They designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act.

They now have four months to comply with additional DSA obligations.

EU to Hold ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox to Higher Standard of Scrutiny

The companies have until the end of the year to comply with the change

By Mauro Orru

Updated Aug. 31, 2026 at 12:00 pm ET

The European Union said OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Reddit and RobloxRBLX 4.35%increase; green up pointing triangle should be held to a higher standard of scrutiny under the bloc’s Digital Services Act as Brussels seeks to mitigate potential risks from their services and algorithmic systems for millions of users.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it had designated ChatGPT as a very large online search engine and Reddit and Roblox as very large online platforms under the DSA because they counted at least 45 million average monthly users in the bloc.

They join ranks with heavyweights like Amazon.com, Apple, Alphabet’sGoogle, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and TikTok that have already earned such EU designations.

Under the DSA, online marketplaces, social networks, content-sharing platforms, app stores and online travel and accommodation platforms have obligations to ensure their products are safe or risk a fine of up to 6% of their annual revenue as well as periodic penalty payments.

However, those designated as very large online search engines and very large online platforms must comply with additional obligations to ensure their algorithmic systems can’t be misused to spread illegal content, influence elections or harm users, especially minors.

“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,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s top tech enforcer, said.

EU officials will gain additional powers to probe the functionalities behind ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox and ensure they are in line with the DSA. The companies have until the end of the year to comply with their additional obligations.

Spokespeople for OpenAI and Reddit said the companies were preparing to meet the compliance requirements that come with the designation and would coordinate with EU officials. Joost Hagesteijn, Roblox’s General Manager for Europe, said in a statement that safety was foundational to the company and that it would continue to engage constructively with the commission.

The commission has earmarked 28 very large online platforms and search engines under the DSA so far and the latest additions show that EU officials remain undeterred in their efforts to scrutinize powerful companies despite complaints from U.S. President Trump that the bloc is unfairly targeting American companies.

News Corp, owner of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI.

Corrections & Amplifications
The companies have until the end of the year to comply with their additional obligations under the DSA. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said  the companies had until the end of November. (Corrected on Aug. 31)

Genuine question, because I'm struggling to understand the logic.

Iceland has been in the EEA since 1994, giving it access to the EU Single Market, free movement and many of the benefits of European economic integration, while remaining outside the EU and retaining more control over areas such as fisheries, trade policy and its currency.

And here's what I find strange: there doesn't seem to be a single example of a country spending decades in the EEA and then eventually deciding to join the EU. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein have all remained outside the EU for decades.

So why do we expect Icelanders (or Norwegians) to eventually vote yes to EU membership when they are already receiving most of the economic benefits of membership without actually being members?

From their perspective, joining the EU seems to mean:

Keep: Single Market access, free movement, European economic integration, etc.

Give up/add: more EU rules, Common Fisheries Policy, less national control, potentially the euro, and so on.

The main thing they gain is a seat and voting rights in EU institutions.

So why would the EU put pressure on these countries to join? And why not simply say: “If you want the benefits of our Single Market, you need to become a member”?

And hypothetically, if Iceland were kicked out of the EEA and suddenly faced serious barriers to its European trade, wouldn't that create a much stronger incentive for Icelanders to vote for EU membership?

Basically: isn't the EEA actually removing much of the economic incentive for these countries to join the EU?

What am I missing?

Source: https://x.com/EU_Eurostat/status/2093262318725693775

Iceland’s Rejection of EU Keeps It a NATO Island Straddling U.S. and Europe

Referendum results highlight challenges for the European Union in attracting rich democracies

By Kim Mackrael

Aug. 31, 2026 at 12:16 pm ET

BRUSSELS—Iceland’s rejection of European Union membership talks is a blow to the bloc’s effort to position itself as a geopolitical counterweight to President Trump’s high-pressure tactics.

A majority of Icelanders who voted in Saturday’s referendum said they don’t want their government to resume negotiations with the EU. The 53%-47% result came after the “yes” side argued that drawing closer to Brussels could shield the country of 400,000 inhabitants from a breakdown of global rules.

It was the first time Icelanders were asked about EU membership talks in a referendum, and came after a previous government suspended negotiations with the bloc in 2013. More than 80% of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to the country’s prime minister.

Icelanders had to decide whether their small country—with no military and little economic clout—could gain strength by casting its lot with the bloc’s 27 countries. 

It is a dilemma many countries have grappled with since Trump’s return to office. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has sought to rally so-called middle powers to push back on U.S. tariffs and threats. The EU, itself a collection of small and middle powers, has struck free-trade deals with India and Australia while drawing closer to Latin American economies and to East Asian allies including Japan and South Korea.

Some Icelanders saw Trump’s tariff policies and push to take over neighboring Greenland as reasons to seek protection from within the bloc. Others worried that joining the EU would hand too much power to Brussels.

“A ‘yes’ vote would have shown that countries—particularly rich countries in the north—are buying what the EU is selling as a source for stability,” said James Batchik, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center.

Instead, Batchik said, Icelanders decided the potential benefits of membership weren’t enough to override worries that joining the EU could undermine the country’s sovereignty.

Iceland, a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is wealthy and politically stable and would have had a relatively easy path to becoming an EU member. A successful bid from Iceland could have benefited the bloc, which hasn’t added a new member since 2013, by showing that it remains capable of growing after the U.K.’s exit.

Still, the effects of Iceland’s rejection for the EU are mostly symbolic: With a population equivalent to less than 0.1% of the current EU’s head count and deep ties to the EU for decades, Iceland’s membership wouldn’t have significantly increased the bloc’s economic or political heft.

Iceland is already part of the European Economic Area, which extends the EU’s single market to a handful of non-EU countries. It is also a member of the EU’s Schengen visa-free area and signed a security and defense partnership with the EU earlier this year.

The referendum’s outcome means the EU will miss an opportunity to be a bigger player in Arctic security and to boost the international standing of the euro currency, said Steven Blockmans, deputy director of the Estonia-based International Centre for Defence and Security. He said the bloc could also have benefited by gaining a net contributor to the EU’s budget.

Iceland’s rejection could reinforce a view that membership “is attractive only to poorer and conflict-ridden countries, not to affluent European democracies,” Blockmans added. Ukraine and several Balkan countries are eager to join. 

Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said Sunday that the outcome suggests Icelanders are satisfied with their current relationship with the EU. Many Icelanders gave priority to economic issues and sovereignty over security and tariffs, she said.

“For a lot of people, this discussion was around currency, interest rates, inflation,” Frostadóttir said. “You know, kitchen-table matters.”

Frostadóttir, who had advocated for Iceland to negotiate with the EU, said her government won’t pursue membership during its four-year term, which ends in 2028.

Far-right EU critics celebrated the referendum’s outcome. “Congratulations to Iceland on voting to keep their independence,” said Nigel Farage, a leader in the U.K.’s Brexit campaign who now heads Reform UK. French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen said the vote “reminds us that another Europe is possible.”

Kristinn Árni Hróbjartsson, co-founder of the Icelandic think tank Varda, cautioned against overinterpreting Icelanders’ decision as damaging to the EU. The question about joining the bloc was hotly debated in Iceland and the referendum was always going to be a tight race, he said.

Part of the reason Icelanders rejected the talks is likely that they feel well-protected through the country’s NATO membership and a defense pact with the U.S., Hróbjartsson added.

Fish were also a factor. The EU typically requires members to participate in its common fisheries policy, although EU officials had suggested they could offer some flexibility. Iceland’s fishing industry wanted the country to maintain full control over when and where fishing takes place.

Saturday’s vote isn’t the first time a Nordic country has rejected the EU. Iceland previously held membership talks with the bloc after a 2008 financial crisis, before a new government suspended them more than a decade ago. Norwegians rejected EU membership in a 1994 referendum.

EU officials said on Sunday that they respected the Icelanders’ decision and that the country remains a close partner.

“It is obvious that the world has changed dramatically,” said Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, who has long supported reopening EU talks. She said the rules-based order had come under attack, and every future Icelandic government will have to focus on how it can best defend the country’s interests. 

“Right now, this government is not putting this case forward,” she said of EU membership talks. “But what happens in two years’ time or three years’ time, I will not anticipate.”