EU designates ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox for tougher new rules

In recent development, the EU regulatory body has designated ChatGPT as a very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as a Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

"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, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society," said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.

These designations apply to services reaching over 45 million monthly users in the EU. OpenAI reported an average of 159 million active monthly users in the bloc for ChatGPT's search function, Reddit reported 57.2 million, and Roblox roughly 48 million.

Brussels also classified ChatGPT as a hybrid service, positioning itself as a search engine because it extracts live results from the internet to respond to user prompts.

Speaking about the compliance, these three platforms in question have four months until November to adhere to additional following their designation.

As a part of adherence, they will be required to assess and mitigate risks of all illegal content being distributed through their platforms. Moreover, they will also mitigate the negative impacts on minors’ physical and mental wellbeing.

Other key obligations include:

• Conduct annual systemic risk assessments, covering illegal content, minor protection, mental/physical wellbeing, fundamental rights, elections, and public security.
• Submit to independent audits.
• Share data with regulators and vetted researchers.

The supervision will be carried out by the European Commission alongside Ireland's Coimisiún na Meán (for ChatGPT and Reddit) and the Netherlands' Authority for Consumers and Markets (for Roblox).

In the case of any violation, these companies can face penalties in the form of fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s global annual turnover.