OTTAWA — The European Commission has placed ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox under its toughest level of online regulation, requiring the services to assess and mitigate risks involving illegal content, elections, public security, minors and fundamental rights.The Commission announced Monday that ChatGPT had been designated a Very Large Online Search Engine, while Reddit and Roblox were classified as Very Large Online Platforms under the European Union’s Digital Services Act.All three services reported reaching at least 45 million average monthly users in the European Union, the threshold for increased scrutiny.OpenAI reported that ChatGPT’s online search functions alone had approximately 159.1 million monthly active users in the EU during the six months ending March 31.The companies have until the end of November to comply with the additional requirements.They must examine how their platforms and algorithms could contribute to the spread of illegal content or produce negative effects involving public security, elections, mental and physical health, children and fundamental rights..The companies must then introduce measures to reduce risks identified through those assessments.Those measures could include changing how services are designed, altering recommendation systems or providing additional resources to identify harmful activity.The companies will also be subjected to independent annual audits and must establish internal compliance functions.They will be required to share certain information with European regulators and provide vetted researchers with access to data needed to study systemic risks.The Commission can impose fines of up to six per cent of a company’s worldwide annual revenue if it establishes that the company breached the act.“These new designations mean that ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.“We continue to watch the digital landscape closely and will not hesitate to designate any platform that meets the threshold for enhanced supervision under the Digital Services Act.”Alliance Defending Freedom International criticized the decision, warning the rules would allow European authorities to influence information provided by artificial-intelligence systems.“The EU will now control the answers you get from ChatGPT — a tool used by millions around the world to access information,” the organization wrote on X.“Under the Digital Services Act, Brussels is building an information-control regime with global censorship power. Free speech must prevail.”The designation does not give the Commission direct authority to write or select individual ChatGPT answers.It does, however, give European regulators broad authority to investigate whether OpenAI has adequately addressed risks arising from its service and to order corrective measures when violations are established.The law applies within the EU’s 27 member states. Companies may choose to implement resulting product or moderation changes internationally, but the Commission’s designation does not itself give Brussels legal authority over what users outside the EU receive.
