Roblox and ChatGPT set to become EU-regulated Very Large Online Platforms

Bloomberg reports that Roblox and ChatGPT are about to be added to the EU Digital Services Act's Very Large Online Platforms list — the same designation already applied to Facebook, X, TikTok, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Neither the EU Commission nor the two platforms commented when approached. The VLOP threshold is 45 million monthly users, which both platforms comfortably clear.

Under the DSA, both Roblox Corporation and OpenAI would face a significant compliance burden. They'd need to establish contact points for users and authorities, report criminal offenses, and make their terms and conditions actually readable. Transparency requirements cover advertising, recommender systems, and content moderation decisions. Beyond that, they'd have to identify and actively mitigate systemic risks across several categories — illegal content, fundamental rights, public security, electoral processes, gender-based violence, public health, and protections for minors. Mitigation could mean redesigning services or overhauling recommender systems. They'd also need annual independent audits, data-sharing arrangements with the Commission and national authorities, access for vetted researchers, a recommender system option that doesn't rely on user profiling, and a public repository of all ads running on the platform.

Both platforms have drawn serious criticism long before this regulatory push. Roblox has faced years of scrutiny over child safety — in February, LA County sued the Roblox Corporation for creating what the lawsuit called an unsafe environment that has become a breeding ground for predators. ChatGPT and other large language models have meanwhile embedded themselves across academia, law, literature, and corporate decision-making, not always with good results. The article notes cases where ChatGPT allegedly contributed to user suicides, falsely accused users of crimes, and was used by executives — including Krafton's CEO — to dodge financial obligations, referencing a $250 million earnout dispute with Unknown Worlds.

Whether the VLOP designation will translate into meaningful change is an open question. X has held the designation for some time and remains a contentious platform by most measures. Still, any framework that forces greater transparency and accountability from platforms this deeply embedded in daily life — especially ones with large underage user bases — is at minimum a step toward accountability.