# Commitments Framework under DSA — legal context bundle

> Curated from overview.legal on 2026-08-22. Canonical page: https://overview.legal/topics/commitments-dsa-framework
> Sources are cited per item. Verify against the official texts before relying on them.

The content is specifically about 'Commitments' under DSA, which represents a distinct regulatory mechanism separate from but related to codes of conduct. Commitments are formal undertakings by service providers to comply with specific standards and should have their own dedicated topic for proper classification and retrieval.

## Overview

## Legal Framework
Articles 35-37 of the Digital Services Act (DSA) establish the formal commitments framework. This mechanism allows the European Commission to accept and make binding, upon proposal from very large online platforms (VLOPs) or very large online search engines (VLOSEs), commitments to remedy specific concerns arising from an investigation into suspected DSA infringements. These are distinct from voluntary Codes of Conduct under Article 45.

## Practical Application
The framework functions as a regulatory tool to achieve compliance without a formal infringement decision. Commitments are proposed by the service provider to address the Commission's preliminary concerns, often following a dialogue. Once accepted by a Commission decision, they become legally enforceable. A prime example is the 2023 Code of Practice on Disinformation, where signatory VLOPs made commitments under Article 35 to mitigate systemic risks, which the Commission then accepted and monitors for enforcement.

## Key Considerations
*   **Strategic Tool:** The commitments procedure can be a strategic alternative to lengthy adversarial proceedings, allowing a service to shape its own corrective measures under Commission oversight.
*   **Enforceability:** Accepted commitments are legally binding. Failure to comply can result in fines of up to 6% of global turnover under Article 52, without the Commission needing to prove the original infringement.
*   **Proactive Engagement:** Providers under investigation should proactively develop specific, measurable, and time-bound commitment proposals that directly address the identified concerns to make this mechanism viable.

## Recent developments

### TikTok makes ad transparency commitments to comply with EU DSA

*Source: Privacy Laws & Business, 2026-01-21 — https://overview.legal/posts/53049 — original: https://privacylaws.com/news/tiktok-makes-ad-transparency-commitments-to-comply-with-eu-dsa/*

The European Commission says that TikTok has agreed to provide advertising repositories in which data is stored and managed to ensure full transparency around ads on its services, as required by the Digital Services Act

## Related topics

- **Fairness & Transparency** — https://overview.legal/topics/fairness-transparency-principle
  Fairness and transparency are co-principles with lawfulness in Article 5(1)(a) GDPR and are inseparable from the concept of lawful processing, deserving dedicat
- **Commitments Framework under DSA** — https://overview.legal/topics/commitments-framework-dsa
  The content specifically addresses 'Commitments' as a distinct DSA mechanism that warrants its own dedicated topic, separate from general codes of conduct, as i
- **Direct Marketing** — https://overview.legal/topics/direct-marketing
  Processing for marketing and advertising purposes
- **Transparency** — https://overview.legal/topics/transparantie
  Openness about data processing activities
- **Social Media** — https://overview.legal/topics/social-media
  Social networking platforms and privacy considerations

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Generated by overview.legal · https://overview.legal/topics/commitments-dsa-framework · 2026-08-22