ChatGPT, Reddit, And Roblox To Face Increased Scrutiny In Europe

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The European Commission has designated Reddit and Roblox as very large online platforms and ChatGPT as a very large online search engine under its Digital Services Act (DSA), subjecting these online services to higher scrutiny in the region.

The DSA sets rules for online services used by EU citizens, including social media networks, app stores, digital marketplaces, and online travel platforms.

Platforms or search engines that have more than 45 million monthly users in the European Union are classified as Very Large Online Platforms or Very Large Online Search Engines.

ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox have "declared that they reach at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU and thus meet the threshold for designation," the commission said in an Aug. 31 statement.

Once this designation is applied, these services must fulfill certain obligations, including establishing a point of contact for European authorities, reporting criminal offenses, and ensuring transparency in advertising and content moderation decisions.

The services must also identify, analyze, and assess "systemic risks" in their offerings, including those related to public security, electoral processes, public health, the protection of minors, illegal content, mental and physical well-being, and fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and media freedom.

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence system that engages with user prompts, including by searching the web, which qualifies it as an online search engine, the commission said. Since Reddit and Roblox - a gaming and creation platform - allow users to disseminate third-party content, the commission deemed them online platforms under the DSA.

Services designated as very large online platforms or very large online search engines are also required to share their data with the commission and national authorities to enable monitoring and assessment of these services for DSA compliance. The services must establish an internal compliance function to ensure identified risks in their offerings are mitigated.

The recent designations require ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox to comply with additional DSA obligations by January 2027.

The Epoch Times reached out to Reddit, Roblox, and OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

The commission's very-large-online-platform designation was previously challenged by Amazon in 2023. However, in a November 2025 decision, the Court of Justice of the EU's General Court declined to annul the designation.

At the time, Amazon said it was disappointed in the ruling.

"The Very Large Online Platform status was designed to address systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue and that distribute speech and information," the company said in a statement.

"The Amazon Store, as an online marketplace, does not pose any such systemic risks; it only sells goods, and it doesn't disseminate or amplify information, views or opinions."

Amazon Store continues to be listed as a very large online platform by the European Commission.

In total, the EU has now designated 28 services as very large search engines and online platforms under DSA, the commission said in its recent statement. This includes Apple's App Store, AliExpress, TikTok, WhatsApp, X, Wikipedia, and Facebook.

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy at the European Commission, said that the latest designations will hold ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox to a "higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society."

"We continue to watch the digital landscape closely and will not hesitate to designate any platform that meets the threshold for enhanced supervision under the Digital Services Act," Virkkunen said.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has taken a strong stance against the EU's rules for American tech companies.

In a July 24 Truth Social post, Trump announced a formal investigation into the EU's trade practices, threatening to impose new tariffs after the bloc levied billions of dollars in fines on U.S. businesses.

The comments came after the European Commission fined Google 890 million euros (approx. $1 billion) for violating the Digital Markets Act, a complementary regulation to the DSA that targets online platforms.

Trump said that fines on Google and other U.S. tech companies will be reversed.

"The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about," Trump said.

Reuters contributed to this report.