Who has to publish a transparency report
A global survey of the statutes that require platforms to publish transparency reports — what each mandates, who it binds, how often, and whether it is actually in force. Voluntary corporate reports are not included.
3
regions surveyed
17
in-force reporting mandates
8
enjoined, superseded or dead
10
tracked in this dataset ◆
Status
In force
Partly enjoined
Enjoined / not enforced
Superseded
Proposed / dead
Europe
The DSA is now the EU-wide instrument and pre-empts the older national laws.
| Law | Applies to | What's reported | Frequency | Since | Status | Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European UnionDigital Services Act — platforms Reg. (EU) 2022/2065, Art. 15 & 24 |
All intermediary & online-platform providers (micro/small exempt) | Orders, notice-and-action volumes, own-initiative moderation, complaints, automated-tool accuracy; platforms add appeals, suspensions & EU active-user counts (AMAR) | Annual AMAR ≥ 6-monthly |
Feb 2024 | In force | Tracked |
| European UnionDigital Services Act — VLOPs / VLOSEs Reg. (EU) 2022/2065, Art. 42 (+ 34/35/37) |
≥ 45M avg. monthly EU users — ~25 Commission-designated services | The Art. 15/24 data over 6 months, plus moderator headcount by language and per-language automation accuracy; annual risk-assessment, mitigation & independent-audit reports | Biannual audits annual |
2023 | In force | Tracked |
| European UnionDSA statement-of-reasons database Reg. (EU) 2022/2065, Art. 17 & 24(5) |
All online-platform providers (micro/small exempt) | Every individual content-moderation decision, submitted to the Commission's public database (billions of records) | Continuous | Sep 2023 | In force | Related |
| European UnionTerrorist Content Online Regulation Reg. (EU) 2021/784, Art. 7 & 8 |
Hosting providers that received a removal order that year; + Member-State authorities | Measures against terrorist content, removal orders processed, complaints & reinstatements (terrorism scope only) | Annual | 2022 | In force | Tracked |
| European UnionAI Act — GPAI training-content summary Reg. (EU) 2024/1689, Art. 53(1)(d) |
Providers of general-purpose AI models placed on the EU market | Public summary of the content used to train the model — banded training-data size per modality, data-acquisition cut-off, and data-source categories (on the AI Office template) | Per model kept up to date |
Aug 2025 | In force | Tracked |
| AustriaCommunication Platforms Act (KoPl-G) KoPl-G § 4 (in force Jan 2021) |
Communication platforms above user/turnover thresholds | Handling of complaints about allegedly-illegal textual content (comments) — items reported and removed, procedures, response times | Biannual | 2021 | In force | Tracked |
| United States — TexasHB 20 Business & Commerce Code §120.053 |
Large social-media platforms (> 50M US monthly users) | Acceptable-use policies + content-moderation statistics — content removed / demonetized, appeals & reinstatements, flags and removals by source, reason and country | Biannual | 2024 | In force | Tracked |
| United KingdomOnline Safety Act 2023 OSA 2023, ss. 77–78 |
Ofcom-categorised services only (Cat 1 / 2A / 2B) | Content specified in each Ofcom notice — illegal/harmful-content incidence, moderation & recommender systems, user reporting | Annual notice-triggered |
2025–26 | In force | — |
| TürkiyeSocial Media Law Law No. 7253 (2020), amending Law 5651 |
Social networks with > 1M daily access from Türkiye | Enforcement of removal / access-blocking orders and user takedown requests, by category | Biannual | 2020 | In force | Tracked |
| IrelandOnline Safety & Media Regulation Act Act No. 41 of 2022; Online Safety Code (2024) Cadence set by Coimisiún na Meán per code, not fixed in statute. |
Designated services — chiefly Ireland-established video-sharing platforms | Compliance with the Online Safety Code — moderation, age assurance, complaint handling | Reg.-set | 2025 | In force | — |
| FranceLoi SREN Loi n° 2024-449 (21 May 2024) Thin beyond the DSA; loi Avia (2020) was struck down before taking effect. |
Large platforms operating in France | Algorithm & moderation transparency adjacent to the DSA; serious-content reporting to ARCOM | n/a | 2024 | In force | — |
| GermanyNetzDG (Network Enforcement Act) NetzDG 2017, § 2 Repealed by the DDG (14 May 2024); the DSA occupies the field. |
Social networks > 2M German users & > 100 complaints/yr | Handling of unlawful-content complaints — volumes, deletion rates, response times, staffing | Biannual | 2018–24 | Superseded | — |
| AustriaCommunication Platforms Act (KoPl-G) BGBl. I Nr. 151/2020 Overtaken by the DSA; obligation wound down. |
> 100k AT users or > €500k AT turnover | Handling of illegal-content reports — volumes, deletion rates, procedures | Annual | 2021–24 | Superseded | — |
Americas
No US federal mandate; the binding rules are US-state ToS laws — most in First-Amendment litigation.
| Law | Applies to | What's reported | Frequency | Since | Status | Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California, USAAB 587 — Social Media Transparency Act Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 22675–22681 Content-category provisions permanently enjoined (X Corp. v. Bonta, 2025); ToS reports still filed. |
Social-media firms with > $100M gross annual revenue | ToS + moderation policies, and statistics on content actioned across defined categories (hate, extremism, disinformation, harassment, foreign interference) | Semiannual | Jan 2024 | Partly enjoined | Tracked |
| New York, USAStop Hiding Hate Act N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law Art. 46 (S895-B) Sued by X Corp. on the AB 587 theory; not yet enjoined. |
Social-media firms with > $100M revenue operating in NY | Whether and how the platform defines & moderates hate speech, disinformation, extremism, harassment and foreign interference | Biannual | Oct 2025 | In force | Tracked |
| BrazilECA Digital (child & adolescent statute) Lei nº 15.211/2025, Art. 15 |
Services with > 1M child/adolescent users in Brazil (extraterritorial) | Complaints received, moderation measures taken, and age-assurance practices — in Portuguese | Semiannual | Mar 2026 | In force | — |
| BrazilPlatform-liability ruling (Marco Civil) STF, 26 Jun 2025; Lei 12.965/2014, Art. 19 In force by judicial decision; Congress has not yet codified scope. |
Application/platform providers in Brazil (thresholds TBD by Congress) | Annual transparency & systemic-risk reports, self-regulation rules, complaint channels, local representative | Annual | 2025 | In force | — |
| Minnesota, USAProhibiting Social Media Manipulation Act Minn. Stat. § 325M.33 Challenged in NetChoice v. Ellison (2025); enforcement uncertain. |
Social-media platforms above a Minnesota-user threshold | Public disclosure of how recommendation algorithms rank content and how preferences shape feeds (algorithmic transparency) | Ongoing | Jul 2025 | Contested | — |
| Texas, USAHB 20 Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 120 Vacated & remanded — Moody v. NetChoice (SCOTUS, 2024); back in district court. |
Platforms with > 50M US monthly users | Biannual report of content removed/demonetized by category, plus complaint & appeal data | Biannual | 2021 | Contested | — |
| Florida, USASB 7072 Fla. Stat. §§ 106.072, 501.2041 Preliminary injunction in place; not enforced. |
> $100M revenue or > 100M global users | Public moderation standards + per-user notice/explanation of moderation actions | Ongoing | 2021 | Enjoined | — |
| California, USAAge-Appropriate Design Code (AADC) AB 2273; Civ. Code §§ 1798.99.28+ Reporting-adjacent (DPIA, not public); report provision enjoined. |
Services likely to be accessed by children | Data-protection impact assessments provided to the AG on request — not a public transparency report | Per feature | 2024 | Enjoined | — |
| CanadaOnline Harms Act Bill C-63 (2024); rev. as C-34 (2026) C-63 died at prorogation (Jan 2025); successor is a proposal. |
"Social media services" above a threshold (proposed) | Digital-safety plans & transparency reports to a proposed Digital Safety Commission | TBD | — | Dead / proposed | — |
| BrazilPL 2630 ("Fake News" bill) PL 2630/2020 Shelved end-2024; goals partly assumed by the 2025 STF ruling. |
Large platforms (proposed) | Algorithmic transparency & periodic transparency reports (never enacted) | — | — | Abandoned | — |
Asia-Pacific
The region with the most novel mandates — India's monthly cadence is the strictest anywhere.
| Law | Applies to | What's reported | Frequency | Since | Status | Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiaIT Rules 2021 — monthly compliance IT Rules 2021, Rule 4(1)(d) |
Significant social-media intermediaries — > 5M Indian users | Complaints received & action taken, plus content proactively removed by automated tools | Monthly | 2021 | In force | Tracked |
| South KoreaTelecom / communications-secrets reporting Telecommunications Business Act, Art. 83(7); PCSA Mandatory filing is to the ministry; Naver/Kakao public reports are voluntary. |
Telecom & platform operators (Naver, Kakao) | Government requests for subscriber data, communications-confirmation data, interception measures & warrants supplied | Biannual | 2012 | In force | Tracked |
| TaiwanFraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act Anti-Fraud Act, Art. 30 (MODA format, 2024) |
MODA-designated ad platforms — Google, LINE, Meta, TikTok | Advertiser identity-verification, fraud-prevention plan, ad-removal statistics by type, processing times, MAU | Annual | 2025 | In force | Tracked |
| JapanInformation Distribution Platform Act Amended Provider Liability Act, Art. 20(1) |
MIC-designated large providers — > 10M MAU or > 2M posts/mo (Google, LY, Meta, TikTok, X) | Content-moderation operations — response to takedown requests, notices to requesters & senders, moderation standards | Annual | Apr 2025 | In force | Tracked |
| SingaporeCode of Practice for Online Safety Broadcasting Act; IMDA Code (2023) |
Six designated services — Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, HardwareZone | Annual online-safety report — measures against harmful content (esp. to minors), safety tooling & effectiveness | Annual | 2023 | In force | Tracked |
| AustraliaOnline Safety Act 2021 (BOSE) OSA 2021, ss. 49 & 56 Notice-triggered by eSafety, not a blanket periodic duty. |
Providers served with an eSafety Commissioner notice | Compliance with the Basic Online Safety Expectations — CSAM, terrorism, cyber-abuse, recommender systems | On notice | 2022 | In force | — |
| VietnamDecree 147/2024/ND-CP Decree 147/2024/ND-CP Filed to the regulator (ABEI) — not a public transparency report. |
Onshore & cross-border providers; offshore if ≥ 100k visits/mo from Vietnam | Compliance activities incl. takedown handling (24-hr removal on notice) | Annual + ad hoc |
Dec 2024 | In force | — |
| AustraliaMisinformation & Disinformation Bill Combatting MAD Bill 2024 Withdrawn by the government, Nov 2024; the DIGI code remains voluntary. |
Digital platforms (proposed) | ACMA-mandated misinformation transparency reporting (never enacted) | — | — | Withdrawn | — |
Notes & caveats
Reporting vs. removal duties
Many laws impose registration, local-representative and takedown duties without a standing transparency-report obligation, so they are excluded above: Indonesia's MR5/2020, Pakistan's PECA Rules 2021, Nepal's 2023 social-media directive, and Singapore's POFMA and OCHA. The US federal government mandates none; §2258A NCMEC/CSAM reporting is incident reporting, not a public report.
The DSA absorbed the national laws
The EU Digital Services Act now pre-empts the field it shares, winding down the NetzDG-style national regimes — Germany's NetzDG, Austria's KoPl-G, and most of France's ambitions after loi Avia was struck down. They are shown as superseded for the historical record.
The US state laws are in flux
Every US-state mandate is being litigated on First-Amendment / compelled-speech grounds. Moody v. NetChoice (SCOTUS, 2024) vacated the Texas and Florida rulings; California's AB 587 lost its content-category provisions; New York's law is under the same challenge. Status here reflects mid-2026 — expect movement.
"Filed" is not always "published"
Some mandates require a report to the regulator rather than to the public — Vietnam (ABEI), Korea's statutory filing to the ministry, Australia's notices to eSafety (which then publishes summaries). Where a company's public report is voluntary even though a filing is compelled, that nuance is noted in the row.
Compiled July 2026. Statuses and citations reflect sources current to that date and will drift as litigation and rollouts progress; verify the underlying statute before relying on any single figure. Primary sources include EUR-Lex, legislation.gov.uk, the California and New York Attorneys General, MeitY, Taiwan's MODA, Japan's MIC, Singapore's IMDA, and Brazil's STF.
The ◆ Tracked regimes are archived and made queryable in the Transparency Report API — the EU DSA, India's IT Rules, South Korea, Taiwan's Anti-Fraud Act, New York's Stop Hiding Hate Act and California's AB 587.