In short. DSA Article 19 exempts micro and small platform providers from Section 3 duties except Article 24(3), unless designated as very large online platforms.
Definition: Article 19 of the Digital Services Act (DSA) exempts qualifying micro and small enterprise providers of online platforms from Chapter III, Section 3, except Article 24(3). That exception preserves authorities' power to request recipient-count information; designation as a very large online platform removes the exemption.
Key facts
- As of 17 October 2026, DSA Article 19 covers both micro and small enterprises and provides a 12-month transition after loss of that status, subject to the very large platform exception.
- Under Annex Article 2 of Recommendation 2003/361/EC, a microenterprise employs fewer than 10 persons and has annual turnover or an annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million.
- The European Commission's transparency explainer identifies small and micro-enterprises as exempt from the platform obligation to publish EU user numbers every six months.
Which providers qualify?
Article 3(i) of the DSA defines an online platform as a hosting service that stores and publicly disseminates information at a recipient's request, subject to an exception for minor ancillary features. Article 19 tests the size of the provider of that service.
Annex Article 2 of the Recommendation also defines a small enterprise: fewer than 50 persons and annual turnover or an annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 10 million. Meeting either financial ceiling is sufficient alongside the headcount condition.
Annex Article 5 measures staff in annual work units, counting part-time and seasonal work as fractions. Annex Article 6 requires aggregation of partner-enterprise data proportionately and linked-enterprise data in full where it is not already consolidated.
Which duties fall within the exemption?
Chapter III, Section 3 of the DSA contains the following provisions. Article 19 excludes qualifying platform providers from these duties, with the stated exception within Article 24.
| Article | Duties covered by the exclusion |
|---|---|
| 20 | Providers offer an internal complaint-handling system for specified moderation decisions. |
| 21 | Providers participate in certified out-of-court dispute settlement and publicise access to it. |
| 22 | Providers give priority to notices from designated trusted flaggers. |
| 23 | Providers suspend services or notice and complaint processing for specified repeated misuse. |
| 24 | Providers supply additional transparency reports, publish recipient counts and submit moderation decisions and reasons to the Commission database. Article 24(3) remains applicable. |
| 25 | Providers observe restrictions on deceptive or manipulative interface design. |
| 26 | Providers identify advertisements and sponsors, enable commercial-content declarations and observe the sensitive-data profiling restriction. |
| 27 | Providers explain the main parameters of systems that recommend information and provide applicable selection controls. |
| 28 | Providers take measures for minors' privacy, safety and security and observe the restriction on profiling-based advertisements to known minors. |
What are the exceptions and transition rules?
Under DSA Article 24(3), the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment, the national coordinating authority, and the Commission can request updated average monthly active EU recipient counts. Providers must respond without undue delay. The requesting authority can also require explanations and supporting information about the calculation; the information must exclude personal data.
Article 19(2) applies Section 3 to providers designated as very large online platforms under Article 33 regardless of enterprise size. Article 19(1) preserves the exclusion for 12 months after loss of micro or small status pursuant to Annex Article 4(2) of the Recommendation, except for very large online platforms.
Annex Article 4(2) generally makes a threshold change affect enterprise status only when the ceilings are exceeded over two consecutive accounting periods. The DSA transition runs from loss of the qualifying status.
Which obligations remain outside Article 19?
The DSA's hosting provisions remain applicable within their own conditions: Article 16 requires electronic illegal-content notice mechanisms, Article 17 requires reasons for specified restrictions, and Article 18 requires reporting certain suspected criminal offences involving threats to life or safety. Article 14's terms-and-conditions duties also remain applicable.
Separate size exclusions appear in Article 15(2) for annual moderation transparency reports and Article 29 for the marketplace provisions in Section 4. Article 19 alone covers Section 3.
Related terms
FAQ
Does the exemption cover a small enterprise as well as a microenterprise?
Yes. DSA Article 19(1) expressly includes both categories defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
Can an authority request user figures from my exempt platform?
Yes. Article 24(3) remains applicable, including requests for substantiation of the calculation and the exclusion of personal data from the response.
Do I still need an illegal-content notice mechanism?
If your service is a hosting service, Article 16 requires that mechanism. Article 19's exclusion concerns the additional platform provisions in Section 3.
Sources
- EUR-Lex, "Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act)", 19 October 2022
- EUR-Lex, "Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC", 6 May 2003
- European Commission, "How the Digital Services Act enhances transparency online", updated 8 September 2026
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