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The world's most comprehensive digital-content regulation requires 19 social media, search, and e-commerce sites to conform with stringent new standards by late August. 

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Companies such as Apple Inc., AAPL, up by 0.81%; Amazon.com Inc., AMZN, increased by 3.81%; and Meta Platforms Inc., increased by 3.81%. The European Union's executive branch named one or more of META's 2.86%increase; green pointing triangle and Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG 0.85%increase; green pointing triangle Google's services as "very large" internet platforms or search engines on Tuesday. The designations, including Bytedance Ltd.'s TikTok and Twitter, signal the start of a four-month countdown to comply with many requirements in the new Digital Services Act.

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The rule represents the most significant shift in the Western approach to online material in more than a generation, rewiring the idea of online accountability as it has existed since the internet's inception. 

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Prior regulations, like the United StaStatesction 230, allowed firms to largely avoid responsibility for information uploaded by their theirs if they made attempts to respond to specific categories of problematic content when reported. However, under the EU's new law, companies must conduct regular assessments to determine all potential risks their systems may pose to individuals or pillars of civic life, such as a free expression or electoral participation, and demonstrate to regulators that they are addressing them with robust systems.

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The services selected on Tuesday were chosen in large part because they each claimed in February that they had more than 45 million active users in the EU each month, implying that they reach at least 10% of the bloc's population. Less onerous regulations for services that fall below this level will be implemented by national authorities in the country where a company's main EU headquarters is located beginning next year.

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Violators risk fines of up to 6% of their global yearly income. The law allows for the blocking of a platform's services if certain violations are committed repeatedly.

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"With great scale comes great responsibility," the EU's internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, said. Large internet platforms and search engines "will not be able to act as if they were too big to care," he said.

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Mr. Breton stated that the bloc is suggesting that corporations let themselves be audited before the new regulations go into effect in late August, allowing them to correct any possible infractions without fear of punishment. He stated that the commission plans to audit Twitter in late June at the request of the company's CEO, Elon Musk. 

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TikTok has also expressed a desire to be audited before the new restrictions take effect, according to Mr. Breton.

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Apple previously stated that it will adhere to DSA guidelines for its app shops. Amazon has stated that it is completing its plans to comply with the new standards. Google said it is working with EU officials to comply, while Meta said it is extending its transparency tools and reporting systems to fulfill the DSA's criteria. 

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TikTok stated that it has been working for several months to implement the terms of the DSA. Twitter did not respond quickly.

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In some aspects, the DSA serves as a model for other regions of the world. The U.K. is reaching the end of legislative discussion on a rival bill known as the Online Safety Bill, which would likewise impose stringent new regulations on social-media companies—with a specific emphasis on safeguarding minors. 

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The DSA requires very large social-media services, online marketplaces, and search engines to maintain systems for removing content that violates their terms or that European national governments consider illegal, while also providing users with tools to appeal if they believe material they posted was removed or demoted in rankings unfairly. 

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In addition, the regulation demands frequent outside audits and the disclosure of facts about their content-ranging algorithms to authorities.

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European regulators in charge of implementing the new regulation will rely in part on a group of algorithm specialists headquartered in Seville, Spain, who may be called upon to offer information and analysis to enforcers in Brussels. 

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According to EU officials, certain aspects of the new rule are pretty clear-cut, such as a prohibition on targeted advertising directed at children. However, they recognized that assessing a company's compliance with other standards, such as having mechanisms in place to deal with hazards posed by misinformation broadcast online, may be more difficult.

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Microsoft Corp.'s Bing and LinkedIn, Snap Inc.'s Snapchat, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s AliExpress, and Wikipedia are among the other services subject to the most rigorous elements of the law. YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Shopping are among the Google services affected. 

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