The European Commission has launched a public consultation regarding the implementation of Article 18 of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This article regulates the obligation of providers of hosting services to notify the competent authorities in one or more member states when they identify information indicating a suspected criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of persons.
The main provisions of Article 18 of the DSA:
- where a provider of hosting services becomes aware of any information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of a person or persons has taken place, is taking place or is likely to take place, it shall promptly inform the law enforcement or judicial authorities of the Member State or Member States concerned of its suspicion and provide all relevant information available.
- where the provider of hosting services cannot identify with reasonable certainty the Member State concerned, it shall inform the law enforcement authorities of the Member State in which it is established or where its legal representative resides or is established or inform Europol, or both.
- the Member State concerned shall be the Member State in which the offence is suspected to have taken place, to be taking place or to be likely to take place, or the Member State where the suspected offender resides or is located, or the Member State where the victim of the suspected offence resides or is located.
This initiative represents an important step aiming to contribute to the uniform application of the aforementioned article by gathering information from stakeholders on current practices regarding the receipt and processing of notifications concerning suspicious criminal offences involving a threat to life or personal safety.
The European Commission invites providers of intermediary services, law enforcement or judicial authorities, researchers, civil society, as well as trusted flaggers to submit their contributions to the following link:
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/TargetedConsultationArticle18DigitalServicesAct.
The deadline for submitting the contribution is 19 December 2025.