shop selling your own goods are all your own content and your own offers, and the Act's platform obligations do not attach to them.
Sources
- European Commission: The Digital Services Act (accessed 2026-09-12)
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) (accessed 2026-09-12)