Online platform duties compared: EU, United States and China
What do platform rules require in the EU, the United States and China?
The EU has the densest platform rulebook: content procedures, business user terms and gatekeeper duties. The United States works through consumer protection enforcement. China regulates the recommendation service itself.
Rows read against the registers 2026-08-26.
European Union
- Digital Services Act — Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, 32022R2065: Notice and action procedures, statements of reasons, trader traceability and advertising transparency.
- Digital Markets Act — Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, 32022R1925: Duties for designated gatekeepers on self-preferencing, data combination and interoperability.
- P2B Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2019/1150, 32019R1150: Terms for business users: ranking parameters, notice before changes and an internal complaint route.
Open the European Union register
United States
- FTC Act Section 5, unfair or deceptive practices in AI and data, 15 U.S.C. § 45: Ranking, review and endorsement claims are representations that Section 5 can be enforced against.
Open the United States register
China
- Provisions on the Management of Algorithmic Recommendation in Internet Information Services, CAC Order No. 9 of 2021: Filing of the recommendation service, an off switch for the user and duties on ranking transparency.
What they ask for in common
- All three ask the platform to explain how ranking works in terms a user can read.
- All three make the platform answerable for what it promises about neutrality.
Where they differ
- The EU writes procedures into law. The United States tests the same ground through enforcement after the fact.
- China requires the recommendation service to be filed before it runs.
- Gatekeeper duties under the DMA apply only to designated companies, not to every platform.
What companies usually do first
- Write the ranking description once and reuse it in the terms, the help page and the filing.
- Keep statements of reasons in a form that can be exported per case.
- Check the business user terms against the notice periods before the next price change.
This page describes what the registers say and what is common practice. It is a reading of published sources, not legal advice, and it is not a compliance verdict.
Does this apply to us
- Do online platforms rules apply to an online marketplace?
- Do online platforms rules apply to an online seller?
- Do online platforms rules apply to a manufacturer?
- Do online platforms rules apply to an importer?
- Do online platforms rules apply to a cloud provider?
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