Recommendation 1: Increase funding for Civil Society Organisations and independent researchers to produce actionable evidence on DSA non-compliance.

In her mission letter to the Commissioner-designate for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, President von der Leyen emphasised the need for rapid and effective enforcement actions under the DSA. To achieve this, the Commission must support a network of experts, including CSOs, who can provide actionable insights in a complex and rapidly evolving landscape. For example, during the 2024 European Parliament elections DRI reports revealed how inauthentic accounts on TikTok amplified far-right content, enabling parties to circumvent the platform's stricter rules on political accounts. Our social media monitoring of online political discourse also examined discourse toxicity and disinformation narratives.

• The big loophole (and how to close it): How TikTok's policy and practice invites murky political accounts. (July 2024).

• Local Insights, European Trends: Case Studies on Digital Discourse in the 2024 EP Elections. (August 2024).

• Click Here for Controversy: Disinformation Narratives on YouTube During the 2024 EP Campaign. (September 2024).

We need to do a lot more of this kind of research otherwise the DSA and the AI Act will be law in the books only.