Power, Rules, Enforcement: The Digital Services Act in Practice

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is more than a set of rules: it is a political commitment to strengthen transparency and fundamental rights online. Whether this promise will hold is now being tested in practice.

In this panel, Eike Graef (Team Leader for DSA risk management and DSA compliance audits), Johannes Heidelberger (Head of the German Digital Services Coordinator) and Dana Paraschiv (Director of Regulatory Operations, Irish Digital Services Coordinator) share early experiences implementing the DSA. They discuss enforcement from different perspectives and how cooperation across Europe works in practice.

The discussion focuses on enforcement approaches, the interplay between EU and national authorities, and how platforms pushing back against regulation are addressed. At the same time, the DSA faces international scrutiny, particularly from the U.S., where regulation is often framed as “censorship” - underscoring that enforcement is also a geopolitical challenge.

A discussion on regulation as a democratic practice - and whether Europe has the persistence to enforce the DSA in the face of resistance. This is where the rules of the digital public sphere are determined.

Dieser Programmpunkt wird durch die Stiftung Mercator unterstützt. / This programme session is supported by Stiftung Mercator.