The online information ecosystem is increasingly shaped by a handful of powerful social media platforms that determine what speech remains online. As concerns around their failure to address hate speech, CSAM and NCII continue to grow, calls for greater accountability have grown louder. Recent whistleblower revelations on major platforms have highlighted their opaque decision-making processes and uneven distribution of resources across regions. In response, the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has emerged as one of the most ambitious efforts to regulate online platforms. At its core, the DSA seeks to establish transparency as a key pillar of platform governance, requiring companies to disclose how they moderate content, manage online advertising, and deploy algorithmic systems. It also introduces oversight mechanisms such as audits, risk assessments, and mandated researcher access to platform data. While designed for the European context, the DSA is already shaping global conversations on platform regulation, raising important questions about how its principles might influence regulatory frameworks elsewhere, particularly in the Global South.

For countries in the Global South, the prospect of platform transparency is particularly pressing, yet fraught with complexities. Many governments lack the institutional capacity to enforce stringent disclosure requirements or oversee platform compliance effectively. Others operate in environments where transparency obligations could be misused—either to pressure platforms into content takedowns that serve political interests or to expand state surveillance over online activity. Additionally, corporate incentives to comply with transparency regulations will differ across regions, with smaller economies often struggling to exert the same regulatory leverage as the EU.

Despite these obstacles, the DSA has set a new baseline for discussions on platform governance, one that governments, civil society, and researchers worldwide will increasingly have to engage with. This report examines the opportunities and risks associated with adapting DSA-inspired transparency measures in the Global South, recognising that effective regulation requires more than just legal mandates. It must be accompanied by robust institutional frameworks, strong civil society engagement, and safeguards against regulatory overreach, ensuring that transparency serves the objective of enhancing public accountability over the operations of online platforms.