Digital Services Act: EU Commission presents new best-practice election toolkit

Brussels, 21 February 2025

Today, the Commission published an elections toolkit, providing practical details on how the Digital Services Act (DSA) Election Guidelines can be applied during electoral processes. Aimed at national regulators – known as Digital Services Coordinators – the toolkit provides advice and guidance on how they can be implemented in practice.

The DSA elections toolkit summarises the best approaches and practices that national regulators have pioneered over the last year to mitigate risks on Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) during elections. The toolkit is a set of best practices that help Member States’ regulators in their work with VLOPs and VLOSEs to address risks like hate speech, online harassment, and manipulation of public opinion, including those involving artificial intelligence-generated content and impersonation.

The toolkit offers recommended practices and suggestions in four key areas: stakeholder management, communication and media literacy, incident response, and monitoring and analysis of election-related risks. By providing this guidance, the toolkit reinforces the Commission’s and Member States’ ongoing efforts to help safeguard the integrity of electoral processes in the EU.

The DSA Election Toolkit builds on the Election Guidelines for VLOPs and VLOSEs published in March 2024, as well as on the experience gained in the implementation of the Code of Practice on Disinformation and the DSA election integrity readiness dialogues that the Commission has held with public authorities, VLOPs, VLOSEs and other stakeholders since September 2023.

21 February 2025