The Challenges of Digital Platforms’ Algorithms and Their Impact on the Freedom of Expression – A Normative Assessment of the Digital Services Act

The Challenges of Digital Platforms’ Algorithms and Their Impact on the Freedom of Expression – A Normative Assessment of the Digital Services Act By recognising the pivotal role of the internet in shaping public discourse, this article embarks on a critical evaluation of the existing regulatory frameworks, aiming to navigate the challenges introduced by the symbiotic relationship between digital platforms’ algorithms and critically assessing the efficacy of current regulatory approaches in preserving freedom of expression. First, this article meticulously examines four challenges: algorithmic biases, automated content moderation, transparency and accountability of algorithms, and intermediaries intertwined with algorithms, scrutinising their role in enabling filter bubbles and echo chambers. Second, we examine the regulatory landscape concerning freedom of expression on digital platforms through the lenses of critical instruments such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the E-Commerce Directive (ECD) and then the recently introduced Digital Services Act (DSA). A normative analysis of the DSA in light of its challenges to uphold freedom of expression, compared with its predecessors, reveals the evolution of legal frameworks in response to the dynamic digital environment. Although legally designated as hosting services, Very Large Online Platforms’ (VLOPs) use of tracking technologies, algorithmic content curation and behavioural profiling places them beyond the passive or neutral roles envisioned for hosts or mere conduits. This hybrid operational model exposes a critical structural incoherence within the DSA’s tripartite framework, which risks leaving the most powerful digital actors insufficiently regulated. Finally, the synthesis crystallises the articles’ findings, emphasising the imperativeness of enhanced transparency, independent regulatory oversight, and the imperative to decouple regulatory financing from and by the big tech.