Source: OJ L 277, 27/10/2022, p. 1–102Current language: EN
- Digital services act
Basic legislative acts
- DSA regulation
Article 27 Recommender system transparency
Summary What does Article 27 of the DSA regulation say?
This article targets providers of online platforms that use recommender systems, requiring them to be transparent about how those systems work and to give users meaningful control over them.
It covers both the disclosure obligation — explaining the logic behind content recommendations in plain language within the terms and conditions — and a practical user-facing requirement to provide accessible options for modifying how recommendations are made.
Important points:
- Providers of online platforms using recommender systems must explain, in plain and intelligible language within their terms and conditions, the main parameters driving recommendations and why those parameters matter.
- Where multiple recommendation options exist, make available a functionality allowing recipients to select and modify their preferred option at any time.
- That functionality must be directly and easily accessible from the specific section of the platform's interface where content is being prioritised.
Springlex's summary of the article is a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Providers of online platforms that use recommender systems shall set out in their terms and conditions, in plain and intelligible language, the main parameters used in their recommender systems, as well as any options for the recipients of the service to modify or influence those main parameters.
The main parameters referred to in paragraph 1 shall explain why certain information is suggested to the recipient of the service. They shall include, at least:
the criteria which are most significant in determining the information suggested to the recipient of the service;
the reasons for the relative importance of those parameters.
Where several options are available pursuant to paragraph 1 for recommender systems that determine the relative order of information presented to recipients of the service, providers of online platforms shall also make available a functionality that allows the recipient of the service to select and to modify at any time their preferred option. That functionality shall be directly and easily accessible from the specific section of the online platform’s online interface where the information is being prioritised.
Relevant recitals
Recital 70 Transparency of recommender system parameters
A core part of the online platform’s business is the manner in which information is prioritised and presented on its online interface to facilitate and optimise access to information for the recipients of the service. This is done, for example, by algorithmically suggesting, ranking and prioritising information, distinguishing through text or other visual representations, or otherwise curating information provided by recipients. Such recommender systems can have a significant impact on the ability of recipients to retrieve and interact with information online, including to facilitate the search of relevant information for recipients of the service and contribute to an improved user experience. They also play an important role in the amplification of certain messages, the viral dissemination of information and the stimulation of online behaviour. Consequently, online platforms should consistently ensure that recipients of their service are appropriately informed about how recommender systems impact the way information is displayed, and can influence how information is presented to them. They should clearly present the parameters for such recommender systems in an easily comprehensible manner to ensure that the recipients of the service understand how information is prioritised for them. Those parameters should include at least the most important criteria in determining the information suggested to the recipient of the service and the reasons for their respective importance, including where information is prioritised based on profiling and their online behaviour.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Definition
recipient of the service
Definition
online interface
Definition
information society service
Definition
terms and conditions
Definition
recommender system
Definition
intermediary service
- a ‘mere conduit’ service, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient of the service, or the provision of access to a communication network;
- a ‘caching’ service, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient of the service, involving the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of that information, performed for the sole purpose of making more efficient the information's onward transmission to other recipients upon their request;
- a ‘hosting’ service, consisting of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, a recipient of the service;
Definition
online platform