Digital Safety & Trust

We help tech firms of all sizes—emerging platforms, scaling marketplaces, and established global services—navigate the evolving EU and Irish Digital Safety, Trust and Platform Accountability landscape.

Our support spans DSA, DMA, Online Safety, data protection, platform governance and user‑trust, ensuring scalable compliance and resilient operations regardless of platform size or regulatory designation.

Patrick Farrell

Partner, Head of Advisory Markets

KPMG in Ireland

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Why now?

The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) now imposes mandatory duties on all intermediary services — from hosting providers and online platforms to marketplaces and search tools.

Even basic compliance requires robust notice‑and‑action mechanisms, stronger transparency, and clear user‑facing disclosures. But as platforms scale, the regulatory expectations rise sharply, with significantly heavier obligations around systemic risk management, independent audits, data‑access requirements, and algorithmic transparency. Firms that fail to prepare early face steep operational, legal, and reputational risks.

At the same time, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — though targeting only designated gatekeepers — demands that fast‑growing firms approaching gatekeeper thresholds build forward‑looking governance, interoperability readiness, and strong internal controls now. Waiting until designation is too late: evidence‑gathering, data‑segregation, and compliance foundations must be in place well in advance.

Ireland’s Online Safety & Media Regulation (OSMR) Act further expands the regulatory perimeter, introducing new obligations to address harmful content, protect users (including children), and implement robust reporting and governance processes. These requirements extend far beyond traditional media, capturing a broad spectrum of online services.

Together, these regimes create an immediate and complex compliance environment — one where KPMG helps organisations stay ahead of regulatory expectations, reduce risk, and build the trust and transparency regulators now demand.

How we can help

We help organisations navigate an increasingly complex web of digital, privacy, safety, and platform‑regulation obligations — providing cross‑functional expertise across legal, risk, technology, safety engineering, and compliance.

Whether you're building early‑stage capabilities or preparing for VLOP/gatekeeper scrutiny, we help you move fast, stay compliant, and earn user and regulator trust

For early‑stage & scaling firms

We design lean, practical DSA‑aligned controls — baseline governance, proportionate transparency, child‑safety considerations, and trust‑building mechanisms that won’t slow growth.
For mid‑market platforms

We uplift maturity with structured risk assessments, content‑ and user‑safety enhancements, scalable transparency reporting, and integration of core safety functions.
For large platforms

We support systemic‑risk frameworks, design‑level safety interventions, audit readiness, compliance monitoring, and regulator‑aligned governance models fit for high‑scrutiny environments.
For gatekeeper‑trajectory firms

We help build the foundations for interoperability, independent compliance structures, product‑level safety and privacy safeguards, and readiness for DMA‑scale obligations.

Our services in detail

DSA / Online safety readiness (All firms)
- Baseline compliance setup: terms clarity, user‑reporting mechanisms, notice‑and‑action, complaint handling.
- Proportionate transparency: content moderation disclosures, recommender system clarity, user controls.
- Growth‑stage enhancements: risk registers, mitigation plans, internal oversight. `
Platform risk tiering & maturity pathways
- Size‑appropriate platform‑risk classification, scaling from small platforms to emerging large platforms.
- Forward‑looking modelling for firms nearing VLOP‑scale, with KPIs, data needs, and documentation uplift.
Content safety & moderation controls
- Moderation workflows, escalation paths, reviewer guidance and quality assurance.
- Frameworks for harmful content categories, with proportional implementation.
- Metrics and oversight for trust & safety operations.
Transparency & user trust frameworks
- Ad transparency, recommender transparency, user‑choice design, and safety nudges.
- Lean transparency reporting for smaller firms; structured annual reporting for larger firms.
Systemic risk readiness (For scaling and large platforms)
- Pre‑systemic‑risk reviews to prepare firms that may enter enhanced DSA obligations.
- Mapping risks related to illegal content, minors, fundamental rights, wellbeing, civic processes.
- Evidence curation for future audits.
Child safety by design
- Age‑assurance options, safe defaults, youth‑risk assessments.
- Right‑sized solutions for emerging tech firms with limited resources.
Scalable DPIAs & product lifecycle integration
- Fit‑for‑purpose DPIAs that match the size and complexity of the product. • Embedded workflows for rapid product development cycles.
- Global privacy, data, and AI governance designed for scale.
- Full data visibility with privacy‑by‑design, secure architecture, and automated controls.
- DSAR automation, breach readiness, vendor oversight, and always‑on compliance.
Technology risk, compliance & assurance
- Lines of defence, controls testing, policy frameworks, internal oversight.
- Maturity uplift for firms approaching gatekeeper or VLOP‑equivalent scale.

Get in touch with our TMT team

We support tech firms at all growth stages. Request a readiness assessment, a scaling plan for digital trust & safety controls, or a review of your transparency and governance approach.