People increasingly operate on different kinds of platforms online. They have discussions, exchange information and do business on online platforms. Starting from 17 February 2024, the Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes new obligations on online platforms to make operating on them safer and more transparent. For platform giants, the regulations entered into force in the summer of 2023.
An online platform is a service that stores and disseminates information so that it is publicly available upon the request of its users. In the Digital Services Act (DSA), an online platform is seen as a subcategory of hosting services. Typical online platforms include different kinds of online communities, such as discussion forums and social media platforms like suomi24.fi, vauva.fi and Facebook.
Online marketplaces
Online platforms also include online marketplaces. In the DSA, they refer to an online platform used by consumers and traders to do business, i.e. conclude distance contracts. Private individuals also do business with each other on the platforms, but the regulations of the DSA do not apply to these cases.
An online marketplace is a digital platform that makes an agreement with sellers so that the sellers can offer their services or products via the platform in question, such as a website or mobile application. Online marketplaces include travel and hotel reservation sites, among other things.
Multinational platform giants
Online platforms also include multinational platform giants, i.e. very large online platforms and search engines. They constitute services with more than 45 million users per month within the EU. Such platforms include Facebook, Instagram, the Google search engine, TikTok and the Amazon online store. The EU Commission names the operators and services that meet the definition of a very large online platform. The operation of the platform giants is monitored by the Commission together with the authorities of the country in which the main establishment of the platform giant in question is located. None of the platform giants have a main establishment in Finland.
What kind of services are not considered online platforms?
Hosting services where the discussion or commenting function is merely a minor and additional feature of another service that cannot be used without the main service are not online platforms. The comments section in an online newspaper could constitute such a hosting service, for example.
Cloud services and web hosting services are not considered online platforms, either, if disseminating information to the public is minor in relation to the main activity.
According to the DSA, the technical characteristics of the service determine how it is categorised. The technical features may develop over time, in which case the issue must be re-evaluated on a case-by-case basis.