EU Imposes Toughest Digital Rules on ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox

BRUSSELS —

The European Commission announced Monday that ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now face the European Union's most demanding online platform rules, after each service crossed 45 million average monthly users in the bloc.

The commission labeled OpenAI's ChatGPT a "Very Large Online Search Engine" and classified Reddit and Roblox as "Very Large Online Platforms" under the Digital Services Act, the EU's main law governing online safety and content moderation. The threshold triggers what the commission calls its most stringent tier of enforcement.

"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, the commission's executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, in a statement.

New Obligations, Familiar Penalties

The designation requires the three companies to remove illegal content more aggressively, protect the privacy and safety of minors, share data with EU regulators, submit to annual audits by independent reviewers and give outside researchers access to platform data in certain cases. Companies that fail to comply can be fined up to 6 percent of their global revenue, according to Ars Technica.

The companies have until the end of December, roughly four months, to bring their operations into line, Ars Technica and Engadget reported. A spokesperson for OpenAI told Ars Technica the company was preparing to meet the new requirements. Roblox said in a statement that it was "proud to be the first gaming platform to reach this milestone in the EU" and looked forward to "continuing our constructive engagement with the European Commission." Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Ars Technica.

The addition of ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox brings the total number of services designated under the toughest tier of the Digital Services Act to 28, according to the European Commission. WhatsApp received the same designation earlier this year, joining Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Engadget reported.

A Widening Fight Over AI and Speech

The move extends the Digital Services Act further into generative AI. Elon Musk's chatbot Grok, built by his company X, is already under investigation over its recommender systems, according to the commission's public enforcement log. X was fined 120 million euros in December, and the Chinese marketplace AliExpress was fined 550 million euros in July for failing to stop the sale of illegal products, the commission's records show.

The expansion comes as the Trump administration has accused Brussels of unfairly targeting American technology companies and infringing on free speech principles, according to Ars Technica. The commission has said its digital rules apply to any company operating in the EU, regardless of where it is based.