Operationalize Fundamental-Rights Systemic Risk Assessments under the DSA

Determine how to conduct systemic risk assessments under Article 34(1)(b) of the Digital Services Act, which fundamental rights to prioritize given their interdependencies, and which indicators can credibly operationalize infringement in socio-technical systems.

Background

Article 34(1)(b) of the Digital Services Act requires Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines to assess actual or foreseeable negative effects on the exercise of Charter-protected fundamental rights. The paper explains that the DSA requires case-by-case and in-depth assessment but does not fully specify how those assessments should be conducted in practice.

The unresolved issues concern the methodology of assessment: selecting and prioritizing relevant fundamental rights in light of their interdependencies, and identifying indicators capable of operationalizing rights infringements within complex socio-technical systems such as recommender systems, content-moderation systems, advertising systems, and related data practices.

References

It leaves open how to conduct risk assessments, which rights to prioritize (intra-dependency of fundamental rights), and which indicators can credibly operationalize infringement in socio-technical systems (Recital~81~DSA).

— Click, Branch, Audit: A Decision-Tree Toolkit for Assessing Fundamental Rights Impacts under the Digital Services Act of Very Large Platforms & Search Engines  (2609.26353 - Sekwenz et al., 22 Sep 2026) in Section 2, “Systemic Risk Assessment under the DSA”